Oklahoma State football: Receivers need to catch & learn

OSU’s receivers have been disappointing this season. There’s no other way to say it. The Cowboys dropped six passes against Arizona, including two or three that turned the game. A certain touchdown, a possible touchdown, a big gainer or two, a bobble that became an interception.

The dropsies are not coming from freshmen. They are coming from veterans and junior-college transfer Blake Jackson. The freshmen are not dropping the ball, because the freshmen aren’t playing.

Why not? Mike Gundy says it’s simple. The rookies have to learn the offense, and while it’s been well-documented that the Air Raid offense is relatively easy to learn for quarterbacks, it’s relatively hard to learn for receivers, who have to be in certain positions at certain times to make the offense run at its peak.

Gundy used the graduated Colton Chelf as an example. Chelf was not the fastest or biggest Cowboy receiver. Or anywhere close to it. But he knew how to operate within the offense.

“He knew where to be,” Gundy said. “The wideouts have a lot to do, a lot of thinking. They’ve got to be in the right place. If not, it can show up a lot.” At Texas Tech, Mike “Leach made a living with those guys out there.”

Gundy said that’s the one downside to this offense. Quarterbacks are accustomed to learning offenses, so they can grasp it quickly. But receivers have to be attuned, as well.

“When they’re hitting on all cylinders, you can be not as good as the other team and still score,” Gundy said.

Gundy said the drops are “a concern. In our offense, we have to catch the ball. We throw the ball all the time. We throw it so much in practice, I get tired of watching. We coach it, we teach it.”