The Run Game Showed Up Late and Gunnar Gundy Benefitted, but the Competition is Still On

Teams like UCA with all talent disparity, it is not surprising that they are exhausted by end of 3rd quarter and 4th quarter. So that's when we were able to run the ball.

Oline, Running game, QB the three big issues at the end of last year, still being a work in progress after whole off season, is on the coaches. Especially Dunn and Dickey. The WR also have the drop problem they had last year.


Positives are defense , albeit making few mistakes, played well. Dline is aggressive, Nick martin played well. Secondary held up most of the time. Special teams played great!

I thought both Rangel and Gundy looked comfortable. Bowman seemed a touch rusty but he's not really played in a game in 3 years.

Whoever is in, the QB will need to be able to move around as the Oline was still leaking a bit of oil at times.

I believe we stayed vanilla and didn't always put our best foot forward. Likely won't be a year we all want competitively but might still be a decent year. We will get better if we stay healthy. No way else to shake it tho about our o line. Simply not good enough for this level. Not good enough to allow us to compete at a very high level anyway. What once looked like a super easy schedule looks hard now with the way the line performed. From what I saw ucf Cincinnati ou Kansas kansas state and maybe even Iowa state would have waxed us yesterday.

The dumpster fire on the o-line continues. Couldn't pass protect or run block an fcs team until late in the game. This is a bunch of 5th year seniors! Probably should have cut some of them loose and brought in more transfers; but, at this point may as well move up some younger guys and let them get experience.

My concern of our talent evaluation increases. We read all offseason that the depth was much better and the line was healthy. We are extremely experienced and we couldn't dominate a much lesser op. Our line can dominate period. That's out of their vocabulary. It's still early but if they struggle again this year then I really wonder how it could fail so miserably and Internally it all seemed ok. I'm not sure about the entire o line room and coaching staff. It's all bad

Judgements in pre-season are based on our OL vs the DL. Perhaps now we know why the DL has seemed so deep and talented. This OL just appears to have no answers on moving people out of the way. Central Arkansas looked better prepared and coached on offense to me and I'm an eternal optomist!

Good news is the excuses are about all run out. The online situation simply can't be defended barring a huge turnaround year. Which we are all praying for lol

This is the weakest Cowboy squad in the Gundy era. Period, This should have been a scrimmage. Instead, we were fortunate to eke out a win.

We knew that Central Arkansas was going to be a good test, and it was.

Mostly OSU came through with flying colors. Not the blow-out many were hoping to see, but honestly, how many new faces did we have out there.

That was much of the plan, to get some serious PT and experience in our depth.

For all of you naysayers this morning, which plays specifically are you talking about, and which kids were in? If you can't answer that off of the top of your head, the perhaps we should all take a step back and consider the circumstances.

for all they hype that Robert gave to Preston Wilson this Fall, he didn't even play, I'm not sure why he was held out. Miterko started in his place, so we were already into the 2-deep just to start. They were giving a play count to Birmingham in his first game back, so Dalton played some too in his first for OSU.

OLines seldom "gel" on the first series, or the first game, especially with these early substitutes.

I thought Gunnar benefited from the CAU defense being tired, which is exactly what we should expect when playing a team with fewer scholarships. I still think Gunnar commands the team better than Rangel. Bowman was a victim of many drops, and he didn't take a deep throw that I recall.

All-n-all a good showing considering what we needed to accomplish.

what's the old saying...


"if you have three QBs, then you have -1.5?"

I think that's how it goes

The qb battle is still gonna be a tough one. Rangel had moments. Bowman had moments and would've likey looked better without those key drops and lack of run game. Gundy looked damn good but did have the benefit of playing late when the competition was getting tired. It's really hard to say which one really separated when looking at all the factors. I personally would have to go with Gunnar since he lead our offense to scores. He had spark with him and that's at least something that separates him some

I didn't think they would be a good test personally. SEMO, Lindenwood U. and Eastern Kentucky I think it was all scored about 50 points on these guys last year. I don't even know who two of those teams are! But again, I'm the eternal optomist. Maybe Gundy turns this around. But this OL looked like last year revisited.

