Oklahoma State football bucks Big 12 trend to become league’s top team
By Scott Rogust
The Oklahoma State Cowboys have something that many Big 12 schools haven’t had in recent years: A dominant defense.
In recent years, the Big 12 has built a reputation on itself of being an elite offensive football conference. Of course, that standing was created because of the lack of quality defenses across all of its programs. Leave it to 2020 to be the year that Big 12 fans can watch a dominant defense for once.
Upon the start of the campaign, many pundits and fanatics thought that the conference belonged to the Oklahoma Sooners. But, the Sooners fell well below expectations after losing two of their first three games this season. The team that has stepped up in a huge way are the Oklahoma State Cowboys, who defeated the Iowa State Cyclones 24-21 on Saturday to remain undefeated this season, and it’s all thanks to their defense.
Defense wins championships and OKST looks like they could be Big 12 champs
When you look at the stat-sheet for the Cowboys’ game against Iowa State, you’ll see that Cyclones running back Breece Hall rushed for 185 yards and one touchdown on 20 carries. Most of his yardage came on 70 and 66-yard runs. After that, Oklahoma State surrendered 3.9 yards per play for the remainder of the game!
Final: No. 6 Oklahoma State 24, No. 17 Iowa State 21. Pokes stay undefeated.
— Max Olson (@max_olson) October 24, 2020
This @CowboyFB defense is legit. Gave up 2 big runs by Breece Hall. Gave up 3.9 yards per play the rest of the game.
Entering their fourth game of the season, Oklahoma State had the third-best scoring defense in the nation, as they only surrendered 9.0 points per game. The only other programs to boast better averages are Wisconsin and Air Force. Oklahoma allowed seven points to Tulsa in their season opener, 13 points to West Virginia and seven to Kansas.
Oklahoma State allowed 247.3 total yards per game this season, which ranks as the seventh-fewest in the country. When it comes to rushing defense, the Cowboys surrendered an average of 93.7 ground yards per game (10th-fewest in the nation).
A Big Ten program putting up top-ten defensive numbers is unheard of, especially this past decade, but it’s a pleasure to watch. Sure, offensive shootouts are cool and all, but it’s great to see a rarity in the Big 12 for once! Oklahoma State will face their true challenges in the next three weeks, as they face Texas, Kansas State and Oklahoma respectively. As of now, it’s time to recognize Oklahoma State as the favorites to win the Big 12 Championship.
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