Oklahoma State football: How will Joseph Randle run?

Joseph Randle ran for 151 yards on 19 carries in Bedlam 2011. West Virginia’s Tavon Austin ran for 344 yards on 21 carries last week against OU, out of an offense that even Bob Stoops admits is very similar to OSU’s. So how would Randle do anything except run wild on the Sooners in Norman on Saturday?

On the other hand, don’t look now, but the Cowboy offense has been migrating more and more to the pass throughout this season. Randle opened the season with four straight 100-yard games, dipped down to 80 against Kansas, then had two more 100-yard games, against Iowa State and TCU.

Oklahoma State's Joseph Randle (1) carries the ball past TCU's Josh Carraway (35) in the third quarter during a college football game between Oklahoma State University (OSU) and Texas Christian University (TCU) at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012. OSU won, 36-14. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman

But now Randle has gone three straight games without reaching 100 yards: 43 yards on 15 carries at Kansas State, 74 yards on 21 carries against West Virginia and 91 yards on 17 carries against Texas Tech. Going back to the TCU game, in which Randle needed 32 carries for his 126 yards, Randle has averaged 3.9 yards per carry. In the first six games, averaged 5.9 yards a carry. Big difference.