'Hopefully We Can Come Up With Some Answers:' OSU Falls To 0-3 In The Big 12 After 38-14 Loss To West Virginia

Oklahoma State's losing streak reached 3 games following Saturday's 38-14 loss to West Virginia in Stillwater. The Cowboys are now 0-3 in conference play for the first time under Mike Gundy.

The Mountaineers jumped out to a 24-0 lead before Alan Bowman threw an 8-yard touchdown to Rashod Owens with 1:54 left in the first half to finally put the Pokes on the scoreboard. WVU quickly marched down the field with a 28-second scoring drive to take a 31-7 halftime lead.

Garret Rangel replaced Bowman in the 2nd half and went 4-of-5 with 75 yards and the Cowboys only other touchdown of the day, a 43-yard pass to De’Zhaun Stribling.

Head coach Mike Gundy met with the media following the game to break down the loss and look ahead to this week's bye.

Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy:

 Opening Statement:

“I want to give credit to Coach Brown and West Virginia. They had good plans, they did a good job and they executed. I told the team that we got so far behind early in the game, that offensively it sets us back where we can’t really stay balanced, and it makes it difficult for us. Defensively, we can’t get off the field. In the first three possessions, I can’t remember exactly, but we had several third downs we can’t get off the field, that we needed to get off the field. One bright spot for us today was that we were good on special teams until the end. We went after a block, and zero (Kobe Hylton) had his heel touch the leg of the guy. Other than that, today was really good on special teams. Penalty-wise, we were good. On third downs, they were 9-for-15, which is way too much, we got to get off the field. We rushed for 3.5 yards per carry, they rushed for six yards a carry, which was a point in the game. They were rushing for 5.1 yards-a-carry, and we were rushing for about 3.1 yards-a-carry. Unfortunately, those statistics held true out there today. So that’s what I told the team, I told them I’d be at work early in the morning, and if they want to come by and see me, I’ll be here. Then we can get rolling on the next game.”

… on the team’s defensive struggles:

“Well, we’re not fitting the run. We’ve got to do a better job of fitting the run. It looked like to me, that we had our worst tackling day of the year. In my mind, I was counting up to eight tackles where we had a chance to hit and get a guy down for a two-yard gain or less, and we bounced off and they ended up being big runs. I think that was a little bit of an issue, we did not tackle well this game at all.”

 … on how the offense can be improved:

“Our scheme is fine. I’ve got to look at it, but I didn’t think we run blocked very well, I thought we got pushed around inside today, but again, I’m on the ground. In most cases, you’re not going to wholesale change in the middle of the season. You’ve got to continue what you’re doing; you can make small changes, but you got to get better at what you’re doing, versus just saying that you’re going to go to something new.”