Orangeheart72 said:

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I didn't think they would be a good test personally. SEMO, Lindenwood U. and Eastern Kentucky I think it was all scored about 50 points on these guys last year. I don't even know who two of those teams are! But again, I'm the eternal optomist. Maybe Gundy turns this around. But this OL looked like last year revisited.

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well... this is not last year.

They were picked 2nd in their conference THIS YEAR, they have AA's throughout the lineup, have huge lines and a seasoned veteran QB.

why would anybody look as last year to see what this year brings? 48 new players for us? New coach for them.

it's a whole new world my friend... didn't Robert even say it would be a decent challenge?

losing 2 starting OLinemen certainly did not help us any in that reagard.

here is what Robert had to say about them prior to the game....
https://pokesreport.com/s/4750/a-solid-look-at-opponent-no-1-for-the-pokes-in-central-arkansas/4

All he said was the line looked like the line from last year. No other meaning. Just didn't look good which is the same as last year. Our line should be able to handle an fcs opponent especially with the experience they have and regardless of how good the fcs opponent is. We 1000 percent should have better players that can handle a little competition. Not having Wilson shouldn't matter anyway considering he has been one of the worst lineman we've had. Plus we supposedly have depth now. So yes last nights o line performance was similar to the performances of last year. The difference is yes it's a new year and no we don't have the same excuses to lean on. This is a healthy experienced unit. That's the performance we got from them

To me and this early in the season, last year would seem the best measure of an opponent that's available to review. I'm pretty sure our coaches studied last years tape on CAU. But I'll bite. Let's see how they do this next game against the Texas College Steers out of Tyler .

It's just one game and we won. In 2021 we beat Missouri State by 7 and Tulsa by 5. That season turned out ok. It's early. At least we are not TCU, Texas Tech or Baylor right now.

HCMG is, simply put, far too loyal to his other coaches.

Gundy removed Spencer who I think he loved as a co-worker and friend. I think he avoids a turnover mill as he strongly believes continuity has been a big piece of OSU's success.

Yes, and also squeaked by Boise on a walk on catch that allowed a miracle finish....we were there. I thought of that as well. This team was probably similar to Missouri State hopefully. But I bet AZSt. is licking their chops watching our game tape. Luckily, they had their own issues with a weak opponent.

Not that anyone outside of my immediate family cares, I will offer an observation or two. First, it seems like the consensus is that the team moved the ball the best under Gunnar. I agree. This opinion, however, has been tempered by the feeling that this was mainly because the Bears were worn down by battling A grossly inferior line..hmmmm.. Also, no one mentioned Elijah Collins comments. He observed that the improvement in the run game was due to some half time adjustments. So, maybe that's the reason we were better. Gunnar, with his running ability, makes us better and our line made some meaningful adjustments. Maybe y'all are right and it's A mess or maybe we need to pick a QB and keep a hopeful attitude. My immediate family is pleased.

Pokes4158 said:

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But to be fair and stay fair we will look at only last nights game and not compare to past teams. McClain baxley at 247 released the pff grades for the team and these are the grades for our offensive line last night.

Offensive line
Jake Springfield: 20 snaps, 69.8 offensive grade

Joe Michalski: 82 snaps, 67 offensive grade

Jason Brooks: 82 snaps, 64.7 offensive grade

Dalton Cooper: 62 snaps, 62.3 offensive grade

Taylor Miterko: 82 snaps, 59.4 offensive grade

Cole Birmingham: 82 snaps, 51.2 offensive grade

PFF grades are as follows - 100-90 Elite
89-85 Pro Bowler
84-70 Starter
69-60 Backup
59-0 Replaceable

Based on the pff which is industry standard our offensive line sucked last night

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This is spot on. The O-Line looked like a line comprised entirely of backups and guys who should be replaced. Rusty or not, Birmingham was terrible and 51.2 seems about right. I don't want to be too negative, first game and all, but that was a very disappointing performance. I watched the first half of the ASU/ Southern Utah game and ASU is NOT a good team. They have 78 new players, a true Freshman QB, and their new head coach is the youngest FBS coach in the country in his first head coaching job. No excuses about playing on the road or anything else. ASU sucks and is NOT a "tough place to play." It'll be a very bad sign if the O-Line doesn't show some real improvement next Saturday.

