If anything, Dimel and Miller gained too much confidence in Cook's throwing from the first half (he was 10-12) and it carried over to the 2nd.
1st drive:
1st and 10: Twin receivers to the right and a single receiver to the left. Double fullback backfield. Cook threw a quick out to Davis (who was in the slot; outside receiver ran a fade) who was open but Cook missed him.
2nd and 10: We went doubles (2 receivers to each side) with Silmon in the backfield. Cook and Silmon ran a read fake and the safety flew to the middle; again Davis ran an out and was wide open, but Cook threw high.
3rd and 10: We went trips bunch to the right, single receiver to the left. Again, Silmon in the backfield. You can't see the routes well on TV, Cook had time, but coverage must have been good and he took a sack.
2nd drive:
1st and 10: Trips left, TE right, Gronk in the backfield. Klein is the middle receiver in trips, gets matched up in man with a safety, beats him by 2-3 steps, but Cook overthrows the ball by a small amount. (the ball actually went off of Klein's left hand)
2nd and 10: Double tight, 2 reciever to the left, Silmon in the backfield. OSU gets penetration and decent coverage, but the TE was open to the 2 receiver side. Another sack.
3rd and 10: Twin receivers to the left, single receiver to the right, Silmon and Valentine in the backfield. Cook checks down the Valentine in the flat and throws short, but it would've been short of the first down.
By the third drive OSU had cut it to 2. We had terrible field position after a KO return penalty. We finally got a first down on read option that Cook ran for 12 yards. That drive eventually broke down after a couple more Silmon runs on read plays.
The first half built too much confidence for Dimel and Miller in Cook's throwing ability. 3 of the first 4 incomplete throws did have open receivers, but Cook threw poorly on 2 and barely missed on 1. By the time they went back to running the ball, OSU had only cut the lead to 2. After that K-State still had chances after an OSU drive deep into KSU territory ended in an interception. Unfortunately, K-State's next drive ended with the failed Gronk pass (a call I liked) and then the sack. After that OSU took the lead, K-State answered, then the K-State defense failed to get the 4th down stop. After rewatching the 2nd half, I have to stretch it to say Dimel and Miller had a failed plan to start the 2nd half. Maybe they got a bit overconfident in the arm of a WR, but after his 10-12 first half they put him in some situations that didn't ask for extremely tough throws and he couldn't deliver. I'm less ticked about the offensive results and gameplan after I rewatched it actually.
