Oklahoma State vs. TCU: Top Storylines Heading into Big 12 Showdown
If No. 12 TCU harbors any desire to win the Big 12, then it will need to beat No. 15 Oklahoma State. If the Cowboys want to continue to bat the top of the conference, they must knock off the Horned Frogs.
Suffice it to say that the stakes are high when TCU meets OSU at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas.
Between that and the offensive firepower on show—the two teams are combining to score 83 points a game—this is one of the top games to watch on Saturday.
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Below is a brief rundown of some of the biggest storylines and questions going into the massive Big 12 clash.
Where's TCU at Mentally?
Giving up a 21-point lead in the final 11 minutes has got to wreak havoc on a team's confidence. The Horned Frogs truly had an epic collapse over Baylor, with the No. 4 Bears somehow walking away with the win.
A loss like that has to linger in the players' psyches. The best teams find a way to compartmentalize that bitterness and disappointment and instead look to the task ahead.
TCU head coach Gary Patterson believes any negative mental effects from that defeat are no longer a problem for his players.
"It was a better practice on Sunday for Oklahoma State than it was for Baylor on Sunday the week before," he said during his weekly news conference on Tuesday, per the Horned Frogs' official website. "We had a great practice, and I expect us to have a really great practice today. I think people handle failure a lot better than they handle success sometimes."
Getting off to a fast start against Oklahoma State will really help put the Baylor game in the rearview mirror. However, if the Cowboys jump out to an early lead and start piling on, it could be a snowball effect for TCU. The ill feelings from the fourth quarter against the Bears will come to the fore, and the Horned Frogs will lose their focus.
The Status of Trevone Boykin's Wrist
As Trevone Boykin goes, so go the Horned Frogs. If he struggles on Saturday, TCU won't have the firepower to keep pace with the Oklahoma State aerial attack.
Early in the week, news out of Fort Worth had Boykin possibly missing a month. Patterson denied that was the case but did reveal that the junior quarterback has a left wrist injury, per Billy Wessels of PurpleMenace.com. He added that Boykin will wear a soft cast on his left hand.
Boykin's emergence this season has been nothing short of astounding. Bleacher Report's Adam Kramer made the comparison to Matt McGloin, who went from throwing for a little over 3,119 yards combined as a sophomore and junior at Penn State before exploding for 3,271 as a senior:
According to Mark Cohen, TCU's assistant athletic director for media relations, Boykin is the first Patterson-coached QB to go for 250 yards or more for five games in a row:
As long as the injured wrist isn't giving Boykin too many problems, the Horned Frogs offense shouldn't see any sort of drop.
Will Oklahoma State's Young Defense Be Exposed?
Coming into the year, Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy needed to replace seven players on the defensive side of the ball. That kind of turnover generally leads to early growing pains, but the Cowboys have so far avoided any large-scale problems.
The Florida State game should simply be written off as an outlier.
There have been some warning signs, namely giving up 379 yards to Kansas and 512 to Texas Tech. Through six games, though, the Cowboys rank 54th in total defense (378.2 yards a game) and 61st in scoring defense (24.7 points a game), both of which are respectable.
It has to be said that the majority of OK State's opponents haven't exactly been offensive juggernauts— Seminoles and Red Raiders excluded. Missouri State is an FCS school while Kansas, Iowa State and UTSA rank 112th, 110th and 116th, respectively, in total offense.
TCU, on the other hand, is 15th and, unlike Texas Tech, possesses a defense that should offer some resistance.
The Cowboys' somewhat spotty play on offense over the last two weeks means that Oklahoma State's defense could be in for its most important test of the season.
Can the Cowboys Strike an Offensive Balance?
Speaking of the OSU offense, the easiest way to support a backup quarterback thrown into the starting role is by establishing a steady presence on the ground. The Cowboys didn't do that against the Cyclones and Jayhawks, rushing for 129 and 114 yards, respectively.
Keep in mind those yards came against the 104th- and 75th-ranked rush defenses.
John Helsley of The Oklahoman didn't pull any punches when describing the struggles of the Cowboys running attack:
"The Cowboys' inability to run effectively has handcuffed the offense across the board. With the ground game minimized, defenses can commit more to pressuring the passer, which for quarterback Daxx Garman means more sacks and more hits and less time.
Gundy's been critical of the offensive line play for weeks, revealing the unit’s play as "average."
And that might be generous.
"
Running back Desmond Roland refused to name names and point fingers on Monday, but the tacit admission in his comments was that the offensive line isn't pulling its weight.
"It's pretty difficult, but the young guys are playing, they're keeping their heads held high and they're working hard in practice," he said, per Helsley. "So, sooner or later they'll figure it out."
The Horned Frogs got torched by Shock Linwood in the Baylor game, but TCU's run defense has been otherwise respectable, surrendering an average of 139.8 yards a game.
Success on the ground won't be a given for OSU, but it will be imperative so as to ease the pressure on Garman.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
