OSU Football: Breaking Down The Backfield After One Game

Oklahoma State took care of business against FCS Southeastern Louisiana, winning 61-7 while divulging a fat lot of nothing about its offense and depth chart situation at running back. So here’s what we know about the state of the running game after Week 1.

Series 1 – Chris Carson was the first to log a carry, taking a handoff 8 yards on the second play of the game for a first down. After that, three-straight passes and OSU had to punt.

Series 2 – Two throws and then freshman Justice Hill ran for 7 yards to Southeastern Louisiana’s 14-yard line. Rudolph rushed for 4 yards and Carson scored the first offensive touchdown of the season on a 10-yard run to make it 14-0.

Series 3 – Three-straight passes culminating in a 24-yard Jhajuan Seales score.

Series 4 – Rennie Childs logged a 25-yard run before Rudolph connected with Barry J. Sanders for 18 yards and then Sanders finished the drive with a 1-yard plunge to make it 28-0.

Series 5 – After Sanders returned a Lion punt 57 yards to the 1-yard line, he got a chance to punch in his second touchdown, but was stuffed at the goal line. On the second play, Mason Rudolph fumbled the snap and Southeastern Louisiana recovered for a touchback.

Series 6 – Jeff Carr became the fifth Cowboy running back to log a carry when he rushed for 6 yards on the first play of the drive. Four passes later, Justice Hill lost three yards on his second carry of the game. Hill received another first down carry that went for 3 yards on what would be the final handoff of the drive, which ended in a 32-yard Ben Grogan field goal.

Series 7 – Running with mostly second-teamers, Chris Carson got two more carries which went for a total of -4 yards. Backup quarterback Taylor Cornelius was sacked on third down and the Cowboys had to punt.

Series 8 – Cornelius completed a 4-yard pass to Carr. Carr rushed 7 yards for a first down. Justice Hill took two carries for 11 yards and then Rennie Childs was stuffed twice for -4 yards. The Cowboys would punt.

Halftime

Series 9 – Carson ran for 2 yards, Rudolph was sacked for a 10-yard loss and on third down-and-long the starting quarterback checked down to Carson for an 8-yard pass. OSU punted again.

Series 10 – Rudolph connected with Hill for a 6-yard completion. Hill carried twice for 12 yards and after two pass plays Mike Gundy gave Sanders another carry, which the senior carried 3-yards for a first down. Rudolph finished off this drive with another touchdown pass to Seales to make it 45-7.

Series 11 – After recovering a Southeastern fumble at the Lion 19-yard line, third-string quarterback John Kolar entered the game and ran twice for 18 yards, setting up a 1-yard touchdown for Carr which put Oklahoma State up 52-7.

Series 12 – Sanders started this drive with a 3-yard loss and it was the only rushing attempt of the series, which ended in a 28-yard Grogan field goal.

Series 13 – With Cornelius back in the game, Carr carried three times for 28 yards and Keegan Metcalf got one rush for no gain. Cornelius went 5-for-6 throwing for 54 yards and scrambled four times for 17 yards plus the drive-ending touchdown to make it 61-7.

Final

So, in order of appearance:

Chris Carson – four carries for 18 yards, touchdown; one reception for 8 yards

Justice Hill – seven carries for 30 yards; once reception for 6 yards

Rennie Childs – three carries for 21 yards

Barry J. Sanders – four carries for 1 yard, touchdown; one reception for 18 yards; one punt return for 57 yards

Jeff Carr – six carries for 42 yards, touchdown

Keegan Metcalf – one carry for 0 yards

Gundy played everyone but the marching band in this one, so it’s difficult to see if any back created some separation to warrant a different split against Central Michigan next week. OSU’s depth chart didn’t change with the top five running backs listed as Carson or Childs or Sanders or Hill or Carr. We might have to wait until Week 3 when Pittsburgh comes to town to see if the Cowboys have established a pecking order at running back.