STILLWATER – A 4-0 start to the season has the Oklahoma State football team ranked in both sets of major polls for the first time this season. The Cowboys opened Big 12 play on Saturday with a 31-20 victory over No. 25 Kansas State and will welcome their second-consecutive ranked opponent into Boone Pickens Stadium when they kickoff against No. 21 Baylor who is also 4-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play. Here is some of what OSU head coach Mike Gundy said during his time with the media earlier today:
STILLWATER – A 4-0 start to the season has the Oklahoma State football team ranked in both sets of major polls for the first time this season. The Cowboys opened Big 12 play on Saturday with a 31-20 victory over No. 25 Kansas State and will welcome their second-consecutive ranked opponent into Boone Pickens Stadium when they kickoff against No. 21 Baylor who is also 4-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play. Here is some of what OSU head coach Mike Gundy said during his time with the media earlier today:
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For the first time this season, Malcolm Rodriguez didn’t lead the Cowboys in tackles, but his defensive touchdown still saw him walk away with some weekly hardware. Rodriguez was named a Big 12 Co-Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against Kansas State. Rodriguez had seven total tackles, six solo stops, a tackle for loss and a fumble recovery in the end zone in Oklahoma State’s 31-20 victory. It’s the second Defensive Player of the Week honor Rodriguez has picked up this year, as he also picked up the award after his game against Tulsa. Rodriguez has 43 total tackles on the season, most in the Big 12. West Virginia’s Josh Chandler-Semedo is second in the conference with 35 total tackles, eight tackles behind Rodriguez. Rodriguez’s 28 solo stops are also a conference best, ahead of Baylor’s Jalen Pitre. Pitre has 24 solo tackles and has played one more game than Rodriguez. This is the sixth weekly conference honor an OSU player has picked up this season. OSU players in the Big 12’s weekly awardsMalcolm Rodriguez – Defensive Player of the Week vs. Tulsa The post Malcolm Rodriguez Earns Second Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week Honor appeared first on Pistols Firing. Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. STILLWATER – Oklahoma State linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez was named Big 12 Co-Defensive Player of the Week Monday after his performance in OSU's 31-20 win over No. 25 Kansas State on Saturday. Complete Notes Available Here The Cowboys looked like their old selves against Kansas State. That is, they fielded an offensive capable of sustaining drives for at least two quarters. OSU’s defense kept the Wildcats under wraps in the second half, and the Pokes crawled to their most comfortable victory of the young season. It wasn’t all pretty, but the Pokes are 1-0 in conference play. Here is the best and the worst from the Cowboys’ 31-20 win. Best Finish: Brennan PresleyPresley found pay dirt for the first time this season on a 20-yard catch and carry. But what was most impressive was Presley’s ability to fight through contact and then use a defender’s body to insulate him from the turf long enough to roll into the promised land. Worst Kick Coverage: Shades of 2017The last time Kansas State won in Stillwater (the only time this century) was in 2017. In that game Byron Pringle returned an OSU kickoff for a touchdown. Early on Saturday, Malik Knowles did the same thing by eluding at least three Cowboys who were within arm’s reach of him, housing a 99-yard return. Worst Idea: Knowles Trying to Make it Two in a RowOn the very next kickoff, the speedy Wildcat receiver tried to recapture lightning in a bottle and attempted a return out of the end zone. Only this time Dominic Richardson was there and Knowles was buried at the 7-yard line which directly led to an OSU defensive score. So when he fielded a later kickoff in the end zone, OSU fans jeered and taunted Knowles to give it another try. He chose instead to take a knee. Best Comeback: Tay Martin is WR1For as electric as Presley is, the Cowboys need their big playmaker on the outside and they got him back on Saturday. Martin caught nine of his 12 targets for 100 yards and a score, and seven of those catches moved the chains. But more than that, he’s the type of big-play threat on the outside that keeps defenses honest. “Tay Martin is a threat,” said Mike Gundy after the game. “We have young players at receiver out there and the other teams challenge ’em. Tay Martin is ready for that. He’s a threat out there. Most of the time they kept two people around him, which allowed us to run the football.” While playing essentially just two games — he was on the field for just two snaps against Tulsa — Martin is the Cowboys’ leading receiver. He’s currently fourth in the Big 12 with 69 yards per game. Best Coverage: Jarrick Bernard-ConverseEarly on it appeared like Kansas State was specifically targeting Jarrick Bernard-Converse, and that was a mistake. Bernard-Converse tallied three huge pass breakups, all on would-be big plays near the goal line. He graded out as the second-highest Cowboy defender per Pro Football Focus with a 90.6. He was targeted eight times but only allowed three catches and only five yards after contact. Through Week 4, he grades out T26th among all cornerbacks in the nation, according to PFF. The post The Best and the Worst from Oklahoma State’s Win over Kansas State appeared first on Pistols Firing. Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. The Daily Bullets are brought to you by Hoboken Coffee: Get 20% off your first order. ScoresWomen’s Soccer: Cowgirls 3, Kansas 1 OSU Bullets• OSU broke into the top-25 in the AP poll, bump up four spots in the Coaches Poll • The betting line opened at OSU-3.5 against Baylor • Here’s a solid paragraph to take in if you’re looking for orange Kool-Aid to consume – OSU showed serious potential Saturday (before it got dark):
