John Holcomb: What's Fixable And What's Next For The Cowboys

Mike Gundy spent a lot of time praising Utah after the Utes took down OSU 22-19 in the Big 12 opener for both teams. Gundy called them a “class act.” But the Cowboys’ head coach also told his players they gave that game away. 

It’s been a while since the OSU offense looked that bad. A late fourth quarter, the 16-point rally was a reminder of what the output can and probably should be.

Starting quarterback Alan Bowman keeps his job, but was benched at halftime after an uncomfortable performance. Garret Rangel’s third-quarter stint wasn’t any better. 

Was it just one of those days? 

Utah lived up to its reputation as a run-stopping defense, and that put pressure on Bowman to take advantage of one-on-one opportunities with OSU’s talented receivers. 

Too often he was off target, and there were times when the pass catchers didn’t bail him out. 

On Monday, Gundy said he certainly didn’t think the moment, or the game, was too big for Bowman. He’ll start when the Cowboys and Kansas State collide in Manhattan this Saturday.

On their first scoring drive of the game with Utah the Cowboys showed a few wrinkles- Ollie Gordon lined up in the wildcat formation and handed to Brennan Presley for an 11-yard gain. 

That was the only look offered the rest of the afternoon, and Gundy said during his weekly news conference that the in-game adjustments need to be better. The head coach said if those seven to eight new plays worked well once then they needed to come back to them again.

OSU’s defenders spent almost three-quarters of the game on the field. Utah ran 81 plays and picked up 249 rushing yards in the process. 

That sounds like way too many, but Gundy pointed out that two of those runs (one a scramble by Utah QB Isaac Wilson, the other by RB Micah Bernard) totaled 110 yards against a defense fighting fatigue. 

Overall, Gundy was proud of the effort on that side of the ball, especially when the turf temperature on Saturday went over 160 degrees at one point.

Now comes Kansas State, the Wildcats licking their wounds after a 38-9 loss at BYU that snowballed in a hurry before and right after halftime. 

Quarterback Avery Johnson is a dangerous run threat, something that’s given OSU problems this season. Defensively, K-State held an explosive Arizona offense to one touchdown in a 31-7 win.

Is this the week the Cowboys’ run game gets back to mid-2023 season production? Can Alan Bowman give OSU’s receivers big-play opportunities? Can the Cowboys' defense be disciplined in the pass rush to keep Johnson from escaping for big yards?

Is this a must-win for both teams? It’s still September. Two months of the regular season remain, but neither OSU nor Kansas State wants to start Big 12 play 0-2.