What's wrong with the OSU offense? Ollie Gordon? Alan Bowman? Kasey Dunn? Plus, K-State predictions!
Tulsa World columnist Berry Tramel and I also give props to the Cowboy defense.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, Cowboy fans: Oklahoma State heads into its game against Kansas State with lots of questions.
That was the storyline a season ago when the Wildcats came to town and the Cowboys had a 2-2 record. This season, OSU heads to Manhattan after a head-scratching performance against Utah.
What’s with the offense?
What about Alan Bowman?
And why the heck can’t Ollie Gordon get going?
You’ve got questions.
Tulsa World columnist Berry Tramel and I will attempt to answer them on The Jenni Carlson Show.
Please subscribe to my YouTube channel today!
Episode highlights
1:20: What is up with the OSU offense?
2:30: Ollie Gordon and the run game?
4:27: Kasey Dunn and the play calling?
8:05: Alan Bowman?
10:17: The back-up quarterback situation?
12:13: Is Jenni crazy for thinking OSU’s defensive performance against Utah was its best under Bryan Nardo?
14:19: And is she crazy for thinking K-State is the most unpredictable team in the Big 12?
16:23: Predictions!
Producer: Jacquelyn Musgrove
Creative Director: Michael Lane
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Transcript
Jenni: BT, I laid out several questions in my intro, so let's go through them. First, what is up with the OSU offense?
Berry: Well, they clearly want to run the ball and can't. So that's problematic. And, you know, it seems clear to me that they're just going to have to unload and throw. They've been throwing a bunch. They are one of the nation's leader in pass attempts, but I think they're going to have to throw more. But it's sort of counter to what they want to do, what Mike Gundy has long done. They want to run the ball, and to abandon the run is just, you know, it goes against everything they believe.
However, I do think abandoning the run could bring them back to getting able to run the ball because they’ve got to make people back up. They’ve got to get some relief off the front wall and give the offensive line a chance to block those guys. So, I mean, to me, that's it. People are daring them to throw the ball. And so far the Cowboys haven't thrown it well enough. They've thrown it pretty well but not well enough to really make people pay.
Jenni: This goes a little out of order to the questions that I asked in the intro, but let's go to the run game and Ollie Gordon. Obviously, such a huge talent. Bring all those offensive linemen back. If we ask why the heck can't Ollie Gordon get going, I know what Mike Gundy would say because he said it repeatedly. It's about the defense bringing an extra half defender, an extra full defender, whatever the case is, closer to the line of scrimmage, but that had to happen last year. What's at the heart of why the run game has been so stagnated?
Berry: Well, I think part of it is the extra half guy or guy in the box, but I also don't think the OSU offensive line has performed the way it needed to. I don't know that they're pushing people off and creating the holes. And we haven't seen enough ingenuity out of the game plans to create running space in other ways. And it's just been a collaboration of inefficiency.
We saw this in a couple of games down the stretch (last season). Central Florida basically said, ‘No, no chance you're running on us like that.’ And Brigham Young was sort of hard on them, but not to this extent in terms of this is basically three straight games of Ollie Gordon living like he lived against Central Florida. So, very discouraging for Ollie, discouraging for the line, discouraging for the offense, for the fan base. Everybody's discouraged, but they got to figure it out and figure out a way to get that ball moved. Cause there's still a lot to play for.
Cowboys are still in the running for a Big 12 championship run, but you know, I'm not sure they can afford a second loss. If they lose at K-State, probably have to run the table for any chance at Arlington.
Jenni: You alluded to scheme as it relates to the run game. And you and I have heard Mike Gundy say myriad ways that game plans are not good enough. We heard it after that come-from-behind victory against Arkansas. We heard it again after the Utah loss. And then we heard it again two days after the Utah loss. So Kasey Dunn, what's your sense of job security with the OSU offensive coordinator? Messaging behind the scenes to him? I mean, if Mike Gundy's saying some of the things publicly he's saying, I guess we can only guess what he's saying behind closed doors.
Berry: Yeah. And you know, he said nobody wants to see him on Sundays in the office. Cause he said he's policing it pretty, pretty, pretty hard. But we haven't seen a lot of changes. I haven't seen a lot of effect on that. So I would be worried if I was Kasey Dunn or part of that offensive staff because you're right — Gundy has sort of blared the trumpet, you know, ‘Hey, this isn't good enough. Hey, here's part of the problem.’
You know, he didn't like the game plan again against Arkansas but did laud the change at halftime. Said, ‘We got it going in the second half.’ He liked the game plan he said for the Utah game, but he didn't think that they got to the right stuff quick enough. And, you know, that's play calling. It's two different things, game planning, play calling, two different things. And that's a perfect example of what each one is. It’s ‘We had some good plays. Just didn't use them is,’ what Gundy said. So, that's an indictment of Kasey Dunn and Tim Rattay and Charlie Dickey, whoever's involved in the offensive decision making.