Pokes4158 said:

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But to be fair and stay fair we will look at only last nights game and not compare to past teams. McClain baxley at 247 released the pff grades for the team and these are the grades for our offensive line last night.

Offensive line
Jake Springfield: 20 snaps, 69.8 offensive grade

Joe Michalski: 82 snaps, 67 offensive grade

Jason Brooks: 82 snaps, 64.7 offensive grade

Dalton Cooper: 62 snaps, 62.3 offensive grade

Taylor Miterko: 82 snaps, 59.4 offensive grade

Cole Birmingham: 82 snaps, 51.2 offensive grade

PFF grades are as follows - 100-90 Elite
89-85 Pro Bowler
84-70 Starter
69-60 Backup
59-0 Replaceable

Based on the pff which is industry standard our offensive line sucked last night

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Thank you for posting this. Would you please continue to do so after each game?

Definitely if the info is available I'd be glad too

You guys are going to end up making me get a subscription to PFF.. Based on some ratings Rodeo Poke posted earlier this year about the OL most have shown improvement some a dramatic improvement. We do not have numbers on Birmingham & Cooper from that post to have a barometer for them. I know they are all going to watch film this week and make the needed adjustments and corrections to be ready for ASU and improve on these 1st week numbers. My question is on this rating how much does a holding penalty etc… knock on the rating? Also, as a unit we had an average of 62.4, how does this compare to other Big 12 OL's on their first week? Lastly, I am thankful we won. I can only imagine what the Baylor, TT & TCU boards look like right now. Here is the link to the article that referenced last years PFF rating: Go Pokes!!

https://pokesreport.com/forums/4/topics/10983/replies/16510

OklaStateU said:

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Thank you for posting this. Would you please continue to do so after each game?

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last season these same folks were blasting PPF for showing that Springfield was our best offensive lineman, which was totally opposite of their "bench Springfield" mantra.

The ratings are interesting, but not much more than that. If you take the season's worth and average them, then you might have something to talk about.

We clearly could have done better throughout the game, Wilson and Springfield being out definitely impacted the results and the Line's ability to gel. As Robert said, the line showed good improvement in the game and especially in certain assignments.

OklaStateU said:

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Pokes4158 said:

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But to be fair and stay fair we will look at only last nights game and not compare to past teams. McClain baxley at 247 released the pff grades for the team and these are the grades for our offensive line last night.

Offensive line
Jake Springfield: 20 snaps, 69.8 offensive grade

Joe Michalski: 82 snaps, 67 offensive grade

Jason Brooks: 82 snaps, 64.7 offensive grade

Dalton Cooper: 62 snaps, 62.3 offensive grade

Taylor Miterko: 82 snaps, 59.4 offensive grade

Cole Birmingham: 82 snaps, 51.2 offensive grade

PFF grades are as follows - 100-90 Elite
89-85 Pro Bowler
84-70 Starter
69-60 Backup
59-0 Replaceable

Based on the pff which is industry standard our offensive line sucked last night

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Thank you for posting this. Would you please continue to do so after each game?

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Are there grades on tight ends? I'd like to see one for #16 Josiah Johnson. I re-watched the offense last night and he was abused by the defensive ends. He whiffed multiple times and was tossed around like a rag doll. Again, first game and all, but I hope he's better than what he showed because we're in trouble if that's what we're going to get from the blocking tight end responsible for shoring up the OL.

There are yes but I don't have that info. My guess is yes he wouldn't have graded very well.