Can South Alabama slow passing attack?
For Oklahoma State fans wondering what to expect at South Alabama, Ole Miss gave some clues in its 47-27 win over the Jaguars on Saturday.
Ole Miss quarterback Shea Patterson threw for 429 yards and four touchdowns on 28-of-35 passing. He hit receiver A.J. Brown for a pair touchdowns of 70-plus yards early in the third quarter that finally gave Ole Miss some breathing room in a game that was tied at 10 until the final minute of the first half.
OSU’s Mason Rudolph was 20-of-24 for 303 yards and three TDs in Thursday’s rout of Tulsa. He could be in position for even better numbers in Friday’s 7 p.m. meeting at South Alabama, which will be televised on ESPN2.
The Cowboys scored on their first three possessions and six of their first seven.
“Scoring early, scoring often, that’s something we hadn’t done in the past,” Rudolph said. “We jumped on them quick. I don’t think we could have started any better.
“I think we kind of expect to win in this fashion. We came out hot. We came out with fire out of the tunnel. And we jumped on them quick.”
Hurricane Harvey created tense moments for Houston-area players
With Houston being a fertile recruiting ground for Oklahoma State, several players on the team found themselves watching closely as Hurricane Harvey hit the city last week.
“I was kinda worried at first, toward the beginning of the week and when everything was going on,” linebacker Kenneth Edison-McGruder said. “My daughter’s back home, and I wasn’t there with her.
“But they’re good now. The hurricane’s gone. They’re getting back into the movement of things.”
Jenkins strong in work with first-team offensive line
Oklahoma State got a little glimpse of the future of its offensive line on Thursday, including redshirt freshman Teven Jenkins, who rotated in at right guard for a few first-team series.
“Did a great job with the ones,” Rudolph said of Jenkins. “Hadn’t played much, but we mixed him in there a couple series and he did a tremendous job.”
Jenkins, 6-foot-6, 310 pounds, moved out to right tackle when the secondstring offensive line came in. That group included another redshirt freshman, Dylan Galloway, at left tackle, sophomore Johnny Wilson at center, junior Lemaefe Galea’i at left guard and redshirt freshman Ry Schneider at right guard.
With four seniors among the starting five, getting some work for younger players will be valuable
Number crunching
Oklahoma State totaled 640 yards on 63 offensive plays in Thursday’s 59-24 win over Tulsa.
That’s an average of 10.16 yards, the second-highest in a game in school history. In 2008, the Cowboys had 682 yards on 65 plays in a 59-17 win over Iowa State, a 10.49yard average.
Last season, OSU’s top yards-per-play game came at Kansas State, finishing with 637 yards on 64 plays for a 9.95 average. That mark stood at No. 2 on the school’s all-time list until Thursday.
Among the school’s top 10 games in yards per play, only one occurred before the 2000s. The 1988 team with Mike Gundy and Barry Sanders averaged 9.19 yards in a 63-24 win over Kansas, with 717 yards on 78 plays.