Oklahoma State University Athletics
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Shaped By Adversity - 2016 Season Review
January 12, 2017 | Cowboy Football
Complete Season Review and Stats in PDF Format
Wins over three top-25 teams and a dominating showing in the Valero Alamo Bowl highlighted the 2016 football season at Oklahoma State.
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One of team's defining moments came early on, when the Cowboys lost a controversial 30-27 decision to Central Michigan in Stillwater in week two. OSU led, 27-24, and had the ball in the game's waning moments. Facing a fourth-and-13 situation with four seconds left on the clock, quarterback Mason Rudolph scrambled around and launched the ball downfield to run the clock out. The officials slapped OSU with an intentional grounding penalty and gave the Chippewas an untimed down from midfield, which they turned into a remarkable hail mary-and-lateral to win the game. After the game, the head referee publicly admitted to the media that the untimed down should have not been awarded and that Oklahoma State should have been the winner. All of the referees and replay officials were suspended for two games following that incident, but it was the Cowboys who were stuck with the loss.
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It was not the Central Michigan defeat that defined the Cowboys, however. Rather, it was their response to it. OSU's next game was against a Pittsburgh team that was fresh off a win over Penn State, who went on to win the Big Ten title and play in the Rose Bowl. With a team as good as the Panthers coming in, Mike Gundy and his team could not afford to dwell on the loss to the Chippewas, but nobody knew for sure how the Cowboys were going to respond. The biggest question going into the game against Pitt was if Oklahoma State be stuck in the hangover from their wrongful defeat the week before.
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On the very first play of the game against the Panthers, Rudolph hit receiver James Washington on a deep post route for a 91-yard touchdown pass that soothed nerves and ignited a fuse that led to wins in nine of OSU's final 11 games.
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And with that, the 2016 football season at Oklahoma State was defined by resilience.
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With a 7-1 record in Big 12 play entering the final week of the regular season, the Cowboys climbed to as high as No. 11 in the Associated Press poll and No. 10 in the Amway Coaches poll and earned the right to face Oklahoma in a winner-take-all de facto Big 12 championship game. While the Cowboys lost that game to the Sooners, it was remarkable that they had battled back from a 2-2 start to the season to earn the chance to play for an outright shot at the Big 12 title on the final day of the regular season.
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Contributing to the team's success were the ability to thrive in close games, an offense that was among the most potent in America, an opportunistic defense that excelled at forcing turnovers and a special teams unit that was among the nation's best at defending both punts and kickoffs.
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Important in the Cowboys' total of 10 wins were four victories in games decided by one score. Three of those four wins came over Big 12 teams and the fourth came over a Pittsburgh team that went on to beat national champion Clemson later in the season.
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The three signature wins of the season were a 37-20 triumph over No. 10 West Virginia on Homecoming in Stillwater, a 31-6 steamrolling of TCU in Fort Worth in a game that the Horned Frogs were favored to win by the Las Vegas oddsmakers and a 38-8 Alamo Bowl pounding of a Colorado team that won the Pac-12 South Division championship and was ranked No. 10 in the final College Football Playoff standings.
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Against the Mountaineers, OSU forced three turnovers and turned them into 17 points in a game that it won by 17. The win carried extra significance because not only did it catapult Oklahoma State back into the polls after it had been unranked since the Central Michigan game, but it was also Mike Gundy's 100th career victory as OSU head coach. Against TCU, the Cowboys rushed for 334 yards - their highest total against an FBS opponent since 2008 - and held the Horned Frogs under seven points in a home game for the first time since 1995. In the Alamo Bowl, OSU held a 31-0 lead before the Buffaloes finally scored their first points of the game with 5:28 remaining in the fourth quarter. Rudolph passed for 314 yards and three touchdowns against no interceptions and Washington caught nine passes for 171 yards and a touchdown in not even three full quarters of play (he left the game early with an injury) against a Colorado defense that entered the game ranked 13th in the FBS by allowing only 182.5 passing yards per game and was third in the nation in pass efficiency defense.
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In addition to having one of the most dangerous and productive pass-catch combos in the nation in Rudolph and Washington, a significant part of OSU's offensive success in 2016 can be attributed to a much-improved run game.
