Oklahoma football: Sooners seek to avoid slip-up in Stillwater
By Chip Rouse
Keys to an Oklahoma State Bedlam victory
Oklahoma State is 8-3 on the season and 5-3 in the Big 12 in 2019. This is the 10th year in the last 12 that the Cowboys have won at least eight games. Head coach Mike Gundy is in his 15th year coaching his alma mater.
The Cowboys have the misfortune of having two of their best offensive players — wide receiver Tylan Wallace and starting quarterback Spencer Sanders — out with season-ending injuries. Wallace was leading the Big 12 with an average of 112 receiving yards per game when he suffered a torn ACL in practice prior to the Cowboys’ ninth game of the season.
Redshirt junior Dillon Stoner has become the prime receiving target in Wallace’s absence. Dru Brown, a graduate transfer from Hawaii, replaced Sanders and made his first start in nearly two years in Cowboys’ win over West Virginia last Saturday. He completed 22 of 29 passes for 186 yards and no interceptions.
Oklahoma State’s biggest offensive weapon is redshirt sophomore Chuba Hubbard, who leads the Big 12 and the country with 1,832 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns and is averaging 6.4 yards per carry and 166.5 yards per game. He will be going against an OU rush defense that allows 141 yards per game, third best in the Big 12.
The Oklahoma State offense ranks third in the Big 12, averaging 475 yards a game, 100 fewer than its rivals from Norman.
Defensively, the Cowboys rank seventh in the Big 12 and 80th nationally, but they’ve played their best defense of the season in their last four games, forcing 10 turnovers and holding opponents to an average of 20 points a game. They are better defending the run. OSU ranks 116th among 130 FBS teams in pass defense.
Oklahoma State is 75-25 under Gundy when playing at home at Boone Pickens Stadium, but just 29-34 when hosting ranked teams.