Does a team who lost five games in a row and is still winless in conference play present the weakest Big 12 opponent ASU has faced to date, or a team very capable of breaking that streak during their homecoming game? Joe Healey examines ASU's Saturday road opponent
Oklahoma State Offense
Yet another seventh-year senior quarterback that ASU will face in 2024, Alan Bowman, began his career at Texas Tech from 2018-20, then transferred to Michigan for 2021-22 before relocating yet again to Oklahoma State prior to last season.
A player with 10,886 career passing yards with 82 total touchdowns, this season, Bowman has completed 60.3 percent of his passes for 2,097 yards (262.13 per game) with 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He has four games this season with more than 300 passing yards, but in his last five outings – all losses for OSU – he’s tossed eight interceptions to just six touchdowns.
Bowman, an Honorable Mention All-Big 12 pick in 2023, has started seven of eight games this year, with Garret Rangel having started the Oct. 18 loss at BYU. That start for Rangel was a result of Bowman having been benched; so though Bowman’s numbers are solid, there has been a bit of a quarterback quandary in Stillwater this season.
One of the more surprising disappointments this season in terms of an individual player failing to live up to expectations is Cowboy running back Ollie Gordon. Last season, he won the Doak Walker Award and was a Unanimous All-American in 2023 after he rushed for 1,732 yards with 21 rushing touchdowns, 330 receiving yards, and a touchdown catch.
This season, the 2023 Big 12 Conference Player of the Year and First-Team All-Big 12 selection has just 568 yards on 135 carries (4.2 avg.) with eight touchdowns along with 22 catches for 123 yards and a score.
He has two 100-yard rushing outings on the year but also has four games in which he rushed for 50 yards or fewer. Last season, Gordon, who finished seventh in the Heisman voting, had nine 100-yard games, including a 271-yard effort and a 282-yard game.
Year-over-year, Gordon’s rushing yardage per game has dropped from 123.71 in 2023 to 71.00 yards per game in 2024, while his yards per carry average has dipped from 6.1 last year to 4.2 this season.
Brennan Presley, De’Zhuan Stribling, and Rashod Owens are slated to be the team’s starting trio of receivers. This group has started all eight games together with the exception of Stribling missing a start last week.
Presley, a Second-Team All-Big 12 selection last year, has team-highs of 56 receptions and six touchdowns and ranks second on the squad with 563 receiving yards.
Stribling leads the team with 571 receiving yards and ranks second on the team with 31 receptions and four touchdown catches. Owens, an honorable mention all-conference pick last season, ranks third on the team with 24 catches for 373 yards with three touchdowns.
At tight end, multiple options are listed including Josh Ford, Tyler Foster and Quinton Stewart. Ford has four starts this season, and Foster has two.
Statistically, Ford has nine receptions for 66 yards with a touchdown, Foster has three catches for 19 yards, while Stewart has not yet registered a reception this season.
On the offensive line, Dalton Cooper or former ASU transfer Isaia Glass will fill the left tackle spot. Cole Birmingham will guard the left guard, Joe Michalski will center, Preston Wilson will guard the right guard, and Jake Springfield will tackle the right tackle.
Glass has started six of eight games this season – two at left tackle and four at right tackle – while Cooper, an honorable mention all-conference choice last year, has started six games at left tackle, and Springfield has four starts at right tackle. Birmingham, Michalski and Wilson have each started all eight games at their positions.
Last season, Michalski and Springfield were Honorable Mention All-Big 12 selections.
Oklahoma State Offense Summary
Statistically, Oklahoma State is tied with conference foe Texas Tech for 19th nationally in passing offense (288.1) but only 115th in rushing offense (111.2)—a mind-boggling statistic given that Ollie Gordon is still in the program.
The Cowboys are also tied for 33rd in the country in red zone offense (.903), 49th nationally in scoring offense (30.5), 65th in total offense (399.4), and 84th in third-down offense (.386).
Though Gordon entered the year as a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate, in an odd turn of fate, entering this game, the smart strategy from ASU’s defensive perspective is to work to limit the passing opportunities for the OSU offense and push them into rushing situations.
Oklahoma State Defense
Up front, the Cowboys' defensive line figures to feature ends, Iman Oates and Kody Walterscheid, with either Collin Clay or Justin Kirkland at nose tackle.
