Oklahoma State 2021 Football Preview

2020 Recap

Oklahoma State endured an injury to starting quarterback Spencer Sanders in the season opener and still managed to win their first three games without him. This set up an early season showdown with Iowa State, with Sanders back the Cowboys were able to hold off Iowa State 24 – 21. With a strong start to the season the Cowboys had set themselves up well early.

The Cowboys went into the Texas game undefeated. They outplayed Texas throughout the game, out-gaining the Longhorns 530 – 287 but committed four turnovers and lost in overtime 41 – 34. Oklahoma State squeaked by Kansas State the next week, but lost against rival Oklahoma the next game. The Cowboys beat Texas Tech in a shootout the next week but faltered against TCU the week after.

Oklahoma State had lost the advantage of their fast start and the team had traded losses and wins over the past five games. The wins were not pretty and the team was not playing it’s best, but they would close strong. The Cowboys finished the Big 12 season with a convincing win over Baylor and then beat Miami in the Cheez-It Bowl to finish the season on a positive note and go into 2021 with some momentum.

2020 Leaders

Projected Starters

Reasons For Optimism

Talent and Experience at QB

While Spencer Sanders’ injury to start the year in 2020 was unfortunate it did help the Cowboys build depth at quarterback. Now going into 2021 they have a proven starter in Sanders and a backup who has proven he can win games as well, in Shane Illingworth. Sanders has been the starter for the past two seasons and has thrown almost 500 passes in his career. While he does throw more interceptions than Oklahoma State fans would like to see, Sanders averaged over 8 yards per attempt both years and completes over 62 percent of his passes. He is also a threat to run the ball and make plays out of nothing. Illingworth struggled against Oklahoma, but played well in his other three appearances. He showed promise averaging 7.9 yards per attempt and throwing 4 TD against 1 Int, and should only improve as he develops. The depth, talent and experience at quarterback sets Oklahoma State up well at the most important position on the field.

An Excellent Pair of Safeties

Oklahoma State’s defense was a strength of the team in 2020 and though they lost some key players from the unit, the Cowboys do return two of the best safeties in college football. Kolby Harvell-Peel and Tre Sterling are both ranked in the top ten at the position in our rankings and will solidify the back end of the Oklahoma State defense again. The duo accounted for four of the Cowboys six interceptions in 2020 and will be leaned on to make more big plays in 2021. The Coaching staff can be aggressive and creative up front because they have confidence that their safeties will erase any mistakes made in front of them. This luxury will help the defense adapt to the changes in personnel and continue to play well in 2021.

Depth at RB Ready to Shine

Before the 2020 season the idea of losing Chuba Hubbard was a frightening one for Oklahoma State. Hubbard was not the same player in 2020 as he was in 2019 and did not produce much the last six games of the season. In his absence LD Brown and Dezmon Jackson filled in well and provided hope for the 2021 season in the backfield. Brown had two 100 yard games and averaged over 5.3 yards per carry but missed the last two games of the conference schedule. Jackson took advantage of the extra opportunities, turning in two 100 yard performances of his own (235 yards in one of them) and averaging 5.5 yards per carry. The one-two punch in the backfield will help keep the offense balanced and allow Spencer Sanders to play within the offense more and limit the chances he takes.

Causes For Concern

Losses on the Offensive Line

The offensive line struggled with injuries in 2020 and also struggled protecting the quarterback allowing the third most sacks in the Big 12. Two of the leaders of the offensive line are no longer in Stillwater, Teven Jenkins and Ry Schneider. Jenkins and Schneider were two of the better offensive linemen in the conference and leave two big holes in the offensive line. Fortunately Oklahoma State has transfer Danny Godlovske coming in to take over at center, but it remains to be seen if he can make the jump from the Mac to the Big 12 successfully. Replacing Jenkins is a tougher task, he was one of the most talented tackles in the country and drafted in the second round of the NFL Draft. The offensive line needs to play better in 2021 than it did in 2020 and that will be a challenge with two of it’s best players moving on.

Replacing Star Receivers

The Cowboys will also need to replace their top two receivers from 2020. Tylan Wallace was the teams #1 receiver and one of the best in the country. The star receiver was incredible in contested catch situations and made big plays with incredible consistency. He led the team with 922 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns last year. Also gone is Dillon Stoner the teams second leading receiver with 573 yards and 4 touchdowns. Stoner was a consistent threat opposite Wallace and did a good job of complimenting the star receiver. None of the returning receivers for the Cowboys had over 300 yards in 2020, but they will need to develop and give the quarterbacks reliable weapons in the passing game.

2021 Schedule

Top 25 Players

2021 Projection

Oklahoma State lost a good amount of talent from the 2020 team, but still returns enough talent to compete in the Big 12. The schedule is not an easy one with a tough road match-up with Boise State and back to back games at Texas and Iowa State. The Cowboys do get Oklahoma at home and anything can happen in a rivalry game, but this may be Oklahoma’s best team of the Lincoln Riley era and will be a tough out. The good news is the Cowboys get TCU, Kansas State and West Virginia at home and should be favored in all of those games. The Cowboys should be able to find their way to 8 wins in the regular season, but will need some new stars to step up to get past that number and play for the Big 12 Championship.