Assessing Oklahoma State football's level of concern in four key areas for Cowboys

STILLWATER — The panic meter is lighting up for some Oklahoma State fans after a 2-2 start that has included two straight frustrating losses.

Yet, only one game into Big 12 play and 33% through the season, there’s a lot of football left, plus this week off to reset the system.

So let’s take a look at some of the primary areas of consternation for fans so far: quarterback play, the offensive line, the pass rush and the pass coverage.

The Oklahoman’s Scott Wright and Jacob Unruh weigh in to assess the level of concern or each of these four areas, on a 1-10 scale, at this point in the season:

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Quarterback play

Wright: I’ll say 4. OSU isn’t going to have great quarterback play this season. They just don’t have that type of playmaker on the roster. But they have a serviceable starter in Alan Bowman, and if things go south, the backups have shown they can operate the offense. The three-man rotation probably set things back a bit, but nothing can be done to fix that now. As Bowman gets more frequent first-team work in practice, his gameday performance will continue to solidify.

Unruh: Now that OSU has settled on a one-quarterback system — at least, it appears that way — the alarm should be way low. Alan Bowman was the right choice and he can settle in now. So, my level of concern is at a 3 here.

Offensive line

Unruh: A week ago, I was ready to sound the alarm with a 10. The line is just a mess and even after a week of some slight improvements, I'm still sounding the alarm, but only at a 9. Still a long, long, long way to go for that group.

Wright: It’s a 9 until the line proves otherwise. They showed some positive movement last week, but need to develop some consistency.

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Pass rush

Wright: I’m going with a 4 here. The talent is there. Collin Oliver is getting more involved from the linebacker position and we all know his knack for getting to the QB. And Nathan Latu isn’t getting talked about enough so far this season. He has a chance to put up some strong sack numbers.

Unruh: This being a concern was an initial surprise to me. Then I realized the Cowboys have gotten fewer and fewer sacks each week, including none at Iowa State. Still, I believe in the Cowboys' ability to get to the quarterback. It'll happen. So, my concern is at a 5.

Pass coverage

Unruh: Again, maybe it's time to sound the alarm here. I'll start by saying I'm at an 8. OSU just allowed Iowa State redshirt freshman Rocco Becht to become the national freshman of the week after the Cyclones' offense was non-existent in the previous two games. Lyrik Rawls was unavailable, too. And now the status of Trey Rucker is in serious doubt after his arrest on Sunday.

Wright: I’ll go 8 as well, primarily because it seems the safeties are having some difficulty staying on the same page. Rucker has struggled, and with the arrest, who knows what will happen. But he has played nearly every snap at his position this season while most other positions are rotating more heavily. So it makes me curious about what the Cowboys have behind him.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State football's level of concern in four areas after Week 4