At linebacker, the starters are presumed to be Kendal Daniels, Obi Ezeigbo, and Jeff Roberson.Roberson ranks third on the team with 38 tackles, including 5.5 for loss with 2.0 sacks, along with three quarterback hurries. Daniels, an honorable mention all-conference pick in 2023, isn’t far behind with 35 tackles, including 6.0 for loss with 3.0 sacks, a team-high six pass breakups, and three quarterback hurries, while Ezeigbo has 29 tackles, including 7.0 for loss with 3.0 sacks and two quarterback hurries.
Star linebacker Nick Martin, a First-Team All-Big 12 honoree last year, collected 47 tackles in five games, including 7.5 for loss with a sack, two pass breakups, five quarterback hurries, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery, but he was injured in late September, has missed the past three games and is not listed on this week’s depth chart.
Similarly, Collin Oliver, a Second-Team All-Big 12 linebacker in 2023, has only appeared in two games this season and, like Martin, is not listed on this week’s depth chart.
In the secondary, either Dylan Smith or Lyrik Rawls will be joined at safety by Kobe Hylton, Cameron Epps, Trey Rucker, and/or Parker Robertson, with Korie Black and Cam Smith listed as the starting cornerbacks.
Rucker is one of the top tacklers in America with 70 tackles in seven games, adding two interceptions and one TFL. His average of 10.0 tackles per game leads the Big 12 and ranks ninth nationally.
Hylton has 29 tackles, including one for loss with an interception and two pass breakups; Robertson has 24 tackles, including one for loss with one interception and one pass breakup; Rawls has collected 23 tackles with an interception and three pass breakups; and Smith has contributed 22 tackles with a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry.
Smith has posted 22 tackles with one pass breakup and one quarterback hurry, while Epps has 11 tackles including 1.5 for loss with a pass breakup on the year.
At cornerback, Black, an Honorable Mention All-Big 12 pick last year, has 21 tackles with a team-high three interceptions along with five pass breakups, while Smith has 19 tackles, including one for loss with an interception, three pass breakups and a forced fumble.
Oklahoma State Defense Summary
There’s no way to sugarcoat it: Oklahoma State’s defense has been flat-out awful in 2024.
The Cowboys rank next-to-last in the country – only behind winless Kent State – by placing 132nd in both rush defense (251.0) and total defense (499.9) while also ranking 109th nationally in pass defense (248.9) and 102nd in scoring defense (29.88), while also tying for 91st in team sacks (1.62) and 73rd in third-down defense (.393).
Between injuries and widespread ineffectiveness, 2024 has so far been a season to forget for the Oklahoma State defense.
Oklahoma State Special Teams
Hudson Kaak and Wes Pahl are listed as options at punter, and both have generally split reps this season. Kaak averages 43.44 yards on 18 punts, while Pahl averages 49.50 on 16 punts.
Logan Ward handles placekicking duties and has connected on 12-of-16 field goals with a long of 52 yards.
On returns, Brennan Presley has the most punt returns (six) but has only totaled three return yards on punts. He is also the team’s top kickoff returner and averages 18.91 yards on 11 returns.
Overall Summary
There is no doubt that Oklahoma State, ranked in the preseason as the No. 17 team in America and chosen third in the preseason Big 12 poll, is struggling mightily. The Cowboys are in the cellar of the Big 12 standings and remain winless in league play after having lost each of their past five games.
Judging by social media reactions, fans and media alike are heavily criticizing some assistant coach hires made by Mike Gundy, who is tied with Utah’s Kyle Whittingham as the second-longest tenured active FBS head coach behind Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz.
On paper and based on recent trends, this should be a win for Arizona State and perhaps a somewhat comfortable one, especially with Sam Leavitt back as the starting quarterback. However, all three road games played by ASU so far have featured abysmal first halves, and consequently, two of those three have resulted in the Devils’ two defeats so far this year.
Ultimately, it appears that ASU’s most significant opponent is itself and not quite as much the opposing Oklahoma State team.
Can ASU come out with first-half fire and efficiency and set the table for a game that can check an incredibly integral box for the 2024 season by achieving bowl eligibility for the Sun Devils, or will the road woes yet again emerge and hold Arizona State back from victory in what is a generally winnable game?
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