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FIRST LOOK: Oklahoma State Cowboys

We’re taking our first look at the 2016 Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Mason Ruldoph wants to tell you something. Photo by J Pat Carter/Getty Images
vs.
16/15 BAYLOR (3–0) vs. RV/RV Oklahoma State (2–1)
Sept. 24, 2016 | 6:30 p.m. CT
Waco, Texas | McLane Stadium (45,140)

TV: FOX
Listen | Gametracker Gametracker | Game Notes Notes

OPPONENT: Oklahoma State Cowboys
ODB GAME HUB: Baylor Bears vs. Oklahoma State Cowboys 2016
MEET THE PRESS: Baylor vs. Oklahoma State
OFFICIAL WEBSITE: Oklahoma State Cowboys
MEDIA GUIDE: 2016 Oklahoma State Football Media Guide (Click here for roster)
LAST MEETING: 45–35 Baylor | ODB Game Hub
LAST GAME: W; Oklahoma State 45–38 Pitt
SB NATION BLOG: Cowboys Ride for Free, at right
SPREAD: Baylor –8.5 (Open: Baylor –10)
TV COVERAGE: FOX, 6:30 p.m. CST Saturday WEATHER FORECAST: Thunderstorms, high of 92° (wunderground puts game time temp at 84°, around 80% chance of thunderstorms*) (OH GIVE ME A BREAK)

SBNation.com Oklahoma State Preview
baylorbears.com Preview
Bears vs. Cowboys Coverage

Be Bold Wear Gold

I didn’t make the slogan, so don’t shoot the messenger. Please. Love it or hate it, we’ve got another designated fan apparel setup for this game. What are we wearing? Gooooooooooooooooold!

That tweet basically says everything, except for this:

ASTERISK FROM WEATHER

It wouldn’t be a game at McLane without a dismal forecast. The weather has been somewhat kind to us thus far this season, so it was bound to turn sour on us. The good news is that at this point, the rain forecast drops to sub–10% right after game time. The bad news is that the forecast calls for soggy tailgating, which really stinks given we have an evening start and would have a full day of enjoyment around the stadium beforehand. Hopefully this forecast shifts the first two home games and we’re treated to pleasant weather. I swear, I’m like a broken record in these First Look posts. LOOK OUT, THE WEATHER WILL DESTROY ALL YOUR FUN AND EVERYTHING YOU HOLD DEAR. Hopefully not.

Oklahoma State Cowboys 2016 Schedule

Record: 2–1 | Second-order wins (diff.): 2.1 (0.1) | S&P+ Rk: 25
Date Opponent Opp. S&P+ Rk Score W-L Win
Expectancy
Adj. Scoring
Margin
Percentile
Performance
Off.
Percentile
Def.
Percentile
3-Sep Southeastern Louisiana N/A 61–7 W 100% 47.8 78% 55% 80%
10-Sep Central Michigan 78 27–30 L 30% –4.6 86% 80% 88%
17-Sep Pittsburgh 41 45–38 W 79% 7.1 81% 80% 20%
Date Opponent Opp. S&P+ Rk Win
Probability
Proj.
W-L
Proj.
Margin
Proj.
Score
Cumulative
Proj. Wins
24-Sep at Baylor 14 39% L –4.6 30.6 - 35.2 2.39
1-Oct Texas 39 62% W 5.5 36.1 - 30.6 3.02
8-Oct Iowa State 86 85% W 17.7 39.2 - 21.6 3.87
22-Oct at Kansas 113 92% W 23.9 41.6 - 17.7 4.78
29-Oct West Virginia 40 67% W 7.8 38.2 - 30.3 5.46
5-Nov at Kansas State 58 75% W 11.5 35.2 - 23.6 6.20
12-Nov Texas Tech 54 71% W 9.8 42.9 - 33.0 6.92
19-Nov at TCU 23 52% W 0.7 36.6 - 35.9 7.44
3-Dec at Oklahoma 7 26% L –11.0 31.0 - 42.0 7.70

If you’ve been living under a rock, Oklahoma State got royally screwed against Central Michigan, otherwise they’d be 3–0. "But Pope, if they’d played better, they’d never have been in the position for the refs to screw them like that!" Well, yeah, no kidding. That’s not a justification for poor job performance. If you don’t believe me, go ahead and tank your next performance review and try and blame it on the other guy who’s slacking off… Then see what the bosses say. Oklahoma State got screwed but good. They should have won that game. This should be a matchup of undefeated teams.

The Cowboys struggled at times with Pitt last week in a game that was delayed something like 17 hours because of a terrible thunderstorm. It might not be exactly 17 hours, but I can’t be bothered to actually look it up. Don’t @ me. At any rate, the Cowboys took the lead with about 90 seconds left in the game, then Pitt was trying to tie the game when Nathan Peterman threw the game-ending interception to Ramon Richards.