It's also an indictment of Mike Gundy. I mean, he's sitting there with a headset on. He could say, ‘Hey, what about the counter series’ or whatever they might've had. I don't know what they had, but whatever it might be that he wished they'd got to. I know somebody that could get them to that, you know.
It’s just like, you know, the famous scene in the press box several years ago when Mike Sherman was up there, our sports editor, and it was when D’Juan Woods almost made the catch at the end of the game. I think it was ’07 in Bedlam and had a great picture of D’Juan trying to make this catch in the back of the end zone. And Sherm said something like, ‘Man, I wish we could run that one.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I wonder who could take care of that for us. If only we had like, you know, this sports editor who could call somebody and say, “Do this.”’
Mike Gundy's the head coach. He could call somebody and say, ‘Do this.’
Jenni: Yeah, that headset as we understand it goes both ways. He's not just listening, he's communicating. Which I asked Mike Gundy about that field goal drive that they had, the drive that ended in a field goal against Utah, which was highly creative. I mean, we saw a trips set with three wide receivers out to the left at one point, and that included Alan Bowman. I mean, they did some stuff in that drive that I was like, ‘Hey, this is the stuff.’ And I think that's what Mike Gundy was talking about, but they never got back to it. We never saw that level of creativity again. So yeah, offensive play calling, offensive game planning, seems like it's definitely in the crosshairs right now to get this offense back on track.
The other question, Berry, coming out of the Utah game as Oklahoma State points forward is, what about Alan Bowman? Now, obviously he's a starter for the Cowboys, but what did we see against Utah? What the heck happened there?
Berry: Well, he was playing terrible, and you know, Gundy made the rare decision for in-game pull. You don't see this very often. You see sometimes midweek; they make a quarterback change mid season, all that kind of stuff. But the middle of game, you don't see it that often. Going through Oklahoma State history, I came up with a couple of three, but it's not something that happens much. I think famously it happened with a coach named Mike Gundy, his freshman year playing Houston. Pat Jones made the call.
But Gundy's theory, I assume he's telling us the truth, was this was not permanent. What we saw in Norman seemed like a changing of the guard and that kind of thing. I don't think that's what we saw in Stillwater. I think Gundy just literally wanted (Bowman) to settle down. I don't know why you need a 24-year-old quarterback to settle down in college football. I mean, he wasn't playing at Grapevine High School last season. He's been around forever, but they go back to him and Gundy said, ‘Clearly he's our quarterback.’ And that's true.
But OSU would probably look at other options if they thought they had some. Garret Rangel clearly didn't really produce, hasn't really wowed anybody in his four or five chances over the last two years. And then Zane Flores, everybody thought he's the future. He's really a good prospect. He apparently can't even get up the depth chart, even to the point to be prepared to play. So that was sobering to me was no Zane Flores. And I know that opened my eyes about the future of OSU quarterbacking. Is he the guy for the future? I don't know.
But we know this, Alan Bowman's the guy for the present. They just don't have any other options.
Jenni: That backup situation, I was going to ask you about that because seems like to me the way Rangel played, now it was a small sample size obviously, but not good at all. Does that maybe change the backup situation? Part of what Mike Gundy, his explanation for not playing Zane Flores was that Rangel, if there's extra snaps to be gotten in practice, it's Rangel that gets them, not Flores. Flores is very inexperienced, but he's been on campus for a long time. So has as Rangel. So is there a chance Flores moves up to second team, gets a few more reps, maybe becomes more that guy? I'm like you, though. I felt like if that was the best backup option, OSU better hope Alan Bowman does not get hurt.
Berry: Yeah, I gotta believe Flores will get more looks this week and going forward. I mean, I was confused. I think you asked (Gundy) the question or somebody asked him about Flores and he basically said just ‘He wasn't, he wasn't there yet.’ I had no idea, what do you mean by that? I said, ‘Well, I don't even know what you mean, Mike.’ And, so they got to get it going one way or the other because we know this: the odds are not great that our good friend Alan Bowman is going to be back for an eighth year. You know, I think he's probably gone. They're going to have to hit the portal. They're going to have to rest with one of these guys. They got to do something at quarterback. So I don't know what's going to happen to Oklahoma State football 2025, but it's going to be a change and we're going to have to redo a lot of that offense. And it starts with the quarterback. But that's in the future. For the present, they need Alan Bowman to play better than he played against Utah.
Jenni: OK, I don't know if we've solved any of the offensive problems, but we've at least talked through them a little bit. Let's talk a little defense for a minute before we get to some predictions and some look ahead to this game against K-State. The OSU defense allowed 456 yards against Utah, but I termed it the unit's best performance under Bryan Nardo since he arrived a season ago. They were out there forever, Berry, because of the offensive struggles. But am I crazy for thinking the OSU defense took a nice step forward against Utah?
Berry: Yeah, what was it it you said, 44 minutes? Is that what they were out there? I think.
Jenni: I think it was 42 maybe.
Berry: 42. The only caveat is that they didn't play against Cameron Rising. They played against Isaac Wilson, the freshmen quarterback for Utah, but he played pretty solid. This is a good culture football program.
