MANHATTAN, Kan. — With a bag of ice wrapped tightly around his left knee and a big bandage on his right, Ollie Gordon II backed up against an outside wall of Bill Snyder Family Stadium to answer questions from the approaching media.
It was a metaphor representative of Oklahoma State’s season following the painful 42-20 loss to Kansas State on Saturday.
Backs against the wall.
Wounded from battle.
Offering answers to questions that seem unanswerable.
Now 3-2 overall, the Cowboys have seen their goals crippled by two straight losses to start Big 12 play as the urgency of those unanswerable questions grows more intense.
What has happened to the OSU offense? Saturday brought more confusion, considering how strong the unit looked for the first 20 minutes, juxtaposed against how flat it looked the rest of the day.
Why can’t the defense figure out the run game? As simple as the answer sounds, OSU hasn’t found a method that solves it.
More: Oklahoma State football roughed up by Kansas State for second straight loss | 5 takeaways
MANHATTAN, KS – SEPTEMBER 28: Defensive end Brendan Mott #38 of the Kansas State Wildcats tackles running back Ollie Gordon II #0 of the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the first half at Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium on September 28, 2024 in Manhattan, Kansas. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)
Coach Mike Gundy frequently throws out the term “run fits,” or their schemes for getting a defender into each running lane. But the phrase seems to more aptly describe the condition of the Cowboy defenders: When teams run, it’s causing them fits.
Kansas State’s D.J. Giddens had 187 yards on 15 carries, but needed just nine carries to get his first 170 yards, running like he was in an open Kansas pasture.
And if things weren’t scary enough for the run defense, star linebacker Nick Martin limped off the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/oklahoma-state-footballs-missed-opportunities-103104938.html
Author : The Oklahoman
Publish date : 2024-09-29 10:31:04
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