Oklahoma State Football: 3 takeaways from near-upset to Tulsa

Oklahoma State football didn’t expect a close game against Tulsa at home, but losing Spencer Sanders made that possible. What’d we learn?

With another game that had a COVID-19 impact at one point, it was the Cowboys and Golden Hurricane that were able to reschedule. This contest was meant to occur just a week ago, but with COVID-19 precautions, it got pushed back and it didn’t disappoint. Oklahoma State escaped with a 16-7 win.

Two Tulsa players were in quarantine and it was two important playmakers in quarterback Zach Smith and linebacker Zaven Collins.

One of the early trends in college football throughout the first few weeks have been the lack of consistent offense between two teams. That trend stayed consistent as neither team could off the ground offensively in the first half.

Even with that being the case, Oklahoma State pulled away and did just enough to beat Tulsa.

Tulsa’s offense could not get push up front against a Big 12 defensive line. The loss of star running back Shamari Brooks earlier in the week didn’t help the cause. Brooks was coming off a 1,000-yard rushing season in 2019 and was sidelined due to an injury.

Meanwhile, it was Smith for the Hurricanes that showed flashes of his performance in 2016 as a freshman at Baylor. Right before halftime, Smith made two fantastic throws to give the Hurricane their first lead.

Smith’s arm talent has never been a question and the touch he puts on passes is among the best in the country. Junior receiver Josh Johnson had some good catches and was the leading receiver on the day for Tulsa.

If it wasn’t flashes however, it was hard to watch Tulsa gain any sort of momentum throughout the first three quarters.

Texas A&M transfer running back Deneric Prince gave the Hurricane a subtle boost in the fourth quarter and ended the day with 82 yards.

The Hurricane were very bad on third down (0-12) and constant read option calls on third-and-short certainly didn’t help their chances. The self-inflicting wounds continued with penalties as Tulsa could not stop shooting themselves in the foot.

Tulsa finished with 15 penalties and 120 yards as almost half of those penalties were on delay of games. A lot of the credit goes to Oklahoma State’s defense, which was stifling. Ten of 11 starters return from last year and a reason as to why there is a lot of hype around the Cowboys is the returning production.

For Oklahoma State, their lack of faith in throwing vertically was a lot of the reason why the Cowboys were underwhelming.

Chuba Hubbard at times had some holes, but could never break off a big play. The superstar finished the day with 93 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries.

Shane Illingworth came in after Bullock and showed a lot of potential. He lead the Cowboys down the field to their lone touchdown of the game and had 78 yards on three throws.

What did we learn from this one?