Cowboys dominate Tulsa in one-sided affair
OSU’s 59-24 domination of Tulsa was thorough, and the grades reflect a onesided game.
Deep passing game: A.
Mason Rudolph threw deep five times. Three went for touchdowns – 44 yards to Tyron Johnson; 40 and 77 yards to James Washington. Another drew a pass interference penalty. Only a fade to Jalen McCleskey fell incomplete. That’s incomparable efficiency.
New cornerbacks:
B. Freshman Rodarius Williams, sophomores A.J. Green and Madre Harper, and senior Malik Kearse held up well. Tulsa quarterbacks Chad President and Luke Skipper didn’t present the threat usually seen of TU passers, but the Cowboy corners were rarely out of position. Their tackling was not pristine, but if they can cover, you can live with less physicality.
Handling halftime: A.
With the NCAA mandating a strict 20-minute halftime limit, it can be tough getting in two marching band performances. But both the Tulsa and OSU bands performed and cleared the field with 3:45 remaining in halftime. The only snafu was that the Cowboy kickers came out to warm up halfway through halftime. Matt Ammendola kicked field goals across the west end zone, at an imaginary goal post. Then punter Zach Sinor kicked in the same direction but sent one football sailing inside the OSU flag corps. That could be dangerous.
Third-and-long
defense: D. Tulsa converted on 3rd-and-7, 3rd-and-8, 3rd-and-9, three 3rd-and-10s, 3rd-and-11, 3rd-and-14 and a 4th-and-7. TU also made 15 yards on a 3rd-and-16, allowing it to convert on fourth down. Much of that damage was done by President’s scrambling. President evaded the OSU pass rush and scampered for gains of 22, 18, 9 and 8 yards. He also dashed 15 and 11 yards off quarterback draws, and scrambled for completions of 26 and 19 yards. The Cowboys did not contain the quarterback.
Offensive line: A.
Rudolph was not sacked and rarely needed to flee the pocket. He completed 20 of 24 passes for 303 yards and was given time all night to throw. That’s a game for the ages, but OSU still had more running yards, 332, than passing yards, 308. Backup tailback J.D. King produced a 71-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Thirdteam tailback LD Brown had a 73-yard run in the fourth quarter. Starting tailback Justice Hill gained 132 yards on 15 carries.
Ball security: C. The Cowboys took care of the ball virtually all game long. But not literally all game long, and the two exceptions came with a heavy price. Rudolph double-clutched while scrambling and lost the ball to TU’s Petera Wilson Jr., who returned it 24 yards, setting up a field goal. And McCleskey foolishly fielded a bouncing punt inside the 10-yard line, retreated near the goal line and fumbled into the end zone when accosted by a Golden Hurricane horde. That gave Tulsa a touchdown. Ten giveaway points off two mental mistakes.
Thursday adjustment:
B. Few schools enjoy hosting Thursday games, and OSU is no exception. But most people seemed to make the best of it. OSU announced a sellout, 56,790 tickets sold in the reconfigured Boone Pickens Stadium, and though there were some no-shows, the seats were mostly filled. Tailgating got off to a slow start, but picked up. The revelry around Eskimo Joe’s still was strong. A solid showing for a weeknight game.