Colorado has one last gasp to try and sneak into the Big 12 Championship Game on Friday after a loss to Kansas took that fate out of its hands. The Buffs can still get to Arlington with a win and some help from the rest of the conference on Saturday, but they must take care of business first.
There is some good news for the Buffs heading into Week 14. Firstly, they are the first team at the top of the Big 12 to play, so there is no chance of them being eliminated when they take the field on Friday morning. Secondly, they get to play the worst team in the Big 12.
Oklahoma State has been shockingly disappointing this season. After returning most of the core from a 10-win team that reached the Big 12 Championship Game last season and being picked to win the conference in the preseason media poll, Mike Gundy and the Cowboys have lost eight consecutive games in conference play. They will be fighting to avoid finishing winless in conference play for the first time under their longtime head coach.
In fact, Gundy has won at least two conference games in every season at Oklahoma State except for his first season in 2005 when the Cowboys finished 1-7 in the Big 12. Regardless of the slump, Colorado will be happy to see a struggling team on the schedule after falling to the hottest team in the conference last week.
Let’s take a look at Oklahoma State and what it brings on both sides.
Oklahoma State at a glance
Head Coach: Mike Gundy (169-87 in 19+ seasons at Oklahoma State)
2023 record: 10-4 (7-2 Big 12)
Total offense: 394.6 yards per game (59th in FBS)
Total defense: 503.3 yards allowed per game (132nd)
Scoring offense: 29.6 points per game (54th)
Scoring defense: 34.1 points allowed per game (117th)
When Colorado has the ball
This is a great bounce-back spot for the Colorado offense. It didn’t run into a ton of problems and actually moved the ball fairly efficiently against Kansas last week, but less than 20 minutes of possession time severely limited its opportunities.
This Oklahoma State defense has just been flat out terrible, to put it bluntly. This unit lost its two best players – linebackers Collin Oliver and Nick Martin – to season-ending injuries earlier in the year, and it has missed those two badly since.
Martin and Oliver combined for 213 total tackles and 12 sacks last season and were supposed to be two of the conference’s top players in 2024, so those pieces are not easy to replace. As it turns out, Oklahoma State did not have the horses to make up for that lost production in the middle of its defense.
As it stands, Mike Gundy’s linebackers just aren’t very good. They aren’t physical, they’re slow footed and they struggle to match routes in coverage. They play very flat-footed, which should be a huge problem against the speed of Colorado. Travis Hunter and LaJohntay Wester have had a ton of success working over the middle, and this matchup should be no different.
This is a contest where the Buffs should really be able to run the football. They haven’t had any success on the ground over the last two games, but Oklahoma State has the second-worst run defense in the country. The Cowboys allow 231.5 yards per game in that department, so the Buffs should be able to find some balance in this one.