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The Cowboys went from averaging 3.6 yards per carry and 126.8 yards per game in 2015 to averaging 4.5 yards per carry and 171.0 yards per game in 2016. Oklahoma State had just two games of 200 yards rushing or more in 2015, but more than doubled that with five such games in 2016. Justice Hill led all FBS freshmen with 1,142 rushing yards. That total is the most ever for an Oklahoma State freshman and ranks fifth among freshmen in Big 12 history. As the season progressed, senior Chris Carson became a bigger factor in the run game as well. He averaged 92.8 rushing yards and scored five rushing touchdowns in his last four games.
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On the defensive side of the ball, Oklahoma State forced at least one turnover in every game and found ways to get timely stops at important junctures in several close games. The ringleaders of the Cowboy defense were a pair of first-team All-Big 12 honorees in defensive tackle Vincent Taylor and safety Jordan Sterns. Taylor led all FBS players with four blocked kicks and ranked among the top five in the Big 12 in both sacks and tackles for loss. Sterns was one of only three players to rank in the top 10 in the Big 12 in both tackles and interceptions. He provided one of the most memorable moments of the season when he intercepted a pass in the end zone on the final play of the game to seal the Cowboys' thrilling 43-37 win over Kansas State in Manhattan.
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Punter Zach Sinor headlined OSU's special teams units. A semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award presented to the nation's top punter and a second-team All-Big 12 honoree, he ranked No. 1 in the nation in 2016 by killing 62.5 percent of his punts inside the opponents' 20-yard line. His ability to target punt with hang time was the primary reason why Oklahoma State ranked second in the nation by allowing only 15 punt return yards in all of 2016. He helped ensure that Oklahoma State's opponents had the worst average starting field position in the nation in 2016, according to footballstudyhall.com. Kicker Ben Grogan was also a key figure in Oklahoma State's special teams plans, as he led the Big 12 in scoring. A senior and four-year starter, Grogan capped his career as the all-time leading scorer in Oklahoma State history and as one of only two players in Big 12 history to score 100 points or more in four seasons.
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Wins over three top-25 teams and a dominating showing in the Valero Alamo Bowl highlighted the 2016 football season at Oklahoma State.
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One of team's defining moments came early on, when the Cowboys lost a controversial 30-27 decision to Central Michigan in Stillwater in week two. OSU led, 27-24, and had the ball in the game's waning moments. Facing a fourth-and-13 situation with four seconds left on the clock, quarterback Mason Rudolph scrambled around and launched the ball downfield to run the clock out. The officials slapped OSU with an intentional grounding penalty and gave the Chippewas an untimed down from midfield, which they turned into a remarkable hail mary-and-lateral to win the game. After the game, the head referee publicly admitted to the media that the untimed down should have not been awarded and that Oklahoma State should have been the winner. All of the referees and replay officials were suspended for two games following that incident, but it was the Cowboys who were stuck with the loss.
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It was not the Central Michigan defeat that defined the Cowboys, however. Rather, it was their response to it. OSU's next game was against a Pittsburgh team that was fresh off a win over Penn State, who went on to win the Big Ten title and play in the Rose Bowl. With a team as good as the Panthers coming in, Mike Gundy and his team could not afford to dwell on the loss to the Chippewas, but nobody knew for sure how the Cowboys were going to respond. The biggest question going into the game against Pitt was if Oklahoma State be stuck in the hangover from their wrongful defeat the week before.
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On the very first play of the game against the Panthers, Rudolph hit receiver James Washington on a deep post route for a 91-yard touchdown pass that soothed nerves and ignited a fuse that led to wins in nine of OSU's final 11 games.
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And with that, the 2016 football season at Oklahoma State was defined by resilience.
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With a 7-1 record in Big 12 play entering the final week of the regular season, the Cowboys climbed to as high as No. 11 in the Associated Press poll and No. 10 in the Amway Coaches poll and earned the right to face Oklahoma in a winner-take-all de facto Big 12 championship game. While the Cowboys lost that game to the Sooners, it was remarkable that they had battled back from a 2-2 start to the season to earn the chance to play for an outright shot at the Big 12 title on the final day of the regular season.
