Will Oklahoma State Be Able to Run the Ball Against OU?

The passing attack has been the calling card of the Cowboy offense for some time. With a prolific pocket QB in Mason Rudolph and a deep pool of wide receivers headlined by James Washington it makes plenty of sense.

It has been the Cowboys ineffectiveness in the run game that has held them back over the past couple of years. This isn’t news to anyone reading this, but the point can be made that the “Cardiac Cowboys” moniker can at least be partially blamed on their inability to burn clock and possess the ball when they need to.

Fortunately, over the last few weeks the Cowboys have taken leaps forward on that front.

With one regular season game remaining, true freshman Justice Hill looks to further cement his place in OSU history. Against TCU, he passed Thurman Thomas for most rushing yards by a true freshman. He needs less than 20 to break the overall freshman rushing record held by Mike Hamilton.

And Hill needs just 57 yards between Bedlam and the bowl game to be the Cowboys’ first 1,000-yard rusher since Joe Randle in 2012.

Chris Carson has had a career-streak the last five games since returning from injury. Against TCU, the two became just the first tandem of OSU  tailbacks to reach 100-plus yards in the same game since 2012 (Joseph Randle and Desmond Roland).

If the Cowboys wants to win in Norman and take home their second Big 12 title, they will have to be able to run the ball. But will their recent success carry over?

Let’s look at the match up.

The Cowboys have the seventh best rushing offense in the Big 12 averaging just 165 yards per game and 4.4 yards per carry. In the last three games, however, they have averaged 241.3 yards per game and 6.6 yards per carry.

Oklahoma ranks second in the Big 12 in rushing defense allowing just 155.64 yards per game allowing 4.5 yards per carry. But in their last three games, the Sooners have given up 130 yards at Iowa State, 212 yards to Baylor at home and 388 yards at West Virginia.

During that stretch, opposing offenses have averaged 243.3 rushing yards per game and 6.7 yards per carry.

These numbers are astonishingly close together over the last three games.

Oklahoma has been without defensive end Matt Dimon who was injured against Ohio State and has since has left the program as well as defensive end Charles Walker who chose to sit out the remainder of the season after being diagnosed with his second concussion.

Based on the improvement in the offensive line and with how effective their 1-2 punch of Hill and Carson have been, the Cowboys should be able to keep OU’s defense honest. Will it be enough to make the difference in Bedlam? We’ll have to wait and see.