Originally published at: https://pistolsfiringblog.com/instant-recap-despite-a-rough-start-cowboys-escape-16-7-win-over-tulsa/
Shane Illingworth gives Cowboys the offensive push over Tulsa.
Ethan Bullock looked terrible, the O-Line has to get better and play like it did at the end, we had too many penalties but I’m assuming that’s from lack of practice and playing. Ultimately I think the fate of this team will fall on the O-Line and obviously the QB.
thank the lord for Illingworth. Hopefully Sanders can get healthy real quickly. But if we get Sanders back soon, I’m gonna feel a whole lot better about QB2 after seeing Illingworth
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This is exactly the reason I chose Tulsa to cover against OSU. I figured with it being the first game of the season they would play like trash. The OL looks horrendous and we don’t seem to pass the ball when the football Gods keep screaming at us to do so.
This is a team (as of right now) that looks more like it’s trying to find a way to get to 5 wins. Forget about putting eyes on a Big 12 title. They repeat what I had seen today they are going to get smoked by about every Big 12 team they play (Except maybe Kansas and Tech).
Probably the most irritating thing about this game was near the end when we decided to go with the Gundy strategy of “playing not to lose” and “play down to the level of the competition” which gets the team in these kind of situations where they barely survive against teams that have no business being in the same talent realm as them.
We have an abundance of reliable receivers that we choose not to throw to for the sake of handing the ball to Hubbard for 3.2 yards per carry despite the OL proving to the coaching staff over and over again that they can’t even block Tulsa long enough for Hubbard to get to the line of scrimmage.
The only receiver that had more than 20 yards receiving in this game was Tylan Wallace. Instead of spreading the field and getting our guys open in the short and intermediate passing game (because obviously the OSU receivers are BETTER than the Tulsa defenders) Gundy decides to go with the old tried and true rush Hubbard against a brick wall for 2 yards or negative yardage.
All this talk about a Big 12 title appearance and how good the offense will be all the while we watch this team barely escape a non power 5 team that went 4-8 and lost 7 starters on defense. I would say scoring 16 points against a defense that probably isn’t going to be very good spells a lot of offensive troubles (despite losing SS). Tulsa ACTUALLY held a 7-3 lead at the end of the 3rd quarter!!! I can tell you right now that if this is repeated next week WV won’t only win in Stillwater, but they will win in very convincing fashion. Tulsa actually shot themselves in the foot a lot in this game.
This is what I keep talking about when I say Gundy is stuck in 2006. He does the same crap over and over again with no real adjustments. He is not up to par with other current coaches. I would say if you like to barely beat non power 5 teams with the annual a$$ kicking by your rival along with some head scratching losses then go ahead and hold onto him. If you don’t like that then you should start petitioning your the AD about finding another coach once Gundy’s contract is over.
Calm down. Let’s not assume this team is now going to go 3-7. If Gundy would have played the proper quarterback after Sanders went down, the game wouldn’t have been close. You can’t run the ball when they know you aren’t going to pass.
The defense might be the real deal. That will keep you in a lot of game.
Obviously there are issues, but let’s see how it plays out.
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I agree with Joe, Gundy has no ability to evaluate his own team or prepare for another.
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Real bummer for all of those teams with coaches who are even worse than Gundy.
I must say it is a great day for everyone who is happy just being in the top half of the conference.
It’s going to play out to them losing next week by a score of somewhere around 27-10 if they don’t get their crap together offensively.
Did you not see what I said?
“Tulsa ACTUALLY held a 7-3 lead at the end of the 3rd quarter!!!”
Could someone tell me how Bullock ever made it on the field?
Gundy told them to put Bullock in the game. That’s how he made it on the field. Then he finally realized after two quarters of complete failure and being on the verge to losing to Tulsa of all teams that MAYBE we should try a guy that can pass the ball since running against a brick wall for three quarters didn’t work.
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What would the score have been if Gundy put in Illingworth right away? I’m pretty sure it would have looked much different.
I’m not defending Gundy, he shown inability to play the right QB time and time again.
My point is the this crap happens every year. After one bad game it OMG we are only beating Kansas.
Obviously there are offensive issues. Let’s see what happens next week.
I didn’t have a problem with Gundy putting Bullock in, because he ended up making the change when he realized Bullock isn’t ready. I’m excited for Illingworth. You could see his mind is actually better than his physical talents, and that young man has some serious physical talents too. If Sanders is down for a few games, we may have a new permanent QB1
Embarrassing is an understatement. They will be lucky to be ranked in the top 25 after this game. Losing 3 linemen didn’t give us a fair glance of what the OL is capable of. Kasey Dunn’s play calling was less than impressive as it was the perennial Mike Gundy outdated playbook. Tylan Wallace playing with a groin injury? We won because TU’s best RB was not able to suit up. That is the only reason why we did not lose. The positives: we might have a good field goal kicker. The Aussie punter looked improved. Defense looked good, which is unusual for an OSU team.
One question is, why do you leave an ineffective backup QB in the game for so long when it was soon obvious that he lacks ability? He needed to be yanked early on and we probably would have put some more points on the board. Illingworth had not practiced in 2 weeks so he came in rusty but looked great. Hope for the future. I agree that we should have seen more short passes instead of so many to Tylan and all while he was running the same route over and over again. The playing field contains a left side and a right side and a middle of the field to throw to. That is why I keep harping each season on an update to the play book. OSU must be the easiest team for opposing coaches to prepare for. What you have seen in the past is what you will see each game. A really nice surprise was the running of LD Brown. Really unexpected. He’s gained some power and acceleration. If there are no further injuries to QBs, I don’t expect to see that other backup QB ever again. His name is already erased from my memory.
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I could understand if Tulsa were coming off a 10-3 season and returned a majority of their starters. I could understand struggling against a strong nonpower 5 team and barely winning.
The problem here is Tulsa isn’t that team. They aren’t anywhere close to it. That becomes a major concern when your offense only musters 3 points through three quarters, returning one of the most dynamic running backs and receivers in the country, and you can’t move the ball against a team that went 4-8 the season before and lost 7 starters on defense.
I get it. It was an embarrassing performance. I’m not disputing that. I just want to see what happens next week when Illingworth plays the whole game. (I think Sanders is out for a few weeks.) The team seemed to really respond to him.
If they lose 24-14, then we will have our answer. I just have a feeling next week will look different.
I just have a feeling that next week Ethan Bullock will be starting and playing the entire first half for the pokes.
I guess if you want to look at the positive side of things. You aren’t in the same situation Iowa State, Kansas State, and Kansas are in. You also aren’t like Tech where it takes a two point conversion stop to escape with a win against Houston Baptist.