Oklahoma State linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez (right) tackles Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger last season. Rodriguez will return and take advantage of NCAA eligibility relief and replay his senior season.
Kolby Harvell-Peel has reevaluated his football future. He has decided to return to Oklahoma State one week after originally declaring his intention to turn pro.
I wonder if we should reevaluate the 2021 OSU defense as a group with a real shot at matching the ’20 Cowboys, Mike Gundy’s best defense since he looked more like Bart Simpson than Billy Ray Cyrus.
Harvell-Peel’s change of heart means the five defensive backs who started OSU’s Cheez-It Bowl victory over Miami all return. This is consequential at a time college defensive coordinators are as apt to build their units back to front as front to back.
“The back end, in my eyes, is the critical element to improve your defense,” OSU defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said once.
Knowles can take great comfort in Harvell-Peel returning with fellow safety Tre Sterling, nickel back Tanner McCalister and corners Jarrick Bernard-Converse and Christian Holmes, not to mention put-him-where-you-need-him Thomas Harper.
The Cowboys will miss Rodarius Williams, the All-Big 12 cornerback who opted out of the Cheez-It Bowl after turning pro in mid-December. But consider what Knowles said about losing All-Big 12 corner A.J. Green heading into the 2020 season:
“We moved Jarrick from the nickel position. He’s been in as many games at Oklahoma State as I have. He started for two years. And then Christian Holmes is excellent and has great focus. Both of those guys are quality players, quality individuals, football guys. We’re going to be fine.”
The Cowboys will be fine on their back end next fall, which means they should be fine as a defense. They should at least challenge the standard set by their ’20 group.
Whether they meet or even exceed that standard depends on the players closer to the line of scrimmage. Again, they have a better shot to do so than we might imagine.
Malcolm Rodriguez’s decision to take advantage of NCAA eligibility relief and replay his senior season doesn’t just give Knowles a starting linebacker, it gives him his leading tackler and steadiest defender. What’s needed is someone to replace Amen Ogbongbemiga, who seethed the few times the defense failed to succeed, and made sure things got right again.
OSU will miss Ogbongbemiga’s presence and his linebacking. Maybe Knowles knows who’s poised to line up next to Rodriguez, but I don’t. This is a critical job search.
The task is easier on the defensive line, where the Cowboys lose underrated tackle Cameron Murray and designated pass rusher Calvin Bundage, but welcome back a solid two-deep. Cheez-It Bowl starters Tyler Lacy, Brock Martin and Israel Antwine return, as do proven linemen Brendon Evers, Sione Asi and Kody Walterscheid.
Rush end Trace Ford is set to return from the late-season knee injury that kept him out of the bowl. Assuming Ford returns full bore, he joins Harvell-Peel and Sterling as Knowles’ most obvious playmakers next season.
A coordinator must have the occasionally spectacular to go with the consistently sound. We saw a mixture of both on OSU’s 2020 defense. We saw a unique blend of experience and chemistry, traits often mentioned by Gundy and Knowles as the foundation for OSU’s defensive strength last year.
I count 13 Cowboys on the ’21 defense with at least three years of service in Stillwater. The foundation still looks pretty solid to me.
“These guys have been with me now going on to their fourth year,” Knowles said after the Cheez-It Bowl triumph. “They understand. They get it. They have won games on defense. I definitely think that culture that we are trying to establish on defense will be passed down.”
I tend to agree with him, especially with so many OSU defenders steeped in that culture still around.
Season in review: Was 2020 season a success for Oklahoma State?
Season in review: Was 2020 season a success for Oklahoma State?
Watch Now: Frank Bonner breaks down OSU's 2020 season
Can the 2020 season be considered a success?
No. The Cowboys had a strong ending to the season with a dominating win over Baylor and a bowl game win but fell well short of their goals. Injuries plagued OSU which made it difficult for the Cowboys to continue their early-season success. An 8-3 record with no Big 12 Championship appearance can’t be considered a success for the 2020 Cowboys.
Offensive MVP: Tylan Wallace
The offense struggled this year but receiver Tylan Wallace was one of the few consistent factors OSU could count. Wallace proved that he still has the same playmaking ability after suffering a season-ending knee injury in 2019.
Defensive MVP: Amen Ogbongbemiga
The fifth-year senior linebacker helped anchor a strong linebacker group. He led the team with three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and his 80 tackles were second on the team.
Offensive grade: C -
OSU’s offense looked solid in the last two games but struggled for most of the year. It looked stagnant at times and much of that had to do with problems on the offensive line.
Defensive grade: A -
The Cowboys had moments where they allowed too many big plays in games but the 2020 season was a strong year for the OSU defense. Nobody was better at getting off the field than the OSU defense. Teams converted on just 26% of their third-down attempts against OSU.
Special teams grade: B +
Jason Taylor returned OSU’s first kickoff for a touchdown since Tyreek Hill in 2014. Kicker Alex Hale had a strong start to the year making 13-of-14 field goals before he got hurt. But redshirt freshman Brady Pohl missed four of his nine field-goal attempts. Three of them were less than 40 yards.
Top three wins
1. Oklahoma State 24, Iowa State 21. (Oct. 24, 2020): Both teams were undefeated in the conference and the win against the Cyclones put OSU in charge of the Big 12 race at that time. It also protected OSU’s No. 6 national ranking.
2. Oklahoma State 37, Miami 34 (Dec. 29, 2020): The Cowboys ended the year by winning their 20th bowl game against a talented Miami team. It wasn’t a conference championship but it still meant a lot to the players to end the season that way.
3. Oklahoma State 50, Texas Tech 44 (Nov. 28, 2020): OSU was coming off of a demoralizing Bedlam loss and found itself in a third-quarter shooting out with Texas Tech. The Cowboys needed this win to prevent its third conference loss and stay alive in the Big 12 race.
Worst three moments
1. Offseason turmoil: Oklahoma State was thrown into the national spotlight for all the wrong reasons heading into the 2020 season after players spoke out about head coach Mike Gundy wearing a One America News Network shirt.
2. Texas loss: OSU looked like the better team against the Longhorns but too many turnovers caused the Cowboys to lose 41-34 in overtime to suffer their first loss of the season.
3. Bedlam loss: The Cowboys haven’t won Bedlam since 2014 and this was supposed to be the year. The defense had played well until that point but allowed 21 first-quarter points. It was the worst OSU had looked all season.
Three questions entering 2020 (and what the answers turned out to be)
1. Could OSU be good enough to win the Big 12?
The Cowboys had the talent to be considered one of the favorites to be in the mix for the Big 12 title in 2020. Unfortunately for OSU, it had too many bad breaks. The Cowboys are still looking for their first conference title since 2011.
2. Would the offseason issues derail the OSU season?
OSU didn’t have the season it wanted but it’s hard to blame that on the offseason issues. Players said that experience made the team closer. OSU started the season by winning its first four games and held a No. 6 ranking.
3. Is the hype surrounding the OSU defense real?
There was a lot of anticipation about how good the OSU defense would be heading into the 2020 season. The defense was the backbone of the team this year and it lived up to the hype.
Top question entering the 2021 season
Can OSU qualify for its first Big 12 Championship game?
Five teams have played in the Big 12 Championship since it returned in 2017. Oklahoma State isn’t one of them. Entering 2020, OSU was a legitimate Big 12 title contender. Contenting next year would seem to be more difficult.
Guerin Emig
Sports Columnist
I'm the proud father of Gretchen and Holden. Devoted husband to Christy, who has been my best friend since biology class at Booker T. Washington. I covered the OU Sooners for 15 years. That was both challenging and rewarding. Now I get to write columns.
