STILLWATER -- It wasn't perfect, but it wasn't a disaster, either.
Oklahoma State's defense played well enough for the 18th-ranked Cowboys to win comfortably in their season opener, 44-20 over FCS No. 1 South Dakota State, on Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium.
Yet their performance was just messy enough to keep the defenders from getting too comfortable.
The South Dakota State offense had 388 yards, with 264 of it through the air via the arm of quarterback Mark Gronowksi.
"Defensively, we played good, then we gave up big plays," OSU coach Mike Gundy said. "I almost did the math in my head. There's about four plays we could've taken away, and it would be almost 50% of their production -- no, 35% of their production. That's just me doing it in my head."
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So here's the math, via calculator.
SDSU had five of its 65 plays go for more than 20 yards -- four passes for 164 yards and one run for 40. That's 204 yards of 388, or 52.6% of their offensive production.
If you want to move the barrier for what constitutes a big play to at least 25 yards, that leaves three SDSU plays for 162 yards, or 41.8% of their yardage.
Either way, Gundy's initial 50% figure was in the ballpark after all.
The start of defensive coordinator Bryan Nardo's second year generated some similar feelings to his first season implementing his 3-3-5 scheme. Signs of the team's overall talent contrasted against big-play gut punches that dull the defense's shine.
Nardo -- who, like offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn, was not made available to the media Saturday -- made adjustments to his defense over the winter, which were installed during spring and fine-tuned in preseason.
Now, the defense has gotten a feel for the changes in a live game, which should lead to a wealth of learning opportunities in practice this week.
"We got a lot of improvement, a lot of things to work on," said super-senior safety Trey Rucker, who led the team with 15 tackles. "We'll go back, watch the film on this game, nitpick on what we need to work on. That's what we been doing at practice, just really harping on the little things. That's what's gonna get us through the season."
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The Cowboys benefited from some missed opportunities for SDSU, including a couple of fourth-down pass attempts that missed open receivers.
While Gronowski was sharp, he still misfired on a couple passes that could've gone for big gains.
Yet at the same time, OSU made plays.
Korie Black picked up his first interception of the season. Collin Oliver had back-to-back quarterback pressures -- the second one ending with a sack -- that led to an SDSU punt, and the OSU offense scored shortly after for a 31-13 lead.
"I think we're really good at adjusting," said Oliver, who now has 23.5 career sacks." We're really good at understanding that whatever Coach tells us to do, it's probably what's best for us and our team. As a defense, we understand that concept and we're going to be comfortable in any situation."
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That will be put to the test. Maybe next week, or maybe in three weeks when Utah comes to BPS, and a few more times after that.
Either way, the improvement of this defense will be the biggest key to success for the Cowboys.
Running back Ollie Gordon II looked like his usual self on Saturday. The receivers looked like a dangerous bunch, and the perfect complement to Gordon. Alan Bowman was as sharp as he's ever been in a Cowboy uniform.
A major step forward for this team can only be made with reliable, consistent defensive play, and Saturday suggested this group isn't far off.
"We all feel like it's not big errors or something like that," said Black, a super-senior cornerback. "That's the good thing we're happy about. But we're always chasing that perfect game.
"It's probably never gonna happen, but as long as we have that mentality of doing your job every play, then I think we'll be good."