Oklahoma State Is Trying as Hard as It Can to Figure out the Run Game

As Kyle Boone pointed out earlier today, OSU expects Chris Carson and Rennie Childs to be back for the West Virginia game this weekend. That means, probably, back to feeding the run game. I’ve written (too) many times that’s probably a good thing, and Gundy seems intent on solving the one thing that could unlock a Big 12 title (I know I sound crazy).

You know Gundy's serious about getting run game going, he's adding time to practice, which he hates to do.

— John Helsley (@jjhelsley) October 5, 2015

Gundy stressing they're trying to find a way to rush for 150 yards a game. Ran for 49 against Kansas State. #okstate

— Nathan Ruiz (@NathanSRuiz) October 5, 2015

It’s certainly going to be interesting to watch this develop over the next six weeks. There was no depth chart change on Monday even though Jesse Robinson played most of the second half for Paul Lewis on Kansas State.

I’m going to talk about this more in depth later this week, but if you look back at 2013, OSU only averaged 4.4 yards per carry and should have won the Big 12 that year. That’s not a very good number, but this defense is good enough (probably) that your run game doesn’t have to be great or even good. It just has to be average (which is what 4.4 yards per carry is).

Gundy also noted, curiously to me, that he’s not going to have Rudolph fling it 50 times a game in the future. I say “curiously” because this is not the reason I was expecting. I was expecting the reason to be “we want to limit turnovers and give our defense a chance to win and you’re more likely to turn it over when you’re passing than when you’re running.”

“I’m not comfortable with that thought with our personnel right now,” Gundy said. “If we have seven experienced offensive linemen up front and a two-year veteran at quarterback that had 20 games under his belt, with this group of receivers, I’d say ‘Just fire away.’ But we’re not really there.”

OSU’s pass blocking has actually been pretty good, and Rudolph plays like a veteran. I don’t disagree with the philosophy. I do disagree with the path you’re taking to get there.