Wednesday, September 14, 2022
Cowboys batter Jones, trickery and 10 straight home wins
Adam Engel Co-Editor-in-Chief
Notebook Tyler Lacy emerged from the turf with his arms flailing and dreadlocks
bouncing underneath his helmet. A step later, he chopped an invisible ax with his arms. After all, the defensive end chopped Arizona State quarterback Emory Jones for a sack. In Oklahoma State’s 34-17 win against ASU on Saturday night, Jones hit the turf multiple times upon impact from a Cowboy. He had ten quarterback hurries, three sacks and was big reason why the Sun Devils rushed 13 more times than they passed. Defensive end Brock Martin, a disruptor on the line, recorded a sack
along with two hurries. “It’s about just disrupting his timing and getting him off his spot,” Martin said. “If he’s got a five-step drop, maybe only let him take four and make him throw the ball or whatever else. I think we did a good job of doing that and kinda took him out of his comfort zone at times.” The goal of containing Jones, a speedy dual-threat transfer from Florida, became a focal point for Cowboy defensive coordinator Derek Mason. “We talked about having a ‘crush rush’ against him, just because Emory was more capable of ripping off huge
chunks on the ground and I thought those guys did a great job of tracking him, nosing him up and pushing the pocket,” Mason said. Here are a few more notes from OSU’s win. Flea flicker trickery A classic Madden play became reality in Boone Pickens Stadium. In the chaos of OSU’s rapid no-huddle offense, a flea flicker from quarterback Spencer Sanders to Bryson Green fooled the Sun Devils early in the fourth quarter. See Jones on page 2
Big 12 Power Rankings
New No.1 heading into week three
Davis Cordova Staff Reporter
Hutchinson looked good, he caught 11 receptions for 98 yards and a score. Iowa was only able to muster 150 yards of total offense, but it was expected after scoring just seven points in week one too. If ISU’s offense can keep up with its offense, the Cyclones could be an underrated team in the Big 12. No. 7 Kansas (20), (1-0) Kansas has proven that Lance Leipold’s plan is working. A successful trip to Morgantown showed the Jayhawks are improving, and for now, not at the bottom of the Big 12. Last Saturday, Kansas defeated West Virginia, 55-42 in overtime, in the first Big 12 game of the year. Kansas defensive back Cobee Bryant earned Kansas its second-straight Big 12 defensive player of the week award after his game-sealing pick-six in overtime. Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels had a phenomenal performance with 219 yards and three scores, he also rushed for 89 yards. On Saturday, Kansas travels to a future Big 12 school, Houston, that lost to Texas Tech this past weekend. A performance similar to one this past Saturday will potentially give Kansas more respect around the league. No. 6 Baylor (1-1) Baylor was given many opportunities to win the late-night matchup versus No. 21 BYU, but the Bears couldn’t capitalize, losing on the road 26-20 in double overtime. Quarterback Blake Shapen had his worst performance since becoming the Bears’ starting quarterback, completing just 18 of his 28 passes and throwing for 137 yards. Baylor’s defense looked good, but the Bears defense looked sluggish late in the game. The Bears will have a bounce-back game versus Texas State this Saturday before heading to Ames the following week.
This is the second edition of the Big 12 football power rankings from The O’Colly. Each week, The O’Colly will give a recap and preview of each Big 12 team and give reasoning as to why a team is ranked at a spot. No. 10 West Virginia (0-2), (0-1 Big 12) After a tough loss to Pittsburgh, WVU looked to get back on track for the rest of the season, until Kansas rolled into Morgantown and upset the Mountaineers in overtime, 55-42. It was a rough game for the WVU defense, allowing the Jayhawks to do whatever they wanted to do. Quarterback JT Daniels looked good up until the last play, where he threw the game-ending pick-six. The Mountaineers have a good chance of winning their first game this coming Saturday, as they host Towson. No. 9 TCU (2-0) TCU has a point differential of 58 points, but that has come against teams who are not contending in their respective conferences this season. On Saturday, TCU defeated Tarleton State, 59-17, in a game that was never close. Quarterback Max Duggan scored five times on 390 yards. The Horned Frogs need an opponent that truly tests their skill set. With a bye week in week three, TCU plays SMU in week four. No. 8 Iowa State (2-0) The Cy-Hawk rivalry game has been coach Matt Campbell’s weakness since becoming ISU’s coach, until this past weekend. The Cyclones defeated the Hawkeyes 10-7 in a game that was filled with defense. The offense was not impressive, quarterback Hunter Dekkers threw two picks and just 184 yards. AllBig 12 wideout Xavier See Big 12 on page 3
Chase Davis
Fast defensive starts imperative for Cowboys as Big 12 play looms Photo description
yards for 58 points, the most the Cowboys have scored in a season opener since 2018. On Saturday, it was a completely different story. The offense got off to a shaky start, producing two threeDaniel Allen and-outs in its first three drives, Staff Reporter and was held scoreless after one quarter of play. The up-and-down debut for The OSU defense held the 2022 Cowboy defense was a Arizona State to just one field major headline heading into OSU’s goal, and allowed the up-tempo home matchup against Arizona Cowboy offense to find its rhythm State. in the second quarter, as OSU Central Michigan outscored would score in its final three posOSU 29-14 in the second half of sessions of the second quarter to the season opener, giving up 22 jump out to a 14-point lead at the points in the fourth quarter and 44 half. While there were still apparin total in what ended up being a ent growing pains in the second14-point victory for the Cowboys. ary, the defensive unit generated The offense was efficient a handful of critical third-down and looked fluent in its fast-paced, stops and impressive short-yardage up-tempo look, recording 531 total and open-field tackling.
The Cowboy offense would carry its momentum into the second half, en route to a 34-17 victory over the Sun Devils to stay perfect in their 2022 campaign. With a quality outing in the back pocket of this young OSU defensive core, the unit can at least experience it to an extent. As more talented and experienced defenses such as Baylor, Kansas State, and others await the Cowboys over the course of the 2022 season, defensive play similar Saturday is essential for OSU moving forward. As efficient as the OSU offense has been early on, slower starts against better defenses will occur. Should the defense be able to provide the offense a cushion to play with, and time to get going, the Cowboys could very well still be intact for a successful season. sports.ed@ocolly.com