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Contributing to the team's success were the ability to thrive in close games, an offense that was among the most potent in America, an opportunistic defense that excelled at forcing turnovers and a special teams unit that was among the nation's best at defending both punts and kickoffs.
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Important in the Cowboys' total of 10 wins were four victories in games decided by one score. Three of those four wins came over Big 12 teams and the fourth came over a Pittsburgh team that went on to beat national champion Clemson later in the season.
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The three signature wins of the season were a 37-20 triumph over No. 10 West Virginia on Homecoming in Stillwater, a 31-6 steamrolling of TCU in Fort Worth in a game that the Horned Frogs were favored to win by the Las Vegas oddsmakers and a 38-8 Alamo Bowl pounding of a Colorado team that won the Pac-12 South Division championship and was ranked No. 10 in the final College Football Playoff standings.
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Against the Mountaineers, OSU forced three turnovers and turned them into 17 points in a game that it won by 17. The win carried extra significance because not only did it catapult Oklahoma State back into the polls after it had been unranked since the Central Michigan game, but it was also Mike Gundy's 100th career victory as OSU head coach. Against TCU, the Cowboys rushed for 334 yards - their highest total against an FBS opponent since 2008 - and held the Horned Frogs under seven points in a home game for the first time since 1995. In the Alamo Bowl, OSU held a 31-0 lead before the Buffaloes finally scored their first points of the game with 5:28 remaining in the fourth quarter. Rudolph passed for 314 yards and three touchdowns against no interceptions and Washington caught nine passes for 171 yards and a touchdown in not even three full quarters of play (he left the game early with an injury) against a Colorado defense that entered the game ranked 13th in the FBS by allowing only 182.5 passing yards per game and was third in the nation in pass efficiency defense.
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In addition to having one of the most dangerous and productive pass-catch combos in the nation in Rudolph and Washington, a significant part of OSU's offensive success in 2016 can be attributed to a much-improved run game.
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The Cowboys went from averaging 3.6 yards per carry and 126.8 yards per game in 2015 to averaging 4.5 yards per carry and 171.0 yards per game in 2016. Oklahoma State had just two games of 200 yards rushing or more in 2015, but more than doubled that with five such games in 2016. Justice Hill led all FBS freshmen with 1,142 rushing yards. That total is the most ever for an Oklahoma State freshman and ranks fifth among freshmen in Big 12 history. As the season progressed, senior Chris Carson became a bigger factor in the run game as well. He averaged 92.8 rushing yards and scored five rushing touchdowns in his last four games.
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On the defensive side of the ball, Oklahoma State forced at least one turnover in every game and found ways to get timely stops at important junctures in several close games. The ringleaders of the Cowboy defense were a pair of first-team All-Big 12 honorees in defensive tackle Vincent Taylor and safety Jordan Sterns. Taylor led all FBS players with four blocked kicks and ranked among the top five in the Big 12 in both sacks and tackles for loss. Sterns was one of only three players to rank in the top 10 in the Big 12 in both tackles and interceptions. He provided one of the most memorable moments of the season when he intercepted a pass in the end zone on the final play of the game to seal the Cowboys' thrilling 43-37 win over Kansas State in Manhattan.
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Punter Zach Sinor headlined OSU's special teams units. A semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award presented to the nation's top punter and a second-team All-Big 12 honoree, he ranked No. 1 in the nation in 2016 by killing 62.5 percent of his punts inside the opponents' 20-yard line. His ability to target punt with hang time was the primary reason why Oklahoma State ranked second in the nation by allowing only 15 punt return yards in all of 2016. He helped ensure that Oklahoma State's opponents had the worst average starting field position in the nation in 2016, according to footballstudyhall.com. Kicker Ben Grogan was also a key figure in Oklahoma State's special teams plans, as he led the Big 12 in scoring. A senior and four-year starter, Grogan capped his career as the all-time leading scorer in Oklahoma State history and as one of only two players in Big 12 history to score 100 points or more in four seasons.
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Players Mentioned
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