Now they gave up a lot of rushing yards. Bernard was at 182 yards rushing. Micah Bernard, really good tailback. So there were things that just drive you crazy, but to hold that team to 22 points with the position that sometimes the OSU defense was placed in was really good. And to have a chance to win. Now, I know it was a long shot. The two late touchdowns made it closer than it looks, but OSU is kicking an onside kick with a minute left in the game with a chance to at least make it interesting. So for the offense to be that bad and OSU still to be in the game till the end, I thought it was a great, positive for the OSU defense.
Arkansas was a little different. You know, there's a tight game the Cowboys won and you had to sort of thank the offense. The defense was torched a good part of that game. Not so Saturday. So if the defense can progress, give them time to figure out the running game, maybe this season turns around.
Jenni: They'll have a challenge with Avery Johnson on Saturday in Manhattan, but I've got another am-I-crazy-for-thinking question. Am I crazy for thinking K-State might be the most unpredictable team in the Big 12? Narrow win against Tulane. Big win against Arizona, a team that a lot of people expect to be in the running for the Big 12 title. And then a big loss at BYU. I mean, what in the world is going on with the Wildcats?
Berry: Two straight blowouts, a blowout win and a blowout loss. Nobody saw that coming. We thought Arizona at K-State is going to be a great game. We thought K-State at Brigham Young was going to be a tight game. I sort of think tight game in Manhattan with OSU. But yeah, it's very strange. For somebody that plays such fundamental football, somebody that plays, you know, sort of …
Jenni: Don't beat yourself.
Berry: Right. Mistake free and Chris Klieman, Bill Snyder culture type. And ‘Hey, you're going to have to beat us. We're not beating ourself.’ Don't throw it around a ton. Still relies on the running game. Man, they're unpredictable. They're explosive. They give up big plays. They create big plays.
The punt return. You know, they have a great punt against Brigham Young, a guy picks it up on the run, going the wrong way, and he goes 93 yards against K-State. And K-State's great on special teams. It's a very strange K-State team so far, but they are explosive. Got playmakers. (Dylan) Edwards, the tailback. Avery Johnson at quarterback. I mean, this is a guy that is so good, that they're so enchanted with that they let go of a quarterback who's good enough to start at Ohio State today. I don't know exactly why Ohio State wanted Will Howard, but they did. And K-State’s fine with that. So Avery Johnson is going to be a pill. It's going to be a hassle to contain him. A quarterback who can run will cause you all kinds of problems. So we'll see how the Cowboys do.
Jenni: Let's get to that. How will the Cowboys do on Saturday in Manhattan? 11 o'clock start there at Bill Snyder Stadium. What's your prediction for this one, Berry?
Berry: Well, I got the Cats winning. I think I said 28-27. You know, I picked Utah 21-20 and I missed that by a mile. It was 22-19. I was a one point off of each team, you know.
But I got another tight game. I think it's time for K-State to play a tight game. As we said, the two blowouts, that's crazy. But it's a hard place to win. Probably the best home-field advantage in the new-look Big 12. It was probably the best home-field advantage in the old-look Big 12. So Manhattan, a very tough place to play. OSU has won some up there, but not consistently. Very difficult to do.
Jenni: Yeah, I think it's going to be a close game as well. I actually think Oklahoma State's going to get some stuff figured out. Maybe I'm too Pollyanna to think so, but I'm going to go OSU 24-20 in Manhattan, but this is a game that's going to have huge ramifications on the Big 12 race. Lose this one for either team, and they've got two losses in the Big 12. It's going to be really hard to make Arlington, I think. I think. I guess maybe a two-loss team could … three-loss? Well, two loss for sure. I think a two0loss team could get there, but man, you don't wanna get too far down that road, I wouldn't think.
Berry: No, it's too early to tell how the Big 12 standings are going to fall out. Right now, it looks like somebody like Iowa State or Central Florida, you're going to say, ‘Oh, they’re going to jump everybody and have great records.’ But you never know. We could still have all kinds of topsy turvy.
The only thing we know is Utah is likely to be in the mix near the top or at the top. The Utes seem to be what they were in the Pac-12. Rock solid, not flinching, not moving. To think that Utah is going to have a dip is probably unlike.
Jenni: To go on the road to Oklahoma State last week with their backup quarterback and to win that game might not have been the prettiest from the Utes’ vantage point, but still a win nonetheless. So yeah, I think that has to put them sort of in the driver's seat right now.
All right, Berry, before we get out of here, tell people what you got coming up OSU related that they might want to look for at TulsaWorld.com.
Berry: I got a couple of columns the rest of the week. One is on in-game quarterback switches. Like I said, we don't see it much. We saw it both in Stillwater and Norman, the politics behind it, the effectiveness of it. Does it really work? We don't know. We'll see how it handles itself with the Cowboys.
And also the home-field advantages. Sooners are going to Auburn, playing in maybe the best home-field advantage in the SEC, at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Same goes for Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan. Just tremendous home-field advantage. What those home-field advantages mean for those teams.