OSU Football: Road To The Alamo Bowl

<p>Wins over two top-25 teams (three, if you count Pittsburgh, who finished the regular season ranked in the final College Football Playoff poll) and an appearance in the Valero Alamo Bowl have highlighted the 2016 football season at Oklahoma State to this point.</p>

Wednesday, December 14th 2016, 4:38 pm

By: News On 6


Wins over two top-25 teams (three, if you count Pittsburgh, who finished the regular season ranked in the final College Football Playoff poll) and an appearance in the Valero Alamo Bowl have highlighted the 2016 football season at Oklahoma State to this point.

 After a 2-2 start to the season, the Cowboys rattled off a seven-game winning streak to bring their record to 9-2 and set up a winner-take-all showdown for the Big 12 championship against Oklahoma on the final day of the regular season. Though the Cowboys fell short in that title game, they still earned the right to be there.

 Contributing to the team's success this year have been the ability to thrive in close games, an offense that was among the most potent in America, an opportunistic defense that excelled at forcing turnovers and a special teams unit that was among the nation's best at defending both punts and kickoffs.

 In addition to having one of the most potent pass-catch combos in the nation in quarterback Mason Rudolph and receiver James Washington, a significant part of OSU's offensive success in 2016 can be attributed to a much-improved run game. The Cowboys went from averaging 3.6 yards per carry and 126.8 yards per game in 2015 to averaging 4.5 yards per carry and 169.5 yards per game in 2016. Oklahoma State had two games of 200 yards rushing in 2015, but has five such games in 2016. Justice Hill enters the Alamo Bowl with 1,042 rushing yards. That total is the most ever for an Oklahoma State freshman and ranks sixth among freshmen in Big 12 history. As the season has progressed, senior Chris Carson has become a bigger factor in the run game as well. He enters the Alamo Bowl averaging 103.3 rushing yards per game in his last three games.

 On the defensive side of the ball, Oklahoma State has forced at least one turnover in every game this season and has found ways to get timely stops at important junctures in several close games this season. A quartet of San Antonio high school products figure prominently in OSU's defensive success. Defensive tackle Vincent Taylor (James Madison HS), leads the FBS with four blocked kicks and his 6.0 sacks this year are the most among all interior linemen in the Big 12. Safety Jordan Sterns (Cibolo Steele HS) leads all Big 12 defensive backs with 96 tackles despite missing a game this year. Safety Tre Flowers (Converse Judson HS) and cornerback Ramon Richards (Brackenridge HS) are also starters.

 Punter Zach Sinor headlines OSU's special teams units. He is a big reason why Cowboy opponents have the worst average starting field position of any team in the FBS. OSU ranks in the top 20 nationally in both punt return defense and kickoff return defense.

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