Texas vs. Oklahoma State: Game Grades, Analysis for Longhorns vs. Cowboys
Behind quarterback Mason Rudolph, the Oklahoma State Cowboys throttled Texas at home, running away from the Longhorns by a 49-31 margin.
Rudolph turned in a career performance, throwing for 392 yards and accounting for four touchdowns on the day. Running back Justice Hill also continued to emerge for the Pokes, churning out 135 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
But the story of this one will be the struggling Longhorns, who have dropped two in a row and will undoubtedly fall out of the rankings. Charlie Strong's defense continues to be a liability, giving up 555 yards to waste another 300-yard rushing performance by his offense.
Both of these teams needed this win, but only Oklahoma State played like it.
Texas: Offense
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Prior to D'Onta Foreman's injury, the Texas offense did exactly what it's supposed to do.
Behind the junior's 148 yards and two touchdowns, the Horns continually found running room en route to 329 yards and four touchdowns. In all, Sterlin Gilbert's attack yielded 568 yards and five touchdowns.
That should be enough.
But four failed extra-point conversions (three blocked kicks, one failed 2-point attempt) and Foreman's rib injury derailed the effort. The issues on special teams alone swung this one 10 points in Oklahoma State's favor, putting freshman quarterback Shane Buechele in yet another comeback situation on the road.
Sure, Gilbert's attack can get predictable at times. Even then, just about any fanbase will take 300 rushing yards and five total touchdowns.
GRADE: B
Oklahoma State: Offense
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Aside from giving up three sacks, the Cowboys put on a near flawless performance in front of their home crowd.
When he had time, Rudolph got whatever he wanted down the field, completing passes of 30-plus yards to four different receivers. The junior was remarkably efficient throughout, needing only 28 passes to put up 392 yards and three scores.
On the ground, the Pokes really have something in Justice Hill. The freshman ran for 135 yards and a score, showing surprising power for a 171-pound back. He's pushing both Rennie Childs and Barry J. Sanders into bit roles.
As long as James Washington (concussion) doesn't have any setbacks, the Cowboys can ride this group to a string of wins before late-season tilts with TCU and Oklahoma.
GRADE: A
Texas: Defense
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So much for fixing things over the bye.
Charlie Strong and his staff gave a lot of lip service since surrendering 50 points and 500 yards in the loss at Cal. After trying out some new lineups and handing Strong more control, the results were 49 points and over 550 yards to Oklahoma State.
The same issues that Cal exploited were also apparent in Stillwater. The Horns are lost in coverage, can't tackle and are unable to create the turnovers needed to offset either of those issues. It's also nearly impossible to find one player who has markedly improved from 2015.
This was an inexcusable showing.
GRADE: F
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Oklahoma State: Defense
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The Pokes gave up a lot of yardage to the Longhorns, but sound game planning on this side of the ball kept this one out of reach in the second half.
Glenn Spencer's group played off the Texas receivers all day, forcing Buechele to throw underneath and into traffic rather than take his deep shots. The freshman quarterback did an admirable job taking what was there, but he gave away a score on an interception to Jordan Sterns that the senior returned to the 1-yard line. From there, the Horns were forced to play a style of football they're ill-suited for, and the end result became almost inevitable.
The Pokes can't be happy with the 329 rushing yards they gave up, but Foreman and Chris Warren run on everybody. And when those two went down, Spencer's defense was able to hold Kyle Porter to only 29 yards on seven totes.
This was a solid showing for the Cowboys.
GRADE: C
Texas: Coaching
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How far will Strong and his football team fall after the high of knocking off Notre Dame back in Week 1? Barely a month after that win, the depths appear limitless.
It's not just the defense, which was awful by every measure. Special teams left at least six points on the field and gave two away. Meanwhile, Strong's game management continues to be questionable at best, as his timeout after a sack gave the Pokes more than enough time to tack on a touchdown before the half.
There's plenty more to nitpick, but there's 15 points right there that can be chalked up to preparedness and decision-making on the sideline. How that happens a week after a bye is a question that will be debated all week in the Austin area.
The Longhorns better come ready to play against an angry Oklahoma team next week. Strong isn't far away from coaching for his job on a weekly basis.
GRADE: F
Oklahoma State: Coaching
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It's difficult to find fault with anything that Mike Gundy and his staff did in this one.
The game plan for Texas' Buechele paid off in a turnover that became an easy touchdown. The aggressiveness on special teams got the Horns all out of sorts in scoring territory. Those 15 points turned what should have been a close game into a pretty comfortable 18-point win.
Gundy's team can easily rattle off wins in their next five games to get right back into the Big 12 title mix. Nice recovery after a tough loss at Baylor.
GRADE: A
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
