Could Hubbard reach 300 carries? Defensive still finding ways to improve
STILLWATER — New Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Sean Gleeson had a question on t he team bus last week. He was curious how Mike Gundy felt about the number of times running back C hub a Hubbard touched the football Friday night.
Twenty-six felt like a lot, even for a 6- foot -1,207- pound sophomore. It' s especially a big number after Gundy worked to limit Justice Hill's touches to about 15 last season.
But that's just how it might go for OSU's star running back this season.
“It looked pretty good tome ,” Gun dy said. “That' s a lot of carries. You' re looking at potentially 300 carries on the year like that. I don't know if that's real smart, but we have to ride it right now depending on how we flow as an offense.”
Oregon State, especially early, forced OSU to feed Hubbard. The Beavers had extra coverage on receiver Tylan Wallace. OSU's counter was Hubbard.
Gundy would like to see other running backs get involved, especially Saturday against FCS o pp on en tMcNee se State.
Last week, L.D. Brown had seven carries for 8 yards, and walk-on Micah Cooper had four carries for 7 yards. Junior college transfer Dezmon Jackson is likely to play this week after being held out last week. Gundy also said Jahmyl Jeter is improving from an ankle injury.
McNeese State, an FCS school, is nearly a sixtouchdown under dog against Oklahoma State on Saturday.
But that doesn't mean OSU is taking its opponent lightly. There is something to be gained on defense, and that is shoring up some key issues in last week's win at Oregon State.
Getting off the field on third down. Forcing a turnover.
“We need to continue to improve,” Gundy said. “We know that overall our talent level should be better than McNeese. We know that. There's no reason for me to get up here and say anything other.
“For us, every player in each phase of the game needs to improve a little bit every day. Our discipline and our toughness and our ability to secure the football and we need to force turnovers, which we didn't do in the last game. All of those things we need to work on each day so we can get better as the season progresses.”
McNeese State totaled just 303 yards in its 34-28 win over Southern last weekend. It' s not particularly a statistic that is worrisome.
OSU did allow 448 yards to Oregon State, though.
“We can be better,” Sterling said .“It was good for a first game seeing where we were, seeing where we need to be and stuff like that.”
Sterling making most of chance
About midway through fall camp, Tre Sterling received word he would be starting at safety with Malcolm Rodriguez moving to linebacker.
Good thing Sterling got that notice. His nerves kicked in.
“It definitely gave me a little more sanity because I knew that I had two more weeks to prepare and two more weeks to actually lock in and realize it' s time to actually get going,” Sterling said.
Sterling had nine tackles — seven solo — against Oregon State, quickly finding comfort. He was making the most of his opportunity after primarily playing special teams last season after red shirting as a freshman.
Not playing bothered Sterling. He spent more time in the weight room, staying after practice and watching film in an effort to make it on the field in a bigger role.
“After awhile, I decided I have to change and actually buy into this program,” Sterling said. “Once I did, it just took off from there.”