• This piece lists OSU as one of the winners in college football from Saturday – and hypes the matchup Saturday for two of college football’s remaining unbeatens: • The Pokes can’t get Brock Martin back fast enough after losing Trace Ford – here’s the update Gundy gave Saturday night • Gundy is a guaranteed winner against a ranked team every year: • This post-game celebration at BPS will get ya. Non-OSU Bullets• Great, old fatherhood thoughts from AoM The post Daily Bullets (Sept. 27): The Orange Kool-Aid Flows after a Win over K-State appeared first on Pistols Firing. Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. Chris Carson can bring the thunder, but he can also bring the lightning. The former Oklahoma State tailback has made a nice home for himself in the NFL. After being drafted in the seventh round in the 2017 NFL Draft, Carson earned the job of Seattle’s starting running back as a rookie and has been the unquestioned RB1, when healthy, ever since. The Seahawks offense goes as far as Carson can drag it. But on Sunday, the power runner showed off his jets, taking a handoff and sprinting, untouched 30 yards to pay dirt. At the half, the Seahawks trail the Minnesota Vikings 21-17. Carson has 10 carries for 74 yards and that score. The post Watch: Chris Carson Breaks Loose for 30-Yard Touchdown against Vikings appeared first on Pistols Firing. Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. STILLWATER — The big story is that the Cowboys are unbeaten, but there are plenty of stories within that story. Oklahoma State topped Kansas State 31-20 in the Cowboys’ conference opener Saturday night. Here are three storylines that came out of that game. 1. Martin ‘Hopefully’ Back in a Few WeeksSenior defensive end Brock Martin went down in the second half, and he was on the Boone Pickens Stadium turf for a few minutes. As Martin walked off the field, an OSU trainer was holding Martin’s left arm. Martin told the media Tuesday that he wears a brace on his left shoulder, and in his postgame news conference OSU coach Mike Gundy said he thinks this incident saw Martin reaggravate an old injury. “I think he will be back in a few weeks,” Gundy said. “I don’t think it would be something that ends the season. He’s had some shoulder problems and stuff, and I think he’s got it dinged up again. Once you’ve been injured like that, anytime something like that happens, it’s scares you as an athlete because you’re afraid they’re taking it away from you. Hopefully maybe just a few weeks on him.” In the mean time, expect an even heavier dose of true freshman Collin Oliver with Martin and Trace Ford from that position group now injured. In four games, Oliver has eight tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and 0.5 sacks. 2. Gundy Likens Hale’s Struggles to That of a GolferAfter being a Groza Award semifinalist last season, Alex Hale has started the season just 2-for-5 on field goals. Hale was 1-for-3 against Kansas State on Saturday night, missing kicks from 48 and 49 yards. After the game, Gundy said he isn’t worried about it and likened Hale’s struggles to that of a golfer. “It’s like you going up there with your driver and you keep cutting it to the right,” Gundy said. “You’re trying to fix it. Then it goes (the opposite direction). Then you’re like, ‘Just give me another beer.’ That’s what happens in golf.” Hale’s struggles have been from distance, as he is 2-for-2 on kicks inside of 40 yards this season but 0-for-3 on kicks from farther. “It’s very, very tedious, and he’s trying to fix it, I have a lot of confidence in him,” Gundy said. “Nobody’s gonna take it harder than him, but he’s our kicker and he’s gonna fix it.” 3. OSU’s New Cowboy BackSilas Barr’s first taste of college football came at a position he wasn’t even recruited for. Barr, a true freshman from Pottsboro, came to Oklahoma State as an offensive tackle in the 2021 recruiting class. Some schools recruited Barr as a defensive lineman. But Barr debuted Saturday with a new number, No. 48, and with a new position, Cowboy back. It’s a product of the Cowboys being thin at the position. Projected starter Logan Carter hasn’t played this season. That’s left Braden Cassity (who started his career as a defensive lineman) to play the majority of the group’s snaps. OSU also brought in Austin Jarrard, a junior college tight end, in the 2021 class. Jarrard didn’t enroll early, and Gundy said Jarrard isn’t ready yet. So, Barr it is. “Silas can come in and help us at that position because he’s pretty mobile for his size,” Gundy said. “He actually caught a pass in practice and said it was the first pass ever in his life that he’s caught. I told him he needs to get 50 jugs a day just in case somebody makes a mistake and we throw him another one.” The post Three Things: Brock Martin’s Injury, Hale’s Golf Swing, New Cowboy Back appeared first on Pistols Firing. Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. It took five weeks, but the Cowboys are finally getting their due from AP voters. Oklahoma State broke into the AP’s Top 25 according to the Week 5 poll, debuting at No. 19. The Cowboys were the fourth team out of last week’s poll. OSU has been ranked in the Amway Coaches poll all season and just moved up to No. 18. Here’s a look at the entire AP ranking.
Around the conference, Kansas State fell from 25th out of the ranking after its loss in Stillwater. Oklahoma dropped from 4 to 6 after its win in Norman (The Sooners didn’t lead West Virginia until making a last-second field goal). Iowa State dropped from 14th all the way out of the Top 25, but was replaced by the Bears that knocked them out and jumped to 21. That will make for a matchup of unbeaten Top 25 teams in Stillwater next weekend when Baylor visits Oklahoma State. The post Cowboys Break into AP Top 25 Following Win over Kansas State appeared first on Pistols Firing. Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. Oklahoma State climbed four spots to 18th in this week’s coaches poll after its 31-20 win over Kansas State. Here’s a look at the Amway Coaches poll Top 25 for Week 5.
Heading into Week 5, the Cowboys have yet to be ranked by the AP voters, but have been in the Amway Coaches poll every week. OSU debuted at 22 according to the coaches, and also appeared at 23. This is their highest ranking so far this year. Elsewhere in the Big 12, Oklahoma dropped one spot from 3 to 4 after a nail-biter against West Virginia. Iowa State dropped from 14 all the way out of the ranking after losing to Baylor on Saturday. That moved the Bears up to No. 24 in the ranking, meaning this weekend’s matchup with them in Stillwater will be ranked-on-ranked. The post OSU Moves Up Four Spots in Coaches Poll After K-State Win appeared first on Pistols Firing. Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. |
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