Rodriguez and Harvell-Peel Lead All-Around Defensive Standout Show
STILLWATER – News flash! News flash! Linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez did not lead the Cowboys defense in tackles on Saturday night in the 31-20 win over Kansas State. The Big 12 opener for both teams saw safety Kolby Harvell-Peel make a team leading eight tackles, a couple of losses including a big third down stop of the Wildcats little lightning running back Deuce Vaughn. Okay, Rodriguez made seven tackles, but he did do something on his college football bucket list. The senior from Wagoner had a pick six at Iowa State in 2019. Now he has a fumble recovery for a touchdown.
"We've got a lot of guys flying to the ball and Devin flew in there and I just ended up on top of it,” Rodriguez said with a smile on his face. “So, guys are just flying around and making plays. Just like the old days in high school. It feels good to be back in the endzone."
Those old days, Rodriguez was a quarterback on offense and a safety on defense. He showed on Saturday against Kansas State he can still cover too as he was glue to receivers on several plays that helped an impressive 2-of-12 effort against the Wildcats on third downs.
The plain truth of the defensive strategy for Oklahoma State was because of their talent and experience in the secondary at corner and safety and the struggle Kansas State has in making big plays in the passing game, the Cowboys were able to man up on Wildcat receivers and free up lots of bodies for stopping the run.
"We bottled up (Number) 22. He's difficult to bring down,” Rodriguez added. “We were able to crowd the line of scrimmage more because we were playing really well on our corners and in our coverage. We were really able to lock them down and that just allowed us to crowd the line of scrimmage.”
Cornerback Jarrick Bernard-Converse had three passes broken up in the first two K-State possessions. Harvell-Peel had a nifty first half interception too. The super senior linebacker Rodriguez also credited defensive coordinator Jim Knowles play calls.
"We didn't give up the explosive plays,” Knowles said of the effort. “We've been good on defense against these guys for three years. I think our guys are confident playing them. It's a running attack. Option looks. You've got to keep your eyes in the right place. We've got to be able to stop (Number) 22, which we did outside from the fluke play. We teach our linebackers to be aggressive in man coverage and he went down to cut, and we had it in, and they made a play. I can't say enough about our leadership. I thought we covered extremely well. I thought our matchups on the outside were great and early on in the game they started taking some shots at us and we were all over it. That just gives the defense confidence. So, it was just all around a strong performance and I'm really proud of our leadership and the guys just keep on going and going no matter the circumstance, we just keep playing. And play for each other. It's just a really good feeling to be around these guys right now."
It is a lot of fun to be around that defense. Saturday against Kansas State things were more fun on the offensive side as well. In fact, at 4-0, this team is a lot of fun to be around on the whole. The plan is to keep it that way next week when fellow Big 12 unbeaten Baylor comes to town.