Defense Needs to Shore Up Some Things, But Trey Rucker's Tackling Isn't One

STILLWATER – I have to admit that I was surprised when the Big 12 Conference announced Oklahoma State safety Trey Rucker as the league’s Defensive Player of the Week. He had 15 tackles, a big number, but without a pick or a fumble recovery, well, this wasn’t like the final regular season game of last year when Rucker made the tackle, forced the fumble, and recovered the fumble for the walk off double overtime win against BYU that clinched the berth in the Big 12 Championship. 

Somebody has noticed that Rucker is a tackling machine and despite losing coverage of some receivers in the past, this defense needs Rucker and his tackling prowess. The 15 tackles are a huge number for any defender.

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Rucker coming up on Dalys Beanum.

"I wasn't even keeping up; I didn't even know,” Rucker said to the media on Saturday when asked about his tackle number. “But that's just all God's work. I give all my glory to God. And I'm thankful for my d-line being in the right spots and my linebacker's being the right fit so I can be able to fly around."

God’s work? I’m okay with it. I’m not trying to be trite or blasphemous, but I like to think that God is a football fan. If he is, then somebody getting 15 tackles in one game is virtuous. It certainly is for Rucker and his teammates.

“Trey loves to play football and always has,” head coach Mike Gundy said answering my question on Monday at his news conference. “He’s reckless and will totally disregard his body to play the game, which is what you have to do to be competitive at this level. And he likes football. I mean Trey is a guy that would play forever if you’d let him. He’s a quiet leader, he’s not vocal, but players do enjoy watching him, and it's valuable to have a player like him on your team, because he's relentless and he'll compete from start to finish.”

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Rucker’s great play vs. BYU last season.

Last season, Rucker had plenty of tackles and big plays like the one we mentioned against BYU. He also had some plays where he lost coverage. I didn’t see that from Rucker on Saturday, but I did see some. With Arkansas’ new quarterback, the Boise 6-6, 230-pound transfer Taylen Green, coming off a 16-for-23 passing performance with 229-yards and two touchdowns plus 88-yards rushing and two more touchdowns this is no week to lose coverage.

Gundy addressed that too. 

“It’s a simple concept for what we do. Sometimes it’s a little confusing publicly. Our players need to have their eyes in the correct spots,” explained the Cowboys head coach. “They (South Dakota State-last Saturday) did a couple things that were really good. That’s why I mentioned I didn’t want to go into it too much without watching. They did a couple things scheme-wise that were really good, so four of the six (plays) we need to be more disciplined with our eyes. We need to adjust to what they did to us. That’s going to happen. Other teams, their coaches get a chance to coach and their players get a chance to play. The majority of it is, we have to have our eyes in the right place.”

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Green was highly productive against UAPB.

This week there is Green and he looked as good as promised against meteorically outmatched Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the 70-0 Razorbacks win on Thursday night last week in Little Rock.

“You gotta have a guy for him,” Gundy said of Green. “When you are competing against a guy that has the ability to run, you have to take that into account in your structure of defense and the style of play. We have plenty of ways to do that because we see them quite a bit now. It’s just a matter of being disciplined and making sure somebody has responsibility for the quarterback.”

Yes, kind of a spy. Don’t expect Rucker to have that job full-time, but he could have it in situations. He ready for anything and that means being just as prepared for 11 a.m. this Saturday as he was for the Jack Rabbits in the opener.

"The same way we prepared this week,” Rucker said of the plan. “We're just gonna have to be more aggressive in the run game, but other than that, I think, as long as we play our type of game, then we're gonna be good as a team."

Then again for Trey Rucker, the more tackles, the merrier.