Tracking the Trends: Pittsburgh

Photo by: OSU Athletics

September 16, 2016 | Cowboy Football

STILLWATER – As the Oklahoma State football team prepares for Saturday's key non-conference tilt with Pittsburgh, we take a look at streaks on the line and other trends to look out for this weekend.

Talking Points – Offense
• The biggest bright spot in the Cowboy offense last week was the play of sophomore wideout Jalen McCleskey. The speeder scored one touchdown while hauling in 11 catches for 103 yards, both of which are career highs. It also marked the Cowboys' only 100-yard receiving effort of the season thus far.
• Improvement in the run game continues to be an important factor in how far Oklahoma State goes in 2016. The Cowboys, who averaged 200.6 rushing yards per game from 2006-13, fell to 131.7 rushing yards per contest from 2014-15. While the rushing totals have dropped significantly, the bottom line for the OSU offense - scoring - has not taken a major hit, as the Pokes ranked in the top 15 nationally in scoring each of the past two years. With a proven quarterback in Mason Rudolph and a stable of thoroughbreds at receiver, the Cowboys figure to be able to put up points. Evidence of that was seen in the season opener as an impressive 14 different players caught a pass.
• The distribution of carries in the run game continues to develop. At the beginning of the season, Mike Gundy had five backs who all seemed capable of making plays, including experienced backs in Chris Carson, Rennie Childs, Barry J. Sanders and Jeff Carr, plus a true freshman - Justice Hill - who impressed the coaches enough during preseason camp to be able to warrant playing time from day one. All five backs carried the ball in the season-opener, but in last week's game against Central Michigan, Carson and Hill emerged as the two to receive the bulk of the carries. Of the 15 carries given to OSU running backs, Carson and Hill combined for 13 of them.

Talking Points – Defense
• The main focus of the Cowboys' defensive philosophy is to force turnovers. After two games in 2016, the Cowboys rank sixth nationally with six turnovers forced and lead the nation with five fumble recoveries.
• The Cowboy defensive unit also leads the country with two defensive touchdowns, illustrating that not only creating turnovers is the top priority, but also scoring.
• While Oklahoma State lost an All-America defensive end in Emmanuel Ogbah, a reasonable argument can be made that the Cowboy defensive line is actually better in 2016 than it was with Ogbah wreaking havoc in opposing backfields in 2015. One reason for that is improved depth at defensive tackle, where OSU returns both of its starters from last year in Vincent Taylor and Motekiai Maile, and also has proven performers in Vili Leveni and Darrion Daniels. Junior college transfer DeQuinton Osborne joins the mix this year and provided reason for optimism based off his work in preseason camp. Evidence of that can already be seen, as the Cowboys have averaged 9.5 tackles for loss per game - a mark that ranks 12th nationally.
• Another position group that features quality depth is safety, where both of last year's starters - senior Jordan Sterns and redshirt junior Tre Flowers - return. Sterns is one of the most established defensive players in the Big 12 and Flowers has also made himself known around the league. A lot has been asked of those two over the years, but it would appear as if their workload actually stands to decrease with senior Derrick Moncrief and sophomore Kenneth Edison-McGruder now in the fold.

Notable Streaks Entering the Pitt Game
• Oklahoma State has won 15 of its last 16 non-conference games played in Boone Pickens Stadium, dating back to a 2009 loss to Houston. The Cowboys are 25-2 in non-conference home games under Mike Gundy (2005-present).
Since Mike Gundy took over as head coach at Oklahoma State in 2005, the Cowboys have compiled a 35-8 record in the month of September.

• Oklahoma State has won 47 of its last 53 over unranked opponents.
The Cowboys have won 31 of their last 33 home games over unranked opponents. Starting with the Cowboys' 2012 Heart of Dallas Bowl win over Purdue, OSU has won 23 of its last 26 overall against unranked opponents.

• Oklahoma State has won 13 of its last 17 games overall, dating back to the end of the 2014 season.
A win Saturday would bring Mike Gundy to within four victories of the 100-win mark for his career.

• Dating back to 2005, the Cowboys have won 25 of their last 26 games when not committing a turnover. Dating back to the 2008 season, the Cowboys have won 45 of their last 49 games when winning the turnover battle.
Since 2005, when the Cowboys win the turnover battle, they are 55-7 (88.7 pct.) They are 24-1 (96.0 pct.) in games
when they commit zero turnovers.

• Quarterback Mason Rudolph has thrown 16 touchdown passes against just three interceptions in his last nine games, dating back to the 2015 season.
Since having his redshirt pulled in week 11 of the 2014 season, Rudolph has quarterbacked Oklahoma State to a 13-4 record as a starter and has led the Cowboys to six victories in games in which they trailed during the second half. As a sophomore in 2015, Rudolph was one of the nation's most dangerous down-field passers. According to ESPN Stats and Info, his 40 completions on passes thrown at least 20 yards down the field tied California's Jared Goff - the first pick in the 2016 NFL Draft - for the national lead among Power Five conference quarterbacks.