OSU football: Bill Young likes his defense

Oklahoma State leads the nation in takeaways, with 42. OSU is ranked 107th in total defense. OK, defensive coordinator Bill Young. Your option. You can reverse those standings — be first in total defense and 107th in takeaways — or stay with what you’ve got. Which do you choose.

At a Fiesta Bowl press conference Wednesday, Young said he’ll keep his hand.

“We would like the turnovers,” Young said. “I would like to point out, if you look at the Big 12 stats, if you look at the nationwide stats, it gets misconstrued, because you are talking about a lot of teams playing three, four teams that may be subdivision or whatever.

“But you line up against Baylor and Oklahoma and Texas Tech and teams like that, the (defensive) stats are going to be a little tougher to accomplish.”

Said OSU safety Markelle Martin, “Yardage doesn’t mean you win the game, obviously. I think the defense has been doing the same thing the whole season. I think they have been forcing turnovers.”

Stanford is well aware of OSU’s penchant for takeaways.

“Opportunistic is the word,” said Stanford all-American quarterback Andrew Luck. “I know they might get a knock for giving up yards or whatever. (But) forty-two takeaways on the year, and they have won a bunch of games. Not just because they have a great offense, but they have a defense. When they need a stop, they will get a stop. When they need a pick six (interception returned for a touchdown), it shows up. They get a pick 6. Very opportunistic.”