STILLWATER, Okla. - The Oklahoma State Cowboys are still in position to challenge for a berth in the Big 12 Championship game in December. Their win over Colorado ensured that.
The Cowboys (5-2, 3-1 in Big 12) defeated the Colorado Buffaloes , 57-24, on Saturday to help Oklahoma State bounce back from their loss to Houston.
Here are the five things we learned from Saturday's game .
For the second straight week, Caleb Hawkins had nearly 200 yards in total offense. Against Houston he had 68 yards rushing and 125 yards receiving. Against Colorado he had 120 yards rushing and 72 yards receiving. This week the Cowboys went to him on a pass on the second play of the game and he made a great catch with a defender in his face.
For most of the season the talk has been about quarterback Drew Mestemaker and wide receiver Justin Bowick and rightfully so. But that's 385 yards of offense in two weeks. I asked Hawkins about it after the game, and it turns out it's been in the works.
"I remember them telling me that they were going to try to throw me the ball a little bit more, just to space people out so they can't pack the box," Hawkins said. "I was super open to it and then they started connecting and they realized that I kinda had some hands, so it's been a great feeling."
To be fair, the coaching staff knew Hawkins could catch the football. He had 32 receptions at North Texas as a freshman last year. I think Hawkins getting more catches now as a product of a fully established passing game and the knowledge that Hawkins can work teams underneath on wheel routes and screens and pick up chunk plays.
It's also a nice wrinkly to unveil midway through the season when teams think all Hawkins can do is run the ball.
Oklahoma State's defense - well I'll just say it - the unit was weird on Saturday. I mean consider that first half. Colorado had 24 points, 279 total yards, quarterback Isaac Wilson went 14-for-16 with two touchdowns and the Buffs scored on nearly every possession. They also held the football for 18 minutes. The only thing Colorado really didn't do right was run the football. They only gained 2.7 yards per carry. That game was heading to a shootout.
Then in the second half the Buffaloes fell apart. Cowboys defensive tackle Jerry Lawson forced a fumble, and safety Quinton Hammonds recovered it for a turnover that led to a touchdown and from there it was like the Cowboys defense couldn't do anything wrong.
Consider the third quarter. Colorado had 35 total yards, negative yards rushing per carry, Wilson went 2-for-5 with an interception, and the Buffaloes also committed six penalties. Colorado only had the football for 5:33. That quarter was the ballgame, and the Cowboys defense was exceptional. It wasn't just Lawson forcing the fumble. It was the Cowboys forcing the Buffs out three and out the next drive. It was the two interceptions by LaDainian Fields and the two sacks by Ethan Wesloski. It was the nine tackles for loss. It was like the Cowboys defense played an entire game and a half.
I think we learned two things from this game. One, this unit is incredibly resilient and Wesloski talked about that after the game. Second, you're going to get a different defense from Oklahoma State from week to week the rest of the season - and it's gonna be a wild ride.
Oklahoma State Cowboys running back William Mason. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Morris gushed about William Mason after he got just a couple of carries against Murray State in September. He gave the sense Mason might start playing more but it didn't materialize - until Saturday.
Mason got his first meaningful carries in a month, played 18 snaps, rushed for 27 yards and scored his first Cowboys touchdown. In journalism, that's a good story. The former Division II product from Central Oklahoma transferred in this year, is the Cowboys' best special teams player according to Morris and earned the right to play. That's great stuff.
But it came at the expense of Ayo Adeyi, and that's what makes me wonder if there's a change in the running back rotation. Adeyi didn't play a snap against Colorado per Pro Football Focus. Mason was Caleb Hawkins' complement in the second half. Tre Page got the garbage time snaps.
Admittedly, the question wasn't asked. After a game like that there are a ton of question and running back rotation wasn't one of them. But we know Adeyi wasn't on the player availability report, so it was a coach's decision. Hopefully more to come on Tuesday.
Remember before the season when everyone was worried that Sam Keltner didn't have a strong enough leg and that he might be a liability on field goals? Yeah, good times.
Aside from wide receiver Justin Bowick, Keltner might be the Cowboys' most important transfer portal pull that didn't play for North Texas last season. With SMU a year ago, he went 14-for-20 on field goals but the knock was that he didn't have much range outside of 40 yards. Well on Saturday he went 5-for-5 on field goals and had a long of 47 as he tied the Cowboys program record from most field goals made to start a season (18 straight). You know what's funny? He thought he broke the record.
"I guess I shouldn't be thinking about that stuff," he said with a smile.
Morris would rather score touchdowns. Everyone knows that. But Morris has acknowledged multiple times just how important a weapon Keltner is to the offense. The unit is still having issues in the red zone, and every point is important. Even quarterback Drew Mestemaker pointed that out after the game, saying that basically two Keltner field goals adds up to a touchdown. So why not take the points?
As long as Keltner keeps kicking like this, that Lou Groza award that he passes in the football facility every day might end up on his shelf after the season.
Oklahoma State coach Eric Morris. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Morris didn't say that after the game to be clear. But the snap counts and the blocking grades at Pro Football Focus (subscription required) tell a story.
Shaun Torgeson started at left tackle and logged 48 snaps. But Braydon Nelson was right behind him with 45 snaps even though he didn't start. The pass blocking grades, assuming Oklahoma State's grades line up lines up with PFF, may force Morris into a decision.
Nelson graded out at 70.8 on pass blocking while Torgeson graded out at 51.6. They were both about the same in run blocking, but when you consider how much Oklahoma State is passing the ball, Nelson may finally be at a point where he's healthy enough to log a full game.
It would not surprise me at all to see Braydon Nelson starting a left tackle against Iowa State on Halloween.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/oklahomastate as Five Things We Learned About Oklahoma State in Cowboys Victory over Colorado .
