Defense's Lack of Takeaways Hurting Oklahoma State

Defense has been Oklahoma State’s strength for the past few years, but it is missing a critical element this season.

OSU lost its first conference game against Iowa State on Saturday and moved to 2-2. Giving up 34 points in the loss, OSU’s struggles on that side of the ball were the worst they have been all season.

The Cowboys’ defense continued to give up big plays and allowed the Cyclones to deliver crushing blows at inopportune times. Against South Alabama, the Cowboys faced a similar fate.

In both games, OSU failed to force a turnover. It would be one thing if OSU could keep the scoring down and get off the field consistently, but it has mostly failed to do either of those.

For the Cowboys to see success this season, they need to be an opportunistic defense. This is not the dominant unit they had in 2021, but the Cowboys need to make a play or two each game where they get their offense the ball back and flip momentum.

Getting an interception or forcing and recovering a fumble is far more valuable for OSU because of its offensive woes. OSU has not had any luck scoring consistently or pushing the ball into opponents’ territory.

While forcing a turnover is not guaranteed to give the offense good field position, it typically offers a spark, if nothing else. For OSU, the two turnovers it has forced have ended with the offense in scoring position.

Against Central Arkansas, a fumble led to an Alex Hale field goal just before halftime. Then, against Arizona State, an interception led to another Alex Hale attempt, but he did not convert.

Still, the offense has shown signs of life after both turnovers the defense forced this season. The Cowboys have also capitalized on fourth down stops against ASU with a couple of touchdowns immediately after forcing turnovers on downs.

Since turnovers on downs do not officially count as turnovers, OSU has only two in four games this season and is part of a more significant issue. OSU has won the turnover battle only once in its first four games.

Winning the turnover battle is extremely helpful to winning games, but as OSU’s offense gives the ball up, the defense has failed to get it back. While all of these problems are not entirely the defense's fault, OSU desperately needs that side of the ball to get some takeaways to have any chance of competing throughout its Big 12 schedule.

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