Did Oklahoma State football figure Oregon's pre-snap tells? Eric Morris responds

STILLWATER — It’s one thing to have a clue what your opponent is doing. It’s another thing to do something with that information. 

After Oklahoma State’s 39-31 win against Oregon, where the Ducks were limited to 281 offensive yards, OSU linebacker Tate Romney hinted the Cowboy defense identified pre-snap tells from Oregon’s offense. 

“We were noticing earlier in the week that their offensive line had tendencies that helped us key into run (or) pass and a couple areas we could take advantage of,” Romney said. “Obviously, our defensive line was keyed into that. That was one big thing that gave us a big advantage.”

Tuesday, when asked if OSU identified pre-snap tendencies from Oregon, Cowboys coach Eric Morris downplayed how big of a factor that was or was not.

“I don’t know,” Morris said. “I mean that was a little more, I mean, I don’t think that had a huge influence in the game and I think we have some really smart linebackers that study a lot of things right now and then, obviously, our coaches are doing that. That’s not abnormal.”

The biggest reason for OSU’s success Saturday, defensive coordinator Skyler Cassity said, was intelligent players reading the game correctly. 

“I think really it's just high football IQ stuff, right?” Cassity said. “And so I think having a general understanding, us being really successful on first down really influenced the game. Us being able to hit the quarterback in the first half way more than they probably expected us to influenced the tackles a lot to have to deepen up their drops, to have to get out way faster, you know things like that. That's really where that you'd say the 'tell' came from. It's our understanding.”

Here’s what to know from coach Morris’ Tuesday press conference:

More: Oklahoma State football avoids Big 12 fine for field storming after Oregon upset

Braydon Nelson, Oscar Hammond getting better

Tight end Oscar Hammond and offensive lineman Braydon Nelson haven’t played this season, but they could making their season debuts soon. 

Hammond is dealing with a wrist injury. Nelson has battled a knee injury throughout fall camp. Both are out at practice and could be game time decisions for OSU’s game Saturday against Murray State, Morris said. 

OSU plays at West Virginia on Sep. 26 then gets a bye week.

“Oscar Hammond is still working back from an injury  — and Oscar’s getting closer and closer,” Morris said. “Him and Braydon Nelson are practicing and out there and doing stuff with us. Could be game-time decisions for us probably the next two weeks, and then you get the bye, and so we’ll have to be smart in how we handle those situations.”

How to avoid “trap game” and “rat poison” after beating Oregon

The sportsbooks bold enough to post a gambling line for OSU’s game against FCS opponent Murray State have the Cowboys favored by about 56.5 points. 

Coming off the high of an upset win against No. 6 Oregon, it’s a spot where terms like “rat poison,” college football coaches’ favorite expression for when players are told how good they are, get thrown around. 

This week, Morris said 88% of players played fast against Oregon, which was the only thing he was grading. That leaves another 12% to improve. Also, there is still the disastrous tape from the loss to Tulsa lingering in the back of Morris’ mind. 

“So, there’s still some areas to clean up,” Morris said. “But our sample size in two weeks are two totally different results. And so, like, for us to learn and grow from that and know, 'Hey, this one thing that we did right here worked extremely well,' and on the contrary, the other one didn’t, right?”

So far this week, Morris said, the response has been good. 

“I’ve been brutally honest with them,” Morris said. “And, obviously, you can say trap game, you can say rat poison, read your own press clippings, distractions, like everything that can be said as distractions, but like, I was really pleased by the way our kids came out and like the energy and the way we attacked the practice today.”

Sam Keltner receives well-earned honors

Strong performances from the Cowboy offense and defense against Oregon outshined kicker Sam Keltner. In the quiet of a Tuesday, Keltner received his flowers.

Keltner made all four of his field goal attempts Saturday, hitting from 20, 24, 44 and 31 yards. His 31-yarder put the Cowboys up by eight points with 3:11 remaining in the fourth quarter. Keltner earned Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week and Lou Groza Star of the Week honors.

Keltner, a SMU transfer from Keller, Texas, is 5 for 5 this season on field goals and 4 for 4 on extra points. His dad went to OSU and Keltner said he’s been a Cowboy fan his entire life. The Oregon game was his first game in Boone Pickens Stadium. 

“Oh yeah, I couldn’t have drawn it any better,” Keltner said. “More than anything, I want to see this thing jumping again. I’ve been an OSU fan my whole life, and it’s better when this team’s good at football. To see that crowd stay in the game, and as we went to the third and fourth quarter, they were still fully in it and it looked like we were going to win, I was enjoying that as a player just as much as everyone in the stands.”

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: Did Oklahoma State football figure Oregon's pre-snap tells? Eric Morris responds