Analyzing Oklahoma State's First and Second Half Offense Against Arizona State
The Oklahoma State Cowboys finished the game with 113 rushing yards, but none of them came in the first half.
In a desert matchup against the Arizona State Sun Devils, the Cowboys managed to get their second win in a 27-15 victory. While things took a while to get going, OSU finally found its rhythm.
While the three-quarterback rotation made another appearance and did not bring much clarity once again, the run game finally developed in the second half and made all the difference. Ollie Gordon had a 31-yard run to start the second half and flipped things around for the Cowboys run game.
Gordon finished with nine rush attempts, 53 yards and a touchdown. His performance set the tone for an offensively dominant half and gave the Cowboys a sense of identity. At least for now, Gordon is clearly the leader among the OSU running backs.
In the first half, the offensive line provided decent pass protection, but could not make holes in the ASU defense to help establish the run. This resulted in reliance on the passing game, which looked promising at the start of the game.
Alan Bowman started for OSU and led the Cowboys with poise and confidence. He started to settle in but was switched out with Gunnar Gundy a few minutes into the second quarter. Bowman was 11-16 and finished with 113 yards.
Gundy connected with receiver De’Zhaun Stribling for the Cowboy’s first passing touchdown, and Garrett Rangel found receiver Brennan Presley for the second. Each quarterback proved tonight that he is worthy of the starting job against the South Alabama Jaguars, which doesn’t bring the clarity surrounding the quarterback position that a lot of people were hoping for.
The good news is, even though it took the entire first half, the run game evolved, Gordon got more touches and the Cowboys will have a solid leader at quarterback- regardless of who earns the starting job over the next few weeks.
In contrast to last week’s offensive performance, the O-line looked weaker, and momentum was hard to come by. In comparison though, the Cowboys seem to be a second-half team two games into the season. When the run game is utilized, OSU can prove itself as a worthy opponent and will look to do so against the Southern Alabama Jaguars next week.