Matt Kartozian – USA TODAY Sports
The Oklahoma State Cowboys have been one of the most prolific offenses in all of college football for the last several years. Their air-raid attack has put points and yards up in bunches and given opposing defenses fits as they run their no-huddle, up-tempo style of offense. But new offensive coordinator Mike Yurich is pushing the Cowboys’ offense to be even faster in 2013. Will the Big 12 be able to keep up?
Most teams had difficult keeping up with Oklahoma State as it was in 2012. The Cowboys finished as the No. 3 scoring team in the country, averaging 45.7 points per game. They ranked No. 4 in total offense in 2012, averaging 547 yards per game, including 332 through the air (good for No. 7 in college football) and 215 on the ground (No. 21). In short, they were a high-flying group that ran wild on opposing defenses.
But Yurich wants to do even more in 2013, and he plans to get there by picking up the pace. Oklahoma State was already accustomed to running the up-tempo offense, but they’ve taken it to a new level this spring. Running back Jeremy Smith told reporters that the offense is now running “Lamborghini fast,” which should cause Big 12 defensive coordinators to worry.
This seems to be Yurich’s biggest imprint on the offense as he takes over. He will keep most of the play calls and terminology the same, but he just wants to have things run at whole new level. Putting the pedal even further to the metal will put untold stress on opposing defenses and force them to adjust on the fly without the benefit of substitutions of allowing coordinators to switch up their looks.
Oklahoma State was already a handful to try and contain on offense before, how much of a headache will they be for the rest of the Big 12 if they start running at Lamborghini levels?
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