Cowboys move up two spots
Oklahoma State moved up two spots in each poll on Sunday, jumping to No. 8 in the coaches’ poll and No. 9 in the Associated Press rankings.
It’s the highest ranking of the season for the Cowboys in either poll, and their highest since reaching the top five in the polls of Nov. 15, 2015.
Looking ahead, Oklahoma State’s first game against a currently ranked opponent will be the at home against No. 20 TCU on Sept. 23. The Cowboys face unranked Pitt at 11 a.m. Saturday. The Panthers are coming off a 33-14 loss at No. 5 Penn State.
Jarrell Owens didn’t let preseason injury issues slow him down
Oklahoma State’s quarterback pressure has had its moments of strength in the first two games, and particularly against South Alabama, when the Cowboys came away with four sacks and limited the quarterback run game. Junior defensive end Jarrell Owens has been one of the driving forces up front, and after missing some of the preseason as he healed up from a shoulder injury, Owens is hitting his stride.
“The most important thing I did was take mental reps,” Owens said of his missed time in August. “I did as much as I could to make sure I didn’t get too rusty. I feel great. I’m almost to 100 percent, so I’ll just continue to get treatment and get better.”
Owens had two tackles against South Alabama, both coming in the backfield for total losses of 12 yards. OSU had nine tackles for loss in the game.
Third-down woes turn around in Mobile
The Cowboy defense heard plenty about its struggles on third down against Tulsa in the season opener, allowing the Golden Hurricane to convert 16 of 26 attempts, half of them of seven yards or more.
They heard it from their coaches and they heard it from each other.
“We were hard on ourselves about it, because that’s not who we are as a defense,” senior linebacker Kirk Tucker said. “To be a national championship contender, we have to stop the third down.”
South Alabama was 1-of10 on third down Friday.
“We improved on third down, which was great, because we definitely talked about that, the money down,” Tucker said. “It just shows that we can adjust at any moment, at any point in the season.”
Defensive coordinator Glenn Spencer said the changes were in discipline and execution rather than schemes.
“The game plan’s based on what type of quarterback you’ve got, what type of receivers you’ve got,” Spencer said. “So every week, third down is a little bit different. But, no, nothing major. We had a couple of the same calls we had last week, but got off the field this week.”
Quotable
OSU senior receiver Marcell Ateman, who scored two touchdowns at South Alabama, on finally scoring after missing last season with an injury, and coming up just short of a TD in the opener against Tulsa:
“It felt great, but I should’ve had another one. Lack of focus on my part. But it was a good feeling, being back in the end zone. It’s been awhile. Felt good.”