Oklahoma State football: Key numbers to know for TCU matchup
By John Scimeca
5. TCU has beaten OSU in three of the team’s past four meetings.
OSU and TCU have met on the football field 31 times, and the Cowboys own a narrow series advantage with 16 wins, 13 losses, and two draws. The two teams first met in 1915, when head coach John G. “Pinky” Griffith led the Oklahoma A&M Aggies to a 13-0 win in Fort Worth, Tex. For reference, the team played in the Southwest Conference, the United States had not joined ‘the Great War’ yet, and Oklahoma hadn’t even been an official state for eight years.
Although Mike Gundy holds a 5-4 advantage against Gary Patterson as head coaches, it still feels like the Horned Frogs have had the Cowboys’ number recently. This advantage is exacerbated when the teams play in Fort Worth, but it is unusual for any Big 12 opponent other than OU to hold a recent advantage against Gundy.
4. TCU has rushed for 239 yards per game in its last three wins vs. OSU.
As mentioned earlier, TCU has beaten OSU three times since 2017. In each of these three losses, OSU allowed TCU an average of 239 rushing yards per game. OSU has the fourth-ranked rushing defense in the country this year, allowing only 86 yards per game.
TCU running back Zach Evans missed last week’s win against Baylor with an injury and is expected to be out of this weekend’s game, too. In the team’s first six games, he rushed for 648 yards and also had 10 catches for 130 yards.
The Horned Frogs gained 562 yards of total offense in last week’s win against Baylor, and they will bring the Big 12’s third-best rushing offense (196 rushing yards per game) to Stillwater.
3. OSU’s opponents convert only 25.6% of their third downs.
This is the second-highest mark in the nation behind only Wisconsin. OSU has been able to put opponents in difficult third-and-long situations, but the Cowboys have also excelled in getting stops in short-yardage situations. OSU’s last two opponents, West Virginia and Kansas, only managed to convert two of their 27 third-down opportunities.
The Cowboys will need a consistent pass rush against TCU led by freshman defensive end Collin Oliver in order to continue this trend. The Edmond Santa Fe product is among the nation’s best freshmen in total sacks in 2021, while six different Cowboys recorded a sack in the team’s 24-3 win at West Virginia last weekend.