Three Things We Learned About OSU In Its 45-38 Pitt Win

The non-conference portion of the schedule is now over, and we have learned a lot (although not everything) about this Oklahoma State team. Let’s get to three things we learned specifically on Saturday in the Pitt game.

1. Even Big 12 Coaches Struggle To Make On-The-Fly Fixes

One of the more interesting quotes to come out of the postgame on Saturday was this from Mike Gundy: “The lightning delay gave us a great chance to go in and redraw offense and defense, change our schemes, walk through and get prepared for the remainder of the game.”

Glenn Spencer later confirmed that OSU’s defense added “a wrinkle.”

The thing that stood out to me is … shouldn’t these things be happening as the game plays out? Why would you need a lightning delay to implement something? I realize that everything is going fast on the field, but I guess I would like to hear more about this taking place during the actual game.

2. Ramon Richards Is Magic

You know how I always get annoyed about people calling everything the best or worst ever? Yeah, it’s kind of true with Ramon. He’s either getting housed for six or picking somebody off. Seemingly every time the ball is thrown his way.

“It’s interesting, with Ramon, he seems a little bit like Shaun Lewis,” said Gundy. “He’s always in the right place at the right time. With Shaun, it seemed like every time you needed a play, he picked the ball up or intercept a pass. So far, Ramon has been in the right place in the right time.”

Glenn Spencer said it best. “This hairline right here,” Spencer told the Oklahoman, “is receding because of Ramon Richards.”

3. James Washington’s body control is surreal

We already pretty much knew this, but Washington’s ability to “box out” opposing corners or go get balls that are seemingly overthrown is incredible. Watch the way he goes up here, shields the defender and snatches away TD No. 2.

Amazing.

1. Oklahoma State will have issues against top-tier running backs

James Conner is an absolute grinder on the ground for Pitt, who churned out 111 yards on 4.6 per carry Saturday. Even with the defensive tackle position being as loaded as it is, the Pokes still had issues defending the run game, which could be attributed to Pitt’s pre-snap movement as much as the matchup on the line. But when you surrender 290 yards and still win, it’s a sign that there may be some issues that need cleared up. Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon would have a field day if they were to play OSU next week.

2. OSU is relying on no kick return game

The Pokes rank No. 76 nationally in kick return yardage with approximately 20.67 yards per return. I understand putting a burner in the back to field kicks like Jeff Carr who has breakaway speed, but it feels like he runs straight into a wall on every return and there’s a less than 5% chance of him breaking the first tackle. It seems they’re satisfied with below average which is a head-scratcher to me.

3. No Chris Carson opens opportunities for Rennie Childs

Going into Saturday’s contest against Pitt, Childs had six total rushing touchdowns in his entire career. He added four on Saturday along with 101 rushing yards. Chris Carson, who Mike Gundy said won’t be back “for awhile”, typically is the one getting the goal-to-go touches with his physical running style.

“Rennie played the best game he’s ever played,” Mike Gundy said after the game.

With Carson’s absence, Childs now has a big opportunity moving forward to build on what he started Saturday.