The Oklahoma State Cowboys are already game-planning for their homecoming contest with Colorado, which is set for 6 p.m. on Saturday.
The Cowboys have put the Houston loss behind them. Head coach Eric Morris hopes his Cowboys have learned their lesson after losing a winnable game on the road.
This week instead of picking several players from different positions we decided to focus on two positions and assess what the snap counts from the Houston game tell us about who the Cowboys trust after six games. This week we selected wide receiver and cornerback.
Snap count numbers are per Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
Wide Receiver
Last week’s snap counts against Houston looked like this for the wide receiver group:
Justin Bowick: 62
Terrence Lewis: 56
Wyatt Young: 48
Miles Coleman: 16
Chris Barnes: 7
The snaps for Lewis and Barnes stand out. Barnes is listed as the starter at the Z wide receiver, but Lewis logged 56 snaps against the Cougars. And it isn't the first time that he's gotten more snaps than Barnes either.
Since Barnes returned from injury he has 53 snaps in the first three Big 12 games. Lewis has 137 snaps. This doesn't look like it's a matter of Barnes getting healthy. This looks like Lewis has more trust from the coaching staff than Barnes. I can't help but keep thinking about how Morris yelled at Barnes after he fell, which led to the Drew Mestemaker interception. It makes me wonder there is something more to that than just Barnes tripping on the ground.
The other thing that stands out is the snap count between Young and Coleman. They’re listed as an “OR,” Coleman typically starts and Young typically plays a lot. But Coleman had an impact on that Houston game with just 16 snaps, as he caught three passes for 77 yards. It's good that Oklahoma State has a player that can maximize production with limited snaps.
Bowick logging 62 snaps in a game where the offense had 64 snaps is insane. The Cowboys need some help at the X receiver but don’t really have it right now. That was his fourth game with at least 60 snaps this season. The trust level is off the charts. He’s turned into one of OSU’s best portal pulls this season.
Cornerback
Last week’s snap counts against Houston looked like this for the cornerback group:
LaDainian Fields: 64
Christian Bodnar: 49
Mo Horn: 40
Kollin Lewis: 33
Kobi Foreman: 9
Vincent Holmes: 2
Morris sounded like a coach who was searching for answers at this position after the Houston loss because the Cowboys gave up five touchdown passes to quarterback Connor Weigman. Pass defense isn't all on the secondary, but they are the last line of defense, and the unit had a rough game.
The interesting part was that Fields didn't start. Kollin Lewis started at left corner and Fields replaced him shortly thereafter and picked off a batted down pass. Morris’ explanation of the flip made it sound like he was looking for a spark. I don’t think Lewis gave it to the Cowboys.
Per PFF, Horn and Fields had the best coverage trades of the five corners that played, both at 65.5 or better. Bodnar was at 55.3, Holmes at 50.8, Lewis at 47.4 and Foreman at 42.9.
I think the Cowboys know who they trust here. There's no reason to not start Fields against Colorado. Horn has emerged as a capable right cornerback. The question is how good is this depth behind the pair? Lewis allowed five catches for 88 yards. Fields only allowed three catches for 13 yards and Horn one catch for 10 yards. Teams are picking on the other cornerbacks, and the Cowboys either need to correct it or shovel more playing time at Fields and Horn, which isn’t sustainable.
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