OSU on front page of ESPN [Archive]

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06-22-2009, 04:43 PM

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In his time at Oklahoma State, a period coinciding with the program's significant rise up the BCS ranks and into the national consciousness, head coach Mike Gundy has developed a reputation as a bit of a mad genius on offense.

There he was last year, sitting behind players and coaches, going over offensive plays and schemes with his head down -- while his defense was on the field. Yep, the game's going on, and Gundy's paying no attention to the action, deep in thought about the elaborate strategies to come. He's a college football Willy Wonka, a mad genius brainstorming in the shadows while his orange and white disciples implement his orders.

Or maybe not.

"We're not good enough in any one area to be able to concentrate solely on that," Gundy says. "And across the conference, the fact that the QBs are so good has made it that they can handle the styles necessary to run [the offense] so well. You can also say the run has allowed us and other teams to throw it so well."

In saying this, Gundy is explaining both the Big 12's Arena League-like offensive efficiency and scoring, and the almost absurd level of balance he's managed with his own offense. Put it this way: Oklahoma State might not have had the top offense in the country last year -- it was sixth in total offense at 488 yards per game -- but its stunning balance means it might have had the best. The Pokes can simply do it all.

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Want proof? Last year they ran for 3,191 yards and threw for 3,149.
The Amazing Balancing Act

OSU's offensive balance was tops in the nation in 2008.
OSU NCAA Rank
Yardage difference 42 3
Pct. difference .67 1

If you could develop a metric that measured offensive efficiency combined with balance -- a great job for a mad genius, yes? -- Oklahoma State would blow the competition away. And last year was no fluke, either. In 2007, the Cowboys did one better, and had exactly 3,161 yards of both rushing and passing, a statistic so patently absurd over the course of 13 games it almost seems made up. (Consider that during the same year, Texas Tech threw for 6,114 yards and ran for 771.)

But, says Gundy, "You can throw all the stats out." That's because the coach agrees that he and other coaches are developing offenses at a time in which everything on that side of the ball is changing.

"It's not fair to compare numbers anymore," he says. "Everybody's so good on offense" -- in a league in which several coaches have told Insider that mimicry is rampant -- "everybody stops the clock all the time, everybody throws for 300 yards every game." When he played, Gundy says, you threw for 300 and it was news. "Now it's like you gotta throw for 500 for anybody to say, 'Well, hey, he had a pretty big game.' "

Big-play Zac

Zac Robinson's 2008 season ranked among the best in the Big 12 and the nation. (Min. 200 pass attempts)
Big 12 Rank NCAA Rank
Yards per attempt 9.8 2 3
Attempts per TD 12.6 2 6
Pass efficiency 166.8 3 5

That's especially true in the Big 12. Five of the nation's top-10 passing offenses and 10 of the top 50 were in the conference last season.

The good news for the Cowboys is that there's no reason this offense should slow down. They lost a first-round pick in tight end Brandon Pettigrew, but he was the only player drafted. And if the line holds -- and Gundy expects them to be a strong unit -- a triple-threat offense truly has three big threats.

At quarterback, Zac Robinson threw for 3,064 yards and rushed for 562 yards last season, one of only five players in the nation to throw for 3,000 yards and rush for 500 yards. Robinson's passing totals were 25th in the nation, but he ranked higher in other categories (see chart) that showed how efficient he was last season.

And he'll get better. "People forget when he got here, Zac was only a QB for a season and a half," Gundy says. "Even when the NFL starts looking at him, he's still at a percentage of what he'll become."

Then there's the running back. Kendall Hunter returns a year after he rushed for 1,555 yards, sixth-best in the nation and tops in the Big 12. It was hard enough to stop Hunter in the first half of games last season as he picked up 861 yards in the first two quarters, fourth-best total in the nation. Where he really made an impact, though, was in the third quarter: He averaged 45.6 yards per game in the third, second in the nation.

Best Receiver in the Nation?

Dez Bryant, 2008 season (*Led Big 12)
NCAA Rank
Yards/Rec. 17.0* 8
Yards/Game 113.9* 2
Rec./TD 4.6* 3
20-yard TDs 13* 1

And don't forget the wideout situation, where a good spring for gaining depth at receiver is augmented by the fact that Dez Bryant will be back. Nobody caught more passes of over 20 yards than Bryant last year, and he was second nationally in yards per game with 113.9.

Now if only Oklahoma State could create similar threats on defense. (Saw that coming, right?) In Gundy's Wonka-like factory of play innovation, when it comes to defense, any schmo off the street gets a free tour.

But the coach is dismissive about such concerns. Much like his thoughts on offense, he says in the Big 12 you have to play it a little differently. Although the Cowboys had low sack totals, Gundy points out that nobody was going to get to the quarterback in quick throw-and-run offenses like Kansas, Texas Tech, Texas or Oklahoma. It's just a different game.

"We have to be patient with [the defense]. If theirs is an offense that can score 30 on everyone, you have to change your structure so you're thinking, 'How can we hold them to 25 and score 30 ourselves?' " Gundy says.

Red Zone Failure

OSU's defense was horrible inside the 20. (*Worst in NCAA)
NCAA Rank
Scoring pct. 84.2 77
TD pct. 73.7 114
Opp. Rush TD 16 T-67
Opp. Pass TD 26 119*

It makes sense, but the stats are still there. This unit struggled.

They ranked 78th in the nation in scoring defense and 93rd in the nation in yards allowed. You can excuse yards allowed -- everybody in the Big 12 felt that -- but Oklahoma State was one of the worst teams in the nation in terms of tightening the belt in the red zone and keeping opposing teams off the scoreboard.

That will need to change this year, and six returning starters will certainly help.

What will also help is the team's first game. By scheduling Georgia to kick off the season, Gundy says, "You don't have to worry about how hard they're working this summer."

Statistical information and research provided by Jon Costa of ESPN Stats & Information.