After Further Review: Analyzing Oklahoma State’s 37-14 win against Arizona

Apologize for the delay on this, blog readers. With the short week and game on Thursday, I took some time off Friday and Saturday. Naturally, I spent most of it watching football.

Anyway, I will be doing an “Upon Further Review” blog each week after I watch the OSU game again. I wasn’t able to do this after the Louisiana-Lafayette game because my cable box was broken. We’re all squared away on that front now.

Final score: OSU 37, Arizona 14

It was over when…

OSU scored on its first three possessions to take a commanding 21-0 lead. The offense was balanced, Brandon Weeden was accurate, Joseph Randle continued to show he can thrive as the featured back and Justin Blackmon made plays with and without the ball. It looked easy for the Cowboys early in the game.  

Underrated: OSU’s defensive line  

The Cowboys only sacked UA quarterback Nick Foles one time, but they forced him out of the pocket on a pretty consistent basis. Foles made some nice plays on the run, but the pressure forced some bad throws, too. And the Wildcats only rushed for 41 yards. OSU’s front did what it should have against UA’s inexperienced offensive line.

Overanalyzed: Nick Foles’ passing yards

Because of UA’s nonexistent run game, Foles threw the ball 51 times. And a large chunk of his 398 yards came when the game was all but decided, especially on a pair of busted coverages on a 47-yard pass to Austin Hill late in the third and a 54-yard touchdown strike to Dan Buckner in the fourth. Bottom line is OSU kept the Wildcats off the scoreboard until midway through the third quarter and came up with a couple big plays on fourth down.  

Play of the night: Justin Blackmon’s first-quarter block

It’s easy to look at his two touchdown catches on the fade route that Cowboy fans have come to know and love, but his wicked block that helped spring Randle for a 41-yard run down the sideline on OSU’s first possession set the tone for his dominant night. He destroyed UA cornerback Shaquille Richardson on that play…and then consistently beat him all night, including on both touchdowns. Blackmon was fired up Thursday night, and it showed. More on that in Monday’s Insider (ohhh…tease!).  

Needs improvement: Penalties

OSU was penalized 10 times for 90 yards, but Mike Gundy, offensive coordinator Todd Monken and Weeden all said that they “didn’t know” what the new chop block rule was. Gundy said Friday that they would sort it out that day. Better late than never, I guess. That, the low snap on the missed extra point and the offensive lull for most of the second and third quarters were the negatives from the game.