Three Reasons Oklahoma State Is Better Equipped To Win The Big 12

It felt like “trying to win the Kentucky Derby with a mule,” said Mike Gundy this week. He was talking about recruiting. He might as well have been talking about the end of OSU’s 2015 season. That’s what it felt like to me anyway.

After starting 10-0 in 2015, OSU badly lost two straight Big 12 games against Baylor and OU to end the year, and the conference title felt further away than ever. “More horses,” I thought. They just had more dudes. We were a mule.

That might still be the case, but OSU gets a do-over a year later, and we get to find out if anything has changed. This time around Oklahoma State will again play two games against TCU and OU for the Big 12 Championship.

Here are three reasons OSU is loaded better to take the prize in 2016 than it was in 2015.

Defensive health

Last year when Oklahoma State throttled TCU in Stillwater 49-29 to stay undefeated and move to 9-0 on the year, the Cowboys’ defense faced 110 plays. One-hundred and ten. It is a school record and could remain that way for a while. It was also a horrible development for a defense that did not have the depth it would have liked at that time of year.

The Cowboys have only faced slightly fewer plays per game this season but have only had one game in which their defense was on the field for more than 90 plays. Last year it had four through the first 11 games (110 against TCU, 104 against Baylor, 98 at WVU and 94 at Texas Tech). In fact, those were four of the 13 most-exhaustive defensive performances since 2000 (and I believe ever) for the Pokes.

Combine that with better depth overall on defense (the only big loss so far is Villi Leveni depending on whether you’re counting Jordan Brailford) and better luck with injuries, and it sure seems like Oklahoma State is better prepped to make a final push at the Big 12 crown in 2016 than it was in 2015.

“We are healthier on defense,” said Gundy this week. “Last year, the teams we played at the end of the year were really good football teams. I didn’t feel like we played as well as we could have defensively but we were beat up a little bit. But, we’re healthier, so overall I feel good about where we’re at as a team.

“We were able to get out of the last game without getting anybody injured. Their focus has to be to finish strong. Fatigue can be an issue at this point in conference play.”

So that’s reason No. 1, but there are two others that intrigue me as well.

OSU can actually run the ball this year

If it’s not obvious on film, it should be by the way players and coaches are talking. Also, I have stats for you (looking at you, Monken). These are running back-only yards per carry numbers for the last two seasons (so I took QBs out of the equation and thus sacks as well).

• 2015: 4.36 yards per carry
• 2016: 5.13 yards per carry

“It’s good for our whole offense,” said center Brad Lundblade this week. “I feel like throughout the game we were able to run the ball effectively and that helps our passing game as well.”

The significance here should be obvious. You have more balance and more control when you can run the football. You’re not living on a Mason Rudolph prayer every Saturday. The exciting thing is that OSU is getting better in this category.

Look at its yards per carry by week. The three best performances of the year have come in the last four weeks.

“It’s fun to be able to run the ball well,” said Mike Yurcich last week. “It gives you a tremendous balance. It takes the stress off the quarterback. It alleviates a lot of different pressures. We were able to call a couple of different looks. The guys in the box did a good job communicating. Whenever you’re able to have balance it makes it harder to defend. It was good control.”

Team chemistry, does it matter?

The last reason I see OSU as better equipped to win its second Big 12 title in six years this season is the most ambiguous one. It’s one reason (of many) OSU is 11-1 in its last 12 games decided by single digits.

I don’t give as much weight to belief and mindset or other coach speak as I did say 10 years ago because the realization that Alabama’s horses are bigger and faster than everyone else’s dreams gets more stark as you get older. But I do think when there is parity in a conference, that all the team-based elixirs broadcasters like to drum up can matter.

“Each week I talk to them about the importance of focus and fortunately we’ve had big wins,” said Gundy on Monday. “Last night, I said, ‘You’ve gotten to a point where you’re 9-1 and you only got here by busting your butt, overcoming deficiencies, finding answers, practicing hard and preparing for the next game.

“They buy into that. This team, from a chemistry standpoint, has come further in the last month and a half than any team I’ve ever seen. Where does that team chemistry come from? I don’t know. If I knew, I’d bottle it up, sell it and retire. We talk an awful lot about ‘beating the guy in the mirror.’ The guy in the mirror is the one that gets all of us.”

Last year it was actually the guy in the monstrous mittens and stupidly-fitting OU cap on the north side of Boone Pickens Stadium that got you, but I see Gundy’s point. He’s making me believe, too. I’m still not sure OSU has the thoroughbreds to close like I want it to, but I’m definitely here to find out.