Oklahoma state

[Green1989]

So a couple weeks removed now, how are we feeling about that Oklahoma state result? Ok State is just good I guess? But they still lost to Tulsa and we looked bad. Hard to reconcile

[Phalanx]

Welcome to the board. Traveling 2200 miles for a 9 a.m. kickoff that then got delayed for hours as the September day got hotter and hotter did not provide for ideal conditions in the first place. Also Okie State was a lot better at QB than was expected, and that new QB probably had an adjustment game vs Tulsa as well. I still think it was a highly winnable game, but the Ducks as a team were ridiculously out of sorts, particularly Dante who seemed completely off his game, or he left his game in 2025. We really haven't seen him play a good game this season yet, so not sure what is going on with him. Raiola seemed to come in and hit the ground running vs USC, and you can chalk that up to whatever you want, but it proves that the offense can move the ball with a competent quarterback.

I think the team as a whole was forced to wake up as a result of that game and Coach Lanning has done a great job helping them to stop buying into the hype. Well...that and there is less hype now to buy into.

The UCLA game will tell us more. I don't expect to beat Ohio State at their place, but it would be nice to finish 10-2 and firing on all cylinders in time for the playoffs. That is, unless five 9-3 SEC teams are chosen instead.

[UOducksTK1]

Welcome!

And agree with Phalanx. Early season loss to OK State is OK if that was an anomaly. And honestly it's still hard to tell. Our defense still hasn't look particularly strong in any game outside of Portland State. And offensively with Moore, we just weren't at our normal levels. Are things different with Raiola? This UCLA game will surely give us more data, which we are desparate for at this point lol!

[pezsez1]

I still think the biggest reason we lost the Oklahoma State game was vanilla playcalling. The coaching staff seemed to think that would be an easy win (as did most folks) and it clearly wasn't. Against Portland State (a far weaker opponent) the Ducks had clearly opened the playbook far more than they did against Okla St., and against USC they were incredibly aggressive. I'm thinking maybe that will prove to be a watershed moment for Lanning as a coach... hopefully the end of "vanilla" playcalling which is about as useful in the big picture as trying to hide injury news.

[duckpoint]

I think the game was an anomaly. The whole team was playing flat and uninspired, looked sluggish and played sloppy like I've never seen before. It was like they ate a bunch of pot brownies during the weather delay and had to get up out of couch lock to play. I don't know what it was, maybe it was the travel, heat & delay as mentioned, but something brought the whole teams energy down.

[OrTDuck]

Lots of talk after the game of Oklahoma State's struggles the last two years, when it was Oklahoma State fans post-game trying to counter the narrative this year's Oklahoma State team had much at all to do with those other teams (and the 21 game FBS losing streak).

Winning by 66 last year and then Oklahoma State losing their opener to Tulsa as 14 point road favorites was apparently too large a hurdle to get the UO players attention. Despite what was supposed to be a wakeup call against Boise State, the players looked flat, maybe even sloppy, and even a bit disinterested in matching Oklahoma State's intensity. Heavily favored teams coming out sleepwalking against a live dog is hardly unheard of in college football

While not really a popular postgame point-of-emphasis, Oklahoma State this year is in the "Cignetti model" (which now has some major proof-of-concept).

North Texas (arguably quietly) was 11-2 last season and Mestemaker lead the NCAA in passing yards last season (only guy over 4,000 yards). They went -5 in TOs against Tulane in the AAC championship game or they might have been the ones in the playoffs. Something like 20 players, 10 coaches, and 35 staff came over from North Texas. They also added like 45 more portal players in what was the #2 portal class in the B12 behind Texas Tech. I think I read something like 28 Ducks played in last year's game while only 2 Oklahoma State players did.

Cignetti only brought like 13 JMU guys and a total portal hall of 30 and went 11-2 his first year. Now, Morris getting 80 new players on the same page is impressive; but, obviously seems like ignoring another team being able to also do so seems silly.

Much like Boise State may, there always has been the possibilty Oklahoma State ends up pretty good. After the game, I threw around 8-4 for them; but, watching a bit of B12 and looking at their schedule, something like 9-3 with a bowl win to get to 10-3 definitely seems on the table for them. Losing to a 10 win team on the road early in the season may eventually not be as shocking as it at first seemed.

Agree the heat and humidity probably is under-emphasized. Players can think they are ready for it until they are battling all 4 quarters and the meaningful snap count creeps up (what was TOP? 23 minutes to 37?).

[ I like the pot brownie theory too ]