Defensive Review: Cowboys Shut-Down Broncos in Second Half

Mike Gundy took to twitter Sunday afternoon to post his players of the week after OSU’s 21-20 win at Boise State, but there was something peculiar on this week’s list:

“Entire defense.” Seems pretty fitting.

The Oklahoma State defense dominated the second half in all phases and saved the game on the blue turf. A complete 180 from how the game started.

For the first 25 minutes of the game it didn’t look good for the Cowboy defense. Boise State scored on four of its first six drives, pulling out to a 20-7 lead behind 169 yards and a touchdown from Bronco QB Hank Bachmeier.

OSU was without one of its leaders Tre Sterling, and it has since been announced he will miss the rest of the season. That absence looked like it affected the confidence of the defense out of the gate.

"For the first 20 minutes of the game, until midway through the second quarter, it was a track meet for their team, not us,” Gundy said.

The momentum changed late in the second quarter when Malcolm Rodriguez punched the ball out from Boise State running back George Holani and OSU recovered it inside the 25. Rodriguez led the team again in tackles with 8 total. It was 6 less than his 14 per game average coming in, but that forced fumble completely changed how the rest of the game played out.

The Cowboys took the lead into halftime and never let it slip despite not scoring any points the entire second half.

“I thought our coaches made really good adjustments at halftime, particularly defensively,” Gundy said.

In the second half OSU’s defense had one of its most dominant halves of football that I’ve ever seen.

Constant pressure on Bachmeier, they hit him on nearly 20% of his dropbacks and sacked him 4 times. Boise State had given up 1 sack in total the first two games. The secondary locked down the pass game and stifled the run too.

The Broncos gained 3 total yards in the third quarter and just 64 in the entire second half. The Cowboys ran the ball constantly, which drained the clock and kept the defense fresh. We hadn’t seen a rested defense very often this season, but they were certainly rested in the second half.

The defense spent just 8:51 on the field for the whole second half. My favorite stat from the game is that from 6:26 in the second quarter through the end of third, Boise State ran just 10(!) plays, with one being a kneel down to end the first half.

The final sequence of the fourth quarter was a huge test for the defense, and they passed given the circumstances. Kolby Harvell-Peel looked like Ken Griffey Jr in centerfield and tracked down OSU’s first interception of the season, giving the offense a chance to seal it.

“I was all-texas select in baseball, I didn’t play centerfield though I was all shortstop and third base,” Harvell-Peel said. “I love playing free-safety though, I know that.”

Three plays later Jaylen Warren fumbled and Boise State took over at the Oklahoma State 41 with 3:22 left, just needing a field goal to win the game.

“Our defense has had their back against the wall a number of times this year,” Gundy said. “They were against the wall again tonight.”

Two plays into the drive Brock Martin sacked Bachmeier and pushed Boise State out of field goal range, but a flag was thrown for roughing the passer. Martin wrapped up the quarterback from just below the waist and slung him down, so Gundy was upset about the call.

"A very unusual call,” Gundy said. “I know what the call was, but I'm not sure how it happened. I wish I would have seen the replay.”

“I saw a flag come in and I thought it was holding,” Martin said. “I could overhear [the officials] saying, ‘The quarterback was a defenseless player in the pocket.’”

Even after the 15-yard penalty and automatic first down for the Broncos, OSU held Boise State to a field goal attempt and even left enough time on the clock to allow for an offensive drive if they made the kick.

But they didn’t thanks to Sterling’s replacement and habitual playmaker Jason Taylor III, who blocked the kick and iced the game.

As gutsy of a win as the pokes have had in a long time given the injuries and the environment they were playing in. Boise State had lost just 10 home games since the year 2000 before Saturday. All credit to the defense.

“I’m glad we’re on the right side of that list,” Harvell-Peel said.