Cowboys coach is unhappy with plays that may have led to losses.
Joe DeForest says he is "disgusted" by special teams breakdowns that hurt Oklahoma State
in Big 12 losses to Kansas State
and Texas A&M.
"What bothers me is we lost
two games directly (because) of
special teams," said DeForest,
OSU's associate head coach and
special teams coordinator. "I feel
directly responsible for the last
two losses because we lost in
the special teams.
"We've just got to bounce
back. I feel terrible. It's the
worst I've ever felt as a coach."
Oklahoma State's defensive
breakdowns were prevalent in
the K-State and A&M games,
but special teams mistakes were
just as damaging.
The Cowboys lost by four
points (31-27) at Kansas State.
The Wildcats managed two offensive touchdowns. K-State
blocked a Cowboy punt, collected the loose ball and scored on
the return. The Wildcats also
scored on a 95-yard kickoff return. If it's offense versus offense, OSU wins 27-17. Kansas
State's special teams TDs
doomed OSU.
The Cowboys lost by one
point (34-33) to Texas A&M. If
OSU had successfully executed
two extra points, the Cowboys
might have prevailed. After
OSU's first touchdown, holder
Cole Reynolds mishandled the
snap and Jason Ricks did not
have an opportunity to kick. In
overtime, the contest ended
when Ricks' kick was blocked.
"We've given up 16 points in
the kicking game in the last two
losses, and we lost by a total of
five points. Figure that one out,"
DeForest said. "Yeah, I'm disappointed. Disappointed, hurt, disgusted that I didn't do a better
job of getting them ready."
During the third period of the
A&M game, OSU gave up a 48-yard kickoff return. The Aggies
had a short-field possession and
capitalized with a field goal.
"It's been really shocking because we work so hard on special teams," said Grant Jones, a
member of OSU's kickoff coverage, kickoff return and punt return units. "We've got good players out there, and now we're
making mistakes that cost us
games. It's shocking."
Entering Saturday's 2:30 p.m.
meeting with Nebraska, O-State
leads the nation in kickoff returns (30.37-yard average) and is
No. 10 on punt returns (15.83).
On kickoff returns, Jones has averaged 39.0 yards on five returns, while freshman Perrish
Cox has averaged 31.4 on 11 re
turns.
Not as impressive are OSU's
national rankings on punt coverage (107th, 13.93 yards) and
kickoff coverage (103rd, 23.83).
In fairness to the punt coverage
unit, punter Matt Fodge leads
the Big 12 with a 49.2-yard average. He has crushed three punts
of at least 70 yards. When
Fodge hits a deep one, the return man usually gets at least a
10-yard surge before personnel
are in position to make a stop.
Cox was spectacular in his
first college game, returning the
season-opening kickoff 96 yards
for a TD against Missouri State.
He had a 49-yard punt return at
Arkansas State and a 63-yarder
at Kansas State. Cox also lost a
fumble during a fourth-quarter
return at Houston, and at Kansas he made a mental mistake
by retreating 15 yards and being
tackled at the Cowboy 10.
"We have to do a better job of
getting the kids to perform under pressure situations," DeForest said. "We've got a lot of
freshmen on the team, but that's
no excuse. We should be able to
kick the ball out of the end
zone. If we don't, we should be
able to cover kicks. We go
down there and cover kicks well
the majority of the time, then all
of a sudden they pop one. Anytime you give up a big kickoff
return or a blocked punt, it's
just a breakdown of one guy.
"We as a staff have to coach
special teams better so everybody understands what their
role is."
Bill Haisten 581-8397
bill.haisten@tulsaworld.com
