Oklahoma State Football Can Find Consistent Run Game in Week 3 Matchup
The Oklahoma State Cowboys have gotten off to an impressive 2-0 start to their season. Not impressive in the sense that they're dominating competition or taking down solid teams, but because they're coming away with wins despite rotating three quarterbacks in the game.
Evidently, the ground game hasn't been incredible in the meantime either. Through two games played, the team has 262 rushing yards, which ranks No. 90 in the nation. They average 4.2 yards per carry and have found the end zone on the ground on three separate occasions.
Through the first half of Oklahoma State's Week 2 matchup against Arizona State, they gained zero yards on the ground. This doesn't help the quarterback's cases, as they need a functional offense to work with for their stint in the game. If the run game can't produce, safeties don't have to drop and the pass game will then take a hit.
In the second half of the Week 2 matchup, however, Oklahoma State got things going. They gained all of their 113 rushing yards in the second half, which opened up the field for both Gunnar Gundy and Garret Rangel to throw for a touchdown.
“We couldn’t really run the ball at all in the first half. That’s two weeks in a row that we’ve done that, and we’re fortunate that we’re getting out of these games.” Mike Gundy said after the game against Arizona State. “We have to find a way to establish a run game to start the game off.”
Playing South Alabama allows for Oklahoma State to potentially find that rhythm earlier in the game. Oklahoma State is a seven-point favorite. They'll be facing the pressure of being upset, so they'll have less margin for error and will need to be locked in early.
The offensive line has now had two weeks of game reps and the play callers have a knowledge of what's needed to successfully run. It wouldn't be surprising to see the Cowboys find some consistency in their run game this week.
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