Over/Under: 2015 Cowboy Football Edition

Numbers are fun. Let's play a game of Over/Under and make predictions before the Cowboys kick the season off.

Over/Under 3,600 passing yards for Mason Rudolph? His three-game pace at the end of last year comes out to 3,412 yards over 12 games and those were all against good teams away from Stillwater. Given the cushion of a soft non-conference schedule and a shored-up offensive line, could Rudolph break 3,600 yards passing in 2015? That total would’ve ranked 14th in FBS last year. Trevone Boykin (3,901) and Bryce Petty (3,855) led the way in the Big 12.

*Rudolph finished 2015 with 3,770 passing yards. Over.

Over/Under Rudolph throws for 24 touchdowns? Again, 24 is equal to his pace from the small sample as a starter in 2014. 27 FBS quarterbacks threw more touchdowns last year but Oklahoma State managed just 19 in the air: 12 from Garman, Rudolph’s six and one from Walsh.

*Rudolph threw 21 passing touchdowns. Under.

Over/Under 1,800 combined rushing yards for Chris Carson and Rennie Childs? The Cowboy’s top tandem last season, Desmond Roland and Tyreek Hill, combined for 1,304. Prior to that it was 2011 the last time a pair (Joseph Randle and Jeremy Smith) rushed for more than 1,800 yards, although Randle and Smith got close again in 2012. Freshman Jeff Carr, who has Gundy’s promise to get some touches in the backfield, will probably determine if these two can reach 1,800 yards.

*Carson and Childs combined for 798 rushing yards in 2015. Under.

Over/Under 9.5 receiving touchdowns for Brandon Sheperd or James Washington? Washington led Oklahoma State with six scores and Sheperd got five last year. Washington caught two in three games from Rudolph and Sheperd caught three. Will either become his favorite red-zone target and reach double figures in 2015? How much will Jeremy Seaton, Blake Jarwin and the pseudo-tight end “Cowboy Backs” cut into this number?

*Washington caught 10 touchdowns and Sheperd only caught three. Over.

Over/Under 11.0 sacks for Emmanuel Ogbah again? He’s back, bigger and badder than ever, but will Ogbah get to or break his sack total this year? Ogbah recorded at least one sack against every Big 12 team except Iowa State and Oklahoma. Teams will obviously gameplan for him, send a double team his way, to try to slow him down. Can he again be among the nation's sack leaders?

*Ogbah was unstoppable, collecting 13.0 sacks as a junior and was selected No. 32 overall in the NFL draft. Over.

Over/Under 100 tackles for Jordan Sterns? Sterns tallied 103 as a sophomore last year and had 20 in one game against West Virginia. He’s probably the most underrated player on the defense despite getting some preseason All-Big 12 love this year.  

*Sterns recorded 108 tackles in 2015. Over.

Not a traditional over/under, but who will lead the team in interceptions? Kevin Peterson, Ashton Lampkin, Ramon Richards or Michael Hunter? Seth Jacobs or Jordan Burton? Richards actually led with three picks in 2014. Peterson and Jacobs had two each and Lampkin had two in just three games.

*Richards, Hunter, Jacobs and Burton all tied for the team lead with two interceptions. Push.

Finally, Over/Under 9.5 wins for the Cowboys? Oklahoma State returns almost everyone from last year's 7-6 season and there's a favorable schedule ahead. The most common projection seems to be a 9-3 finish, but does anyone dare take this Over?

*The Cowboys won 10-straight before losing their last three games in 2015. Over.