We are just under two days removed from that heartbreaking loss against Baylor on Saturday night, and OSU fans, myself included, have finally started to digest what they saw.
Our own Kyle Cox wrote up a great piece on the performance of the offensive line on Saturday, which you can read here. In the article, Kyle writes, “While the protection couldn't be called great and there were a couple of key penalties, the running game was better. Was it pretty the whole game? No. But that was an offensive line showing that was good enough to win the game.”
This is an interesting point that I think a lot of us can get behind. I posed a question to our Twitter followers on Sunday, asking how they felt after the loss. Given the obvious improvement of the offensive line, I found the poll results to be quite surprising. Take a look.
How does last night's game make you feel about the rest of the season? #okstate
— CRFF (@CowboysRFF) September 25, 2016
At the time of publication, 38 percent of OSU fans voted that they felt better about the rest of the season after Saturday’s game. 30 percent voted that they felt no different.
I asked those who voted that they felt better after the game to give me a reason why. Here are the responses I received:
@CowboysRFF The coaches and players have demonstrated they can and have improved. The loss was more indicative of mistakes than talent.
— Jeff HIll (@Jeffhill86) September 26, 2016
@CowboysRFF offense playing specifically against weaknesses of opposing teams the last 2 games. won't face anymore receivers like baylor.
— ii (@IvxnIbxrrx) September 26, 2016
@CowboysRFF Running game https://t.co/ZyAs6E2FTB
— Joshua Brown (@joshthenerd96) September 26, 2016
Had Justice Hill not fumbled on the 1, would it need explaining? https://t.co/Sx9tf5wQfA
— Matt Amilian (@mattamilian) September 26, 2016
@CowboysRFF we were able to run the ball. If we can do that consistently, it's another thing for defenses to worry about preparing for us
— Nick Jans (@NickJans2) September 26, 2016
The thing that stood out most to me is the improvement of the running game, and I would imagine that is the sentiment of most voters who chose better.
Here’s where it gets nutty. 32 percent of Oklahoma State fans voted that they felt worse after Saturday’s game. I’m surprised by this, given the overall nature of the way the game unfolded. OSU had every opportunity to win the game, and made a few crucial mistakes that cost them the game.
I found this so interesting, in fact, that I asked those who voted “worse” to expound on their reasoning. Here are some of the responses:
@CowboysRFF talent is there. Play calling debatable. On both sides of the football
— Ben Underwood (@UnderwoodBen1) September 26, 2016
@CowboysRFF we are eliminated from playoff contention. How could it not be worse?? It's certainly not better after last night.
— Riley Sutton (@rileysutton) September 26, 2016
@CowboysRFF secondary is worse than thought, couldn't compete on a bigger stage, when times got tough we didn't rise
— JustOSUthings (@JustOSUThings) September 26, 2016
@CowboysRFF secondary looks very bad. Last year's team could close out games in crunch time. This year's team makes mistakes in crunch time
— Brett Gasswint (@BGasswint) September 26, 2016
@CowboysRFF scares me because it will be tough to be bowl eligible! Osu will be in a dog fight every game! Can win them or lose them all
— Rob Willie (@rwillie11) September 25, 2016
Some really interesting thoughts from our readers on Twitter. Leave us yours in the comments section below!