Photo Attribution: Corie Brianne

When we, as fans, look at offenses do we care that Georgia Tech has as many passing attempts all year as Texas Tech has on a conservative night?

No, we only care that they both put up 40+ and make every team they play outscore them to beat them. An offense’s only goal is to get the ball in the endzone. Whether that’s by hitting Sammy Watkins on gorgeous 75-yard ticking time bombs or having Jared Lorenzen do cartwheels down the sideline I guarantee you people couldn’t care less as long as the scoreboard keeps lighting up.

So why, as fans (and as the national media), do we care so much about how a defense looks when it performs? That is, if a defense’s job is to get the ball back to its offense without letting the other team kick a field goal or score a touchdown, why do we care if they do that by forcing three and outs or getting tons of fumbles and interceptions?

OSU’s defense is tied for second in the country with 24 forced turnovers. If they were in the SEC they would be lauded for being “opportunistic” and “invasive” but because they’re OSU and because the Big 12 has a reputation for being an “all play and no work” kind of conference they’re labeled as “shoddy” and “have a ton of holes on the defensive side of the ball.”

Let’s forget for a moment the advanced metrics I threw out last week that showed where, in actuality, Oklahoma State might in fact have a top ten defense and look at the only thing that matters: how many points do they allow compared to other teams in their conference.

First, your points per game given up (conference games only) in reverse order:

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Photo Attribution: Corie Brianne

I wrote before the season started that I thought Michael Harrison would be one of the fifteen most important people to an Oklahoma State title run this year. Clearly I was a bit off as I thought he could slide into the #3 WR role behind Blackmon and Cooper and he has to this point only totaled 15 catches for 207 yards, good for 5th best on the team.

That all changed in Columbia last Saturday when Hubert Anyiam went down (again) and Todd Monken went all “Texas QB situation” on us and said Harrison and Isaiah Anderson would both help fill his spot:

They’ll be kind of a two-headed monster over there and we’ll try to get the most out of both of them.

You can pretty easily (okay, maybe not easily) do that too. Anyiam was averaging fewer yards per catch than Harrison and had the same amount of TDs as Anderson. I think I’m actually more surprised Harrison isn’t just getting the nod straight up as the new “X” receiver with the way Monken gushes about him:

He might be the best after-the-catch guy that we’ve got; he’s just not as fast as Blackmon. (Harrison) can’t separate. He may not be as quick, but in terms of strength – and Black will be bummed that I said that – Michael Harrison is a bear to bring down.

Long-time and part-time contributor, Brett Myles, made an interesting point the other day in my 10 thoughts on Missouri piece when he wondered aloud if Harrison reminded anyone else of Dez.

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Photo Attribution: KT King

I wish I could put on paper the string of words that sailed through my head the afternoon I found about the NCAA’s takedown of one Dez Bryant. But I try to keep things clean here on PFB and after ripping Todd Monken for making OSU look bad I suppose it would be rather hypocritical of me to do the same. Even though OSU has made it extremely clear that I am in no way (and never will be) associated with the program. I digress.

I knew that season was as good as over when Dez stopped playing. The well from which they were drawing game-changing go-routes and electrifying punt returns had dried up with one swift stack of litigious papers from the NCAA.

When Justin Blackmon suffered a similar fate (and by “similar fate” I simply mean he, too, missed the second half of the Missouri game in his junior year at OSU because that’s about where the comparisons end) last Saturday when he was (or wasn’t?) concussed, my first thought was, “oh, well I hope he’s back for Baylor, I’m looking forward to watching Isaiah Anderson and Michael Harrison play this second half.”

How far the program has traversed.

I’m not trying to say I’m excited about Blackmon missing games, only that it doesn’t drive a stake into your season like it once would have. After the Texas game, Mike Gundy said something that really intrigued me:

I said this to the team yesterday, we may be getting close enough so that everybody can relax and just go play. So many years, we relied on two or three guys making all the plays, and if they didn’t play well enough, you’ll get beat.

He’s right too. Now this team isn’t Bama-deep or Death Valley-loaded, but who is?

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Photo Attribution: @eknielsen

Amongst the many nicknames for Jeremy Smith and Joseph Randle floating around the interwebs I believe “Run and Guns” is my favorite if not for anything else other than its accuracy. Randle doing the running, Smith sporting the gun show. It’s distinctive, apt, and scary.

All three adjectives also describe the production of OSU’s “how do they always have this sick of a backfield?” version 2k11. It’s hard to replace a two-time All-Big 12 performer like Kendall Hunter but it would appear that’s exactly what Mike Gundy and his staff have done through seven games. Let’s take a look at 2010 numbers versus 2011:

2010 rushing stats through 7 games:

180 YPG   |   16 TDs   |   4.81 YPR   |   34% of the offense

2011 rushing stats through 7 games:

161.1 YPG   |   20 TDs   |   4.6 YPR   |   30% of the offense

So 2010 stands as slightly better overall, but consider the following factors: the Cowboys have run it 20 fewer times (or 3/game) than they did last season. Also, you’re not looking at a true comparison because Randle + Smith were more of a factor last year than Roland and Sims are this year.

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