QB Illingworth helps OSU get past inept run game in opener
Illingworth helps OSU overcome inept run game in opener
STILLWATER — Shane Illingworth had about a week to prepare to be Oklahoma State’s starting quarterback, which is about a week more than he had before he was handed the job in last year’s season opener.
The 6-foot-6, 230-pound sophomore put up good numbers, though most of it was done in the first half of OSU’s ugly 23-16 survival against Missouri State on Saturday night at Boone Pickens Stadium.
Illingworth finished 22-of-40 for 315 yards with one touchdown pass and one interception, starting in place of Spencer Sanders, who was out because of COVID-19 protocols.
A year ago, Illingworth entered the season opener in the third quarter after Sanders injured his ankle and Ethan
Bullock was ineffective against Tulsa. Illingworth helped the Cowboys pull out a tight victory that day.
This time around, with experience and more time to prepare, Illingworth was more effective and more efficient in running the offense.
“I thought he played pretty good,” OSU coach Mike Gundy said. “He doesn’t have a lot of experience. He made some throws, and then, you know, he missed a few, but where he’s at in his career with experience, he played fine.
“The issue was — we couldn’t rush the football. They ended up defending us a little more difficult for pass, because we couldn’t rush the football. So we need to rush the football better to make it a little easier on him.”
The latter part of that statement from Gundy deserves highlighter markings and some exclamation points.
Illingworth had the offense running effectively until Missouri State figured out the Cowboy rushing attack wasn’t so much of a threat. The Cowboys rushed for just 44 yards in the first half and got worse from there.
OSU finished with 54 rushing yards on 28 carries, an average of 1.9 yards per attempt — for a running back group that has earned high praise all preseason, which suggests that Saturday’s struggles fell on the offensive line. Oddly enough, the Cowboy front blocked fairly well on pass plays, allowing only one sack.
How concerned are the Cowboys about the inability to run the ball against a Football Championship Subdivision opponent?
“Very,” offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn said. “We’ve got to nail that down. There’s no sugar-coating that. We’ve got to find a way to get better.”
Gundy says Sanders will be back with the team “in a couple days,” so maybe he’s good to start at quarterback when the Cowboys play host to Tulsa at 11 a.m. Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium.
If Sanders isn’t back in time for the Tulsa game, Illingworth showed he’s capable of leading the offense.
And the OSU coaches showed increased confidence in Illingworth as well. In five games last year as a true freshman, Illingworth threw 70 passes. They asked him to throw 40 on Saturday night.
“I just try to run the play when it’s called,” Illingworth said. “As an offense, you always want to score. We wanted to score, get the drive going, create momentum, create consistency.
“Pass protection was really good for the most part. I gotta be better and I gotta make a play.”