Members of the Cowboy defense will look to do a lot more celebrating this season when the Cowboys take on Washington State on Saturday in Seattle at 2:30 p.m. The Cowboys have won two of their last three season openers.
Part 2 of the O’Colly breakdown of Cowboy football
Every year, it’s the same story.
College football analysts around the country say OSU’s offense can score on anyone, but their defense is what will determine improvement.
The new-look Cowboy defense is ready to finally put that doubt to rest as Oklahoma State travels to Seattle to take on the Washington State Cougars on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
The technically neutral-site game will be at Qwest Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks and 250 miles away from WSU’s campus in Pullman, Wash.
Safety Ricky Price said the difference between last year’s 101st-ranked defense and this year’s defense is undeniable.
“Without a doubt, we are more confident and ready to go out and perform and show the world what Oklahoma State defense is about,” Price said.
OSU found itself in more shootouts in 2007 than it would have liked.
The Cowboys relied on the nation’s most balanced offensive attack to post wins such as 49-45 over Texas Tech and 41-39 over Kansas State.
Receiver Dez Bryant, a big part of that offense, said his team won’t have to put up 50 points to win a game in 2008.
“We’ve seen a lot of improvement [defensively] from all areas, from the linemen to the [defensive backs] to the safeties to the linebackers,” Bryant said. “I believe that we are much faster than last year.”
Despite the Cowboy defense giving up near-record numbers in some games last year, there were other games that showed improvement was on its way.
Safety Andre Sexton said the progress is because Beckman, now in his second year with the Cowboys, has learned to adapt to his personnel.
“His whole defensive scheme — I think he’s built it around the type of players that we have and fit our personalities well,” Sexton said. “He understands what our strong points are.
“So I think he’s been doing more of that. That’s helped us grow as a defense, and I think that’s why you’re seeing that we’ve had so much more success than we had last year.”
The good news for the Oklahoma State defense is that Washington State is starting a new offense with a new quarterback and a new coach. WSU is installing the same no-huddle, spread offense that OSU started in 2005, coach Mike Gundy’s first year.
Oklahoma State went 4-7 that season and struggled to put points on the board. In the first game running their new offense, the Cowboys put up only 15 points against Division I-AA Montana State.
This gives Cowboy players reason to believe that WSU could struggle offensively right out of the gate.
“I feel like it will be an advantage for our defense because they are bringing new coaches in, that makes it a lot harder on a team,” Bryant said.
“They’ve got a lot of adjustments to do.”
The bad news for the defense is that facing a new system makes it hard to predict exactly what will happen when WSU’s offense is on the field, Gundy said.
“I think that we have to make sure we understand our game plan and not really worry about what they do, because we don’t really know what they’re going to do,” Gundy said.
If the Cougars weren’t facing enough adversity already, they are continuing to add to their list of players who will miss their season opener against the Cowboys.
As many as six WSU starters, including both tackles, could sit out because of injury or suspension.
No matter who steps onto the field for the Cougars, Sexton said the Oklahoma State defense will be ready to go out and show its drastic improvement on the field.
“We have to focus on what we need to do to win the game and try to control what we can control and not really worry about all the other stuff going on around,” Sexton said.
“That’s how we’ve grown as a team over the past year, and I think that’s what is going to put us in a better opportunity to win the game.”
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