Oklahoma State torched Pitt in the 1st half and cruised to a W as fans fell asleep

If Oklahoma State doesn’t have the best offense in college football, it definitely has one of the top two or three. What the No. 9 Cowboys did to the poor Pitt Panthers in just the first half of their 59-21 win on Saturday was extremely unkind and possibly illegal. It literally put fans to sleep late in the game.

After 30 minutes, the Cowboys led, 49-14. On offense, their stats included:

• 516 yards of offense on 46 plays, an average of 11.2.
• 423 air yards for QB Mason Rudolph on 20-of-28 passing, a new school record. (It’s not an all-time record. That’s Andre Ware’s 517 first-half passing yards for Houston against SMU in 1989. But it’s still incredible.)
• Five touchdown passes and a 257.3 rating for Rudolph
• (Two different receivers were over 100 yards, but that feels almost expected.)
• Seven touchdowns on seven possessions, not counting a late kneel
• 3.5 points per minute of possession time

Honestly, I’d be listing these things forever. Here’s a box score. Look at it!

Here’s a drive chart. Just ignore the late-half kneel down, because it’s useless, and you’ve got a literal perfect game being pitched by the Cowboys:

For reference, the most total yards an FBS team has gained in a game this season is 815, by Missouri against FCS Missouri State in Week 1. Against another FBS team, the high entering Week 3 was Louisville’s 705 against North Carolina. Oklahoma State had 73 percent of that in one half. The Cowboys would finish with 676 total yards, 572 of which came through the air.

This is the sort of FBS-on-FBS carnage that comes around almost never.

Just one sample of their dominance:

Oklahoma State entered the day No. 9 in the country in scoring offense, averaging 51.5 points per game. Those numbers are depressed by some late-game easing-ups, as the Cowboys have shown mercy on opponents down the stretch. They’re No. 2 in Offensive S&P+, an opponent-adjusted advanced stat that ranks rival Oklahoma No. 1.

The Cowboys are going to score like a million points this year. Goodness gracious.

Let’s sum up how this has gone for Pitt:

Thankfully for everyone involved, the Cowboys let their feet off the gas a bit in the second half and cruised. We were worried a bit because of the nature of this matchup. The air raid offense doesn’t typically turn off and Pitt’s defensive scheme invites pass happy teams to go nuts when its CBs aren’t up to the task.

The Pokes are on a torrid pace, and we can’t wait for Bedlam against Oklahoma.