On paper, West Virginia seems in pretty good shape heading into Stillwater to play Oklahoma State.
Even in the Mountaineers' worst matchup - that of the OSU pass offense, which is No. 11 nationally, against WVU's pass defense, which is No. 76 - there's, well, a catch. Yes, the Mountaineer pass defense