Defensive Depth and Offensive Firepower Shine in Final Non Conference Win

STILLWATER – By the numbers, by the letters, on paper, it doesn’t matter how you had the plan organized regarding how the Cowboys final non-conference game for 2022 needed to go. It went that way. Oklahoma State won the game 63-7. There were few noticeable mistakes. Running back Dominic Richardson fumbled. The head coach wasn’t pleased but the offensive coordinator seemed a little more forgiving. Back-up quarterback Gunnar Gundy threw a pass that Braylon Presley ran the wrong route on and then didn’t catch it and it was picked. Gundy in postgame took the blame for it and said he looked at it as a chance to recover from a mistake. He did, so maybe a blessing in disguise. He operated the offense well and the next quarterback, freshman Garret Rangel got time. I wish it had been more. The offense was solid, and the starters got lots of time off, most of the last three quarters.

Pat Kinnison - Chief Photographer

Presley catches a big ball from Spencer Sanders.

“Spencer is rolling, Coach (Gundy) alluded to that,” offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn said with a satisfied look on his face. “The guys that are up there in the ones category, Braydon Johnson, BP (Presley), and JP (Richardson), those guys are playing their (butts) off. The tailback (playing well) as well. We didn’t run the ball the way we wanted to today, but Dom (Richardson) is playing good football and I’m not worried about him. I think we’re doing a good job on the offensive line. Heading into this one with Baylor and two weeks to prepare for those guys, I think we’re in great shape.”

One omission for me on offense. Finally cleared, back-up transfer running back Deondre Jackson did not play. I get it, he needs to earn it, but I would have liked to have seen what he looked like even in a mop up role in this game.

Defense was similar. The head coach told me he thought the defensive staff on the headsets were communicating with each other much better. Communication there leads to communication on the field, even with a lot of the back-ups. I thought that was apparent in that goal line stand late in the game where Arkansas-Pine Bluff was throwing to the end zone rather than trying to run it in from the three-yard-line.

“One thing about this game is that it's so situational. You talk about back-up, you talk about third down, you talk about everything we see in between the red zone,” said defensive coordinator Derek Mason setting up the message. “I even saw our young guys tonight (getting it right) because we were stressing so much communication. I saw those young guys down there. I saw hands up and a lot of intentional communication. If they understand what it is, all we gotta do is major in the minors. Those minors are communication, and they mean a lot. It's the difference between winning and losing."

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Kopenski (52) about to hurry the quarterback.

He’s considered a back-up but Ben Kopenski is a player. The former walk-on defensive end had four tackles, two sacks, and two quarterback hurries. One of those came on fourth down of that above mentioned goal line stand.

“Ben has impressed me since the time I got here,” Mason said of Kopenski. “Everybody talked about Trace, CO (Collin Oliver) and Brock (Martin), but you look at (Tyren) Irby and Kopenski had good springs and those have carried over. I think in the grand scheme of the position sometimes the production of those guys get lost, maybe in special teams but we saw tonight that Kopenski can do it just like the rest of those guys can. You give him a chance to rush the edge and he’s got a chance to get to the quarterback.”

“Sometimes I’m out there and I get so nervous because I feel like I need to do something extraordinary, but all I have to do is my job,” Kopenski said. “I think when I went out there in the second quarter, I was nervous, things were moving faster and what not, but as soon as I got comfortable in the third quarter, I felt a lot better.”

Kopenski admits that with Brock Martin, Collin Oliver, and Trace Ford at his position, and also the injured Tyren Irby that it is hard to get on the field, yet he has. He deserves it. Kopenski makes plays. He may have been nervous when he got in, but he says that is mild compared to being called in to talk to the media.

“It’s nerve wracking. I’m not good at talking in front of people at all, its’ nerve wracking,” Kopenski said after the game.

His coach on defense loves what he is seeing with a deep defensive line, improving players on the back end, younger players starting to feel more experienced. Derek Mason isn’t settling for a solid defense, even a good defense. The man wants it all.

“I’m greedy and I want those guys to be greedy,” Mason added. “We need to be a greedy defense. Right now we’re learning to be a good defense, but we need to be a greedy defense. We’ve got to be stingy, we have to be gritty. We’re making strides in the right direction.”  

Cowboy fans agree, so does the head coach, and in two weeks in Waco being greedy may be what it takes to win the Big 12 opener.