HOUSTON — Houston receiver Amare Thomas won four battles in less than four seconds.
Houston pass catchers notched more victories than their counterparts in Oklahoma State's secondary in a 35-32 Cougar win on Saturday in TDECU Stadium. OSU coach Eric Morris identified one-on-one shortcomings as a reason for OSU's troubles.
It was a frustrating day for the back end of OSU’s defense. Houston quarterback Conner Weigman completed 24 of 33 passes (72.7%) for 343 yards and five touchdowns.
On all four OSU offensive touchdown drives in the second half, the Cowboy defense allowed Houston’s offense to pass for a touchdown or run the clock out on the ensuing series.
With 11:52 left in the fourth quarter and holding a three-point lead, the Cougars didn't attempt to grind any clock on the ground. Houston scored a touchdown on a drive of five straight passing plays.
“It was just we got to do our job,” OSU safety Quinton Hammonds said. “I can’t really point out how we felt, but it was just do our job, get the ball back to our offense because we know they can score, and we just didn’t do that at the end of the game.”
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Thomas finished as Houston’s leading receiver with 126 yards and two touchdowns.
In the third quarter, Thomas caught a short pass at the OSU 48 yard-line with his back to safety Vincent Holmes. Thomas spun inside, leaving Holmes grasping a handful of turf. One Cowboy down.
Thomas changed the angle he was moving faster than linebacker Tate Romney could adjust and Romney’s arm tackle slid off. Another win.
Two Cowboys appeared to have Thomas penned in at the 43, but he carried his twisting momentum into an outside spin and safeties Evan Jackson and Hammonds collided more with each other than the vanishing red jersey. Two more Cowboys defeated.
OSU corner LaDainian Fields saved a touchdown, forcing Thomas out at the 2 for a 51-yard gain.
“I thought we had a bunch of one-on-one plays today,” Morris said. “We didn't make enough of those one-on-one plays today and I thought their kids did.”
Postgame, Hammonds was the first to call himself out. Saturday wasn’t the standard he believes OSU’s secondary is at. And he believes that bar is pretty high.
“I mean, (Houston’s pass catchers) are good, but I feel like we got one of the best DB corps in the country, or at least in the conference, and we didn’t perform to that so we just got to bounce back and perform next week.”
OSU was without senior safety Mose Phillips III, sidelined due to injury, but OSU's mistakes were so widespread, one player would not have fixed everything.
“In my mind right now, it wasn't just one thing,” Morris said. “We lost in man coverage, we lost in zone coverage, play action and roll out pass. There's a lot right now off the top of my mind.”
Just take a pick.
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Thomas hurt the Cowboys on a 21-yard touchdown reception on fourth-and-3 in the third quarter. Thomas beat nickel Christian Bodnar on a route from the slot and caught the ball, even as two flags fluttered down to signal interference.
All Bodnar could do was glance up at the night sky in a look of brief helplessness.
The game’s decisive score came with 9:48 left in the fourth quarter. Weigman took a shotgun snap, turned his head to stare down wide receiver Koby Young and lofted a ball skyward. Young’s straight-line speed created a step on corner Kobi Foreman along the sideline and a perfect throw resulted in a 48-yard score.
Hammonds believes the errors OSU made Saturday are correctible. Footwork, eye discipline and not challenging receivers are shortcomings he identified.
After OSU dropped the season-opener against Tulsa, the Cowboys rallied for four consecutive wins.
“I mean we just got to keep our head down and keep working,” Hammonds said. “We did it once, we can do it again. There’s still a chance for us to go win out and make the Big 12 championship that’s our goal and we just got to keep our head down and keep working and go week by week.”
Ben Hutchens covers OSU athletics for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Ben? He can be reached at bhutchens@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @ben_hutchens_. Sign up for OSU Sports Minute newsletter to access more coverage of the Cowboys and Cowgirls. Support Ben's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Can Oklahoma State football fix secondary problems that Conner Weigman, Houston exposed?