Checking in on the Cowboys - Midseason Report - Oklahoma State University Athletics

STILLWATER – The Oklahoma State football team is off this weekend after posting a 4-2 start through the first six games of the season. A rundown of the season to date:

Season Storylines - Offense
We all knew Chuba Hubbard was good. But did we know he was THIS good?

Running back Chuba Hubbard finds himself firmly in the Heisman Trophy conversation after six games. He leads the FBS in rushing yards, rushing yards per game and rushing touchdowns, along with leading in a host of other categories. He reached 1,000 rushing yards just six games into the season to tie for the 12^th-fastest player of all time to accomplish that feat. If he stays on his current pace, he'll finish the regular season with 2,188 rushing yards, which would set a Big 12 record and rank eighth in FBS history.
Hubbard turned in the two largest single-game rushing totals in the FBS this season when he went for 296 yards against Kansas State and 256 yards against Tulsa. His 221 rushing yards against Oregon State represents the sixth-highest mark of 2019, so in summary, Hubbard has three of the six largest single-game rushing totals in the FBS this season. He is the only running back in the FBS to have rushed for 220 yards or more against a Power Five conference opponent, and he has done it twice – vs. Kansas State and Oregon State

Tylan Wallace continues to do Tylan Wallace things.

Tylan Wallace was a first-team All-American and a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award presented to the nation's top receiver last season and he is on a BETTER pace this year. Through six games in 2018, Wallace had 35 receptions for 628 yards and four touchdowns. Through six games this year, he has 39 receptions for 703 yards and seven touchdowns. He has turned in three games of 100 or more receiving yards, and went over 80 yards in the remaining three contests.

Finding Footing in the Run Game

While Chuba Hubbard is the centerpiece of the Oklahoma State run game, he is not the only player factoring into the Cowboys' success on the ground. The Pokes have rushed for 1,674 yards through six games this year. That is OSU's second-highest six-game total since 2000, trailing only the 2008 team's mark of 1,763 yards.
Quarterback Spencer Sanders has been an outstanding complement to Hubbard on the ground. The redshirt freshman from Denton, Texas has carried 85 times for 426 yards and two touchdowns and could reasonably finish the season as a 1,000-yard rusher himself.

Season Storylines – Defense
Linebacker production

Through six games, OSU's two leading tacklers are linebackers Malcolm Rodriguez and Amen Ogbongbemiga. There was a time when it was common for linebackers to be the leading tacklers on a team. With the rise of spread offense attacks (especially in the Big 12), safeties have more frequently become a team's leading tacklers. In fact, only once in the last five seasons has a linebacker finished as Oklahoma State's leading tackler (Justin Phillips in 2018).
More on Ogbongbemiga in a bit, but let's start with Rodriguez because of the fact that he hadn't played linebacker until this season. A converted safety who is listed at 205 pounds, Rodriguez played quarterback in high school but now ranks third in the Big 12 with 49 tackles. He is making a name for himself not only with his speed, but also for his toughness, as evidenced by the fact that 45 of his 49 tackles on the season have come on opponent run plays. It truly has been a remarkable transformation for him.
As for Ogbongbemiga, his success comes as less of a surprise, as he has come up through the ranks in a more traditional fashion. At this same point last season, he had a total of six tackles but was showing promise. After continuing his growth and development during the offseason, he now stands as a defensive leader who posted double-digit tackle performances in road games at Oregon State and Texas this year.

Investment in the defensive line

Entering the season, no position group carried more question marks than the defensive line. How could it not, with Oklahoma State losing 107 career starts from last year's group and replacing it with zero career starts? Regardless of who played this season, 2019 was going to be a year of development from the defensive line. In OSU's most recent game, the starting defensive line consisted of a junior, two sophomores and a freshman.
Though he hasn't yet cracked into the starting lineup, one player who has stood out is true freshman Trace Ford. A 227-pound lightning bolt of a pass rusher, he has posted 11 tackles and ranks second on the team with two sacks. Ford ties for the team lead with four passes broken up and ranks second on the team with three quarterback hurries. He has been a disruptor of opposing offenses and is quickly establishing himself as a point of optimism moving forward.

Third down turnaround

In week one against Oregon State, the Cowboy defense allowed the Beavers to convert on 13-of-20 third down attempts and getting off the field was a struggle. Things have changed. In the last two games, OSU held Kansas State to a 1-of-13 showing on third down and Texas Tech to a 2-of-13 performance on third down. While the Cowboys split those two games, it bodes well for the long haul that the OSU defense is capable of getting off the field against Big 12 opposition.

Season Storylines – Special Teams

Kicker Matt Ammendola has been outstanding. At 10-for-10 on the season, he's one of only four kickers in the country who has attempted 10 or more field goals and converted at a 100 percent rate.
Freshman punter Tom Hutton has demonstrated the ability to pin opponents deep inside their own territory and to punt the ball in such a way as to limit return yards. Of his 26 punts this season, 11 have been downed inside the opponents' 20-yard line. Exactly half of his punts have been fair caught and opponents have a grand total of two punt return yards all season.

The Cowboys return to action when they host Baylor for Homecoming at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19. Beyond that, OSU has remaining home dates with TCU, Kansas and Oklahoma. Fans can purchase tickets by going to okstate.com/tickets or by calling 877-ALL-4-OSU.

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Checking in on the Cowboys - Midseason Report

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Players Mentioned

Matt Ammendola

Trace Ford

Chuba Hubbard

Tom Hutton

Amen Ogbongbemiga

Justin Phillips

Malcolm Rodriguez

Spencer Sanders

Tylan Wallace

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