Oklahoma State Injury Report

Player Status Type Comment
Marcell Ateman Out Foot Ateman is recovering from offseason surgery to repair a broken foot and there is no timetable for a recovery.
Chris Carson Questionable Hand Carson is dealing with a hand injury and it is unclear if he will play Saturday against Baylor.
Jordan Brailford Questionable Leg Brailford is nursing a leg injury and it is unknown if he will suit up against Baylor on Saturday.

Who knows if this is accurate or not… I certainly don’t.

Oklahoma State Cowboys 2016 Individual Stats

Quarterbacks

Player Ht, Wt Year Comp Att Yards TD INT Comp
Rate
Sacks Sack Rate Yards/
Att.
Mason Rudolph 6’5, 235 JR 71 114 1017 6 1 62.3% 9 7.3% 7.7
Taylor Cornelius 6’6, 218 SO 6 8 54 0 0 75.0% 1 11.1% 5.6
John Kolar 6’4, 200 FR 1 2 8 0 0 50.0% 0 0.0% 4.0

Mason Rudolph is the dude here. In three games he has over a thousand yards passing. That’s pretty impressive. Baylor fans may remember him from the last time that he visited McLane Stadium—the rain-soaked (HAHAHA OF COURSE) Blackout game of 2014. It was his first game and he torched us for big numbers in a losing effort. He had his shots in last year’s loss as well. He’s got an excellent arm and a stable of incredibly talented receivers.

Rushing & Receiving Stats

Individual Rushing Stats

Player Pos. Ht, Wt Year Rushes Yards TD Yards/
Carry
Hlt Yds/
Opp.
Opp.
Rate
Fumbles
(Lost)
Justice Hill RB 5’10, 171 FR 24 89 0 3.7 3.5 37.5% 0 (0)
Rennie Childs RB 5’10, 208 SR 14 123 4 8.8 17.4 35.7% 0 (0)
Chris Carson RB 6’1, 215 SR 12 45 1 3.8 2.2 50.0% 0 (0)
Mason Rudolph QB 6’5, 235 JR 11 23 0 2.1 1.3 18.2% 3 (3)
Jeff Carr RB 5’7, 180 SO 6 42 1 7.0 7.0 50.0% 0 (0)
Barry J. Sanders RB 5’10, 198 SR 6 0 1 0.0 0.0 0.0% 0 (0)
Taylor Cornelius QB 6’6, 218 SO 5 32 1 6.4 3.5 60.0% 0 (0)
John Kolar QB 6’4, 200 FR 2 18 0 9.0 3.0 100.0% 0 (0)
Jalen McCleskey WR 5’10, 170 SO 1 8 0 8.0 2.0 100.0% 1 (0)
NOTE: Quarterback run totals above do not include sacks (which are counted toward pass averages below) or kneeldowns.

Compare this table to the previous one and you should have a good indication for what kind of offense Oklahoma State is fielding these days. Only one rusher has over 100 yards rushing in Rennie Childs, who has the highest yards per carry and best opportunity rate of the pack. The only other–HOLD THE PHONE THEY HAVE BARRY SANDERS ON THEIR TEAM. That’s awesome. If you’re wondering, yes, he’s the son of THAT Barry Sanders. He’s a senior. How did he become a senior and I never noticed that Barry J. Sanders played for Oklahoma State? That’s messed up.

Individual Receiving Stats

Player Pos. Ht, Wt Year Targets Catches Yards TD Yds/
Catch
Yds/
Target
Catch Rate Success Rate Target
Rate
James Washington WR 6’0, 205 JR 36 19 396 3 20.8 11.0 52.8% 44.4% 29.0%
Jalen McCleskey WR 5’10, 170 SO 27 18 150 1 8.3 5.6 66.7% 44.4% 21.8%
Jhajuan Seales WR 6’0, 205 SR 19 13 224 2 17.2 11.8 68.4% 47.4% 15.3%
Chris Lacy WR 6’3, 205 JR 12 6 74 0 12.3 6.2 50.0% 33.3% 9.7%
Chris Carson RB 6’1, 215 SR 6 5 60 0 12.0 10.0 83.3% 66.7% 4.8%
Austin Hays WR 6’2, 195 SR 5 4 53 0 13.3 10.6 80.0% 80.0% 4.0%
Dillon Stoner WR 5’11, 176 FR 4 2 27 0 13.5 6.8 50.0% 50.0% 3.2%
Barry J. Sanders RB 5’10, 198 SR 3 3 20 0 6.7 6.7 100.0% 33.3% 2.4%
Blake Jarwin TE 6’5, 248 SR 2 2 18 0 9.0 9.0 100.0% 50.0% 1.6%
Zac Veatch TE 6’3, 265 SR 1 1 18 1 18.0 18.0 100.0% 100.0% 0.8%
Terry Tillmon WR 5’11, 165 FR 1 1 13 0 13.0 13.0 100.0% 100.0% 0.8%
Keenen Brown TE 6’3, 242 SO 1 1 9 0 9.0 9.0 100.0% 100.0% 0.8%
Theo Berry WR 5’10, 195 JR 1 1 8 0 8.0 8.0 100.0% 0.0% 0.8%
Justice Hill RB 5’10, 171 FR 1 1 6 0 6.0 6.0 100.0% 100.0% 0.8%
Jeff Carr RB 5’7, 180 SO 1 1 4 0 4.0 4.0 100.0% 0.0% 0.8%
Obi Obialo WR 6’3, 200 FR 1 1 1 0 1.0 1.0 100.0% 0.0% 0.8%

James Washington is the name that jumps out at you, but Oklahoma State has a tremendous crop of wide receivers headlined by Washington, Jalen Mccluskey, and Jhajuan Seales (whose name we will not even attempt to pronounce on the podcast). The Cowboys like to air it out, and they have real talent. The Baylor secondary will be tested early and often in this game. We’ll finally get to see what seems to be an improved secondary against a true threat. Will they stand up to the heat? Will the pass rush get any push against Oklahoma State’s offensive line? We’ll see. This will be an interesting matchup.

Individual Defensive Stats
Name Pos Ht, Wt Year Tackles % of Team TFL Sacks Int PBU FF
Jordan Burton LB 6’2, 215 SR 16.5 9.4% 2.5 0.5 0 1 0
Jordan Sterns S 6’0, 200 SR 15.5 8.8% 1.0 0.0 0 3 0
Chad Whitener LB 6’0, 248 JR 14.0 8.0% 2.0 0.0 0 2 0
Devante Averette LB 5’11, 230 SR 14.0 8.0% 1.0 0.0 0 0 2
Ramon Richards CB 5’11, 185 JR 12.5 7.1% 0.0 0.0 2 0 0
Vincent Taylor DT 6’3, 310 JR 10.0 5.7% 1.5 0.5 0 0 0
Tralund Webber DE 6’5, 250 JR 7.5 4.3% 3.0 1.0 0 1 0
Justin Phillips LB 6’0, 235 SO 7.5 4.3% 1.0 1.0 0 0 0
Cole Walterscheid DE 6’5, 254 SO 7.0 4.0% 5.0 2.0 0 0 1
Tre Flowers S 6’3, 198 JR 7.0 4.0% 0.0 0.0 0 1 0
Ashton Lampkin CB 6’0, 190 SR 5.5 3.1% 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Kenneth Edison-McGruder S 6’0, 215 SO 5.0 2.8% 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Lenzy Pipkins CB 6’0, 201 SR 5.0 2.8% 0.0 0.0 0 1 0
Jarrell Owens DE 6’3, 270 SO 4.5 2.6% 3.0 2.0 0 0 0
Gyasi Akem LB 6’2, 230 JR 4.5 2.6% 1.0 0.0 0 0 0
DeQuinton Osborne DT 6’0, 310 JR 4.0 2.3% 3.0 1.0 0 0 0
Motekiai Maile DT 6’3, 315 SR 4.0 2.3% 2.0 0.0 0 1 0
Calvin Bundage LB 6’2, 193 FR 4.0 2.3% 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Kirk Tucker LB 6’1, 200 JR 3.5 2.0% 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Kevin Henry LB 6’0, 225 FR 3.5 2.0% 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Vili Leveni DT 6’4, 290 JR 2.5 1.4% 2.0 0.0 0 0 0
Derrick Moncrief S 6’2, 220 SR 2.5 1.4% 0.0 0.0 0 1 0
Eric Davis DT 6’3, 305 SR 2.5 1.4% 0.0 0.0 0 0 0
Tyler Ferguson DT 6’2, 265 SO 2.0 1.1% 1.0 0.0 0 0 0
Za’Carrius Green S 5’11, 205 FR 1.5 0.9% 0.0 0.0 0 0 0

Hey look, it’s a defense! I haven’t spent much time watching this side of the ball. Feel free to expound upon them in the comments. There are some serious all-name team candidates on this defense, though. I’m looking at you Motekaiai Maile and Za’Carrius Green. Truly excellent names.

It’s Question Time!

A: Let’s take the first 5–8 minutes of the first quarter. What do you need to see to calm your nerves? 2: You wearing gold or nah? π: How much does the rain worry you?
§ 2254: How excited are you for football in McLane again? How ready are you for conference play? GIVE ME GIFS. I need gifs. You are my supplier. Umlaut: Uniform prediction. GO.