Oklahoma State football: J.W. Walsh, Cowboys receivers get high marks

J.W. WALSH: A

Hard to ask more out of a guy who hasn't gotten a ton of practice repetitions and playing in an offense not suited to his skills. But after subbing for the injured Wes Lunt, Walsh completed 21 of 30 passes for 347 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed six times for 73 yards. Walsh didn't take a sack, often scrambling out of trouble, and appeared to make few bad decisions with his throws.

DISCIPLINE: B

After a school record for penalty yards (167) at Arizona, the Cowboys were much better against ULL. Five penalties for 45 yards. There were no personal foul infractions. But OSU did commit four holding penalties – Charlie Moore, Devin Davis and Parker Graham on offense, plus Kris Catlin on a kickoff return. That's too many.

HANDS: A

The Cowboys were much better at hanging onto the ball. OSU did not fumble, and the rash of drops that plagued the Cowboys at Arizona was gone, too. Tracy Moore, running a slant into the end zone, got his hands on a Walsh pass and didn't make the catch, but the throw was behind him. That was about it.

UNIFORMS: B

The Cowboys came out in black helmet, orange jerseys, orange pants. Such a stark combination can come perilously close to a high school look, but Nike pulled off the sleek look, to some extent.

TAKEAWAYS: C

Just one takeaway against Louisiana-Lafayette, which gives the Cowboys only three in three games. And this one was largely unforced – Cajun tailback Alonzo Harris fumbled in the final 10 seconds of the first half, after taking a handoff to run out the clock. OSU's takeaway total has to rise for the Cowboys to be a viable Big 12 defense.

DEFENSE: B

Give the Cowboys a pass on their spotty defense in the second half, when ULL had 13 first downs and 272 total yards. The game was 44-0 at halftime, and OSU played a bunch of deep reserves down the stretch. In the first half, the Cajuns had just five first downs and had three possessions of three-plays-and-punt. But the Cowboys won't play many quarterbacks who are worse passers than Blaine Gautier, who completed 16 of 31.