Unranked Oklahoma State Still Contender in FBS

  As the days grow shorter and the nights grow longer, fall will soon be upon us. With fall, comes all the pumpkin spice lattes and thoughts of Halloween candy for the young kids, but most importantly, college football is back, baby! Tonight, in Michigan, the Oklahoma State Cowboys will kick off their 2015-2016 season, and look to showcase some sweet all-white helmets with a chrome Pistol Pete on them while thumping the Chippewas of Central Michigan. Many questions during the off season were directed towards the other state school, Oklahoma, but that doesn't mean OSU didn't have some questions they needed to address, as well.
  First off, their starting quarterback this season, Mason Rudolph, has only played 3 games under center for the Pokes, so how do we know he is ready for a full 12-game load? In his 3 starts, Rudolph hung in there down in Waco against Baylor, then the Christmas miracle in Norman definitely put his face on the map, and finally, he showed some good things in the Cowboys' win against Washington in their bowl game to end the season. I know that Central Michigan isn't even close to the caliber of opponent that Rudolph faced his previous 3 games, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. The Chippewas are not scrubs by any means, and being away from Stillwater for this game is sure to bring out the maroon and gold bleeding citizens of Michigan to fill up all 32,000 seats in Kelly/Shorts Stadium. This crowd will be fired up, very loud, and very rowdy. Rowdier than Boone Pickens? Nah. Besides the crowd, though, what do the Chippewas bring to the table?
  Central Michigan's starting quarterback, Cooper Rush, has had 2 nice seasons under his belt, and passed for over 2,500 yards and 20 TDs in his last 12 games. The good news for the Cowboys, though, is that he also threw 12 interception, so I'm sure OSU defensive coordinator, Glenn Spencer, has emphasized forcing Rush to make some mistakes like he has shown to be prone to do in the past. Other than that, we know Rush is not the type of QB to take off running. He has negative 77 yards on the ground, and that is mainly due to being sacked. With the big and highly touted defensive line at Spencer's disposal, players like defensive end, Emmanuel Ogbah, are sure to take down Mr. Rush a couple times tonight. So the Chippewas QB situation only beats OSU's on experience, and I'm sure most OSU fans could care less because of what they have seen out of Mason Rudolph so far. So what about the running game of Central Michigan? Do they have a back that can take some pressure off Cooper Rush? They answer is, maybe.

Oklahoma State exits the tunnel before kickoff in 2014. The Pokes will not be in
Stillwater for their opener for the second year in a row.

  Chippewas running back, Thomas Rawls, averaged 122 yards per game last year, and has been a decent running back for Central Michigan. He transferred from the University of Michigan and played his first season, and the most games in his career, wearing maroon and gold, last year. He played a total of 9 games and rushed for over 1,100 yards. When he was a Wolverine the last 3 seasons before that, he only played a total of 12 games and managed only to rush for about 400 yards. I'm guessing he was a little low on the Michigan depth chart and wanted more playing time, so he decided to go play for the Chippewas. The massive drop-off in overall talent from playing against Big 10 opponents to playing MAC opponents helped his stats, I'm sure, but that also means that OSU may have their way when it comes to containing Rawls. So if Central Michigan can't get their offense going against Oklahoma State, then it will have to rely on their defense to try and keep them in this football game tonight. Unfortunately for Chippewa fans, that doesn't look like a recipe for a win.
  Central Michigan defensive coordinator, Greg Colby, coached on the Illinois sideline last year, and is hoping to turn this Chippewa defense into a more formidable force. CMU ranked close to last in the FBS against the pass last year, and their run defense was even worse. So when Vegas tells everyone that OSU is a 24-point favorite, I can't dismiss that. The numbers seem to lean that way on paper, but tell that to Michigan in 2007 and tell that to Kansas State in 2013. Appalachian State beat Michigan on their own turf, and North Dakota State showed us how weak the Big 12 was when they beat KSU in Manhattan. Oh, and let's not forget OU and their loss against Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl in 2007, as well. The bottom line is that college football is a crazy game where anything is possible, and Oklahoma State fans are hoping the only thing that will be crazy tonight, is their huge lead that will be showing on the scoreboard. So with all these things being said, where should you, as an OSU fan, expect to see your Pokes when the dust settles on this 2015-16 season?
  With the new College Football  Playoff system in effect for the second year, 4 lucky teams will get the chance to duke it out for all the marbles and that creates controversy. More controversy, the better, for college football, but when is enough, enough? Brad Edwards, an ESPN college football analyst from Mississippi, gave out his 4 playoff teams on national television a couple days ago and had these 4 teams making it to the college football "Final Four": Ohio State (defending champion), Auburn (from SEC), USC (only second year off probation), and...Oklahoma State. No TCU, no Baylor, and not even the mention of the University of Oklahoma. But should OSU fans really be thinking this is the year they win the Big 12, go to the CFP (college football playoff), and compete for a national title?! I think not. OSU has the talent to go 11-1 this year, but that's looking at it in a very "glass half full" way. More realistically, Jim Traber, of WWLS The Sports Animal, a local sports radio station in Oklahoma, sees the Pokes going 9-3 and heading to a higher-end bowl game. So let's throw both those predictions out and say that I can't choose either of them as my prediction. I can see the Pokes going 8-4, but going 10-2 would give Mike Gundy his fourth double-digit win total in the last 6 years. Personally, I think that we will see Mason Rudolph blossom, the defense improve against the passing game, and that Oklahoma State will go 10-2. TCU and Baylor look to be the "bad guys" for the Pokes, but Texas may sneak in there if the Cowboys don't play well when they face them, and I know OSU fans never forget Bedlam. With a new QB under center for the Sooners, that last conference game in Stillwater could be one that OSU fans will want to forget. Just something to think about, as college football parades into our lives, once again, for the 2015-2016 season. OSU will kick off theirs at 6:00 PM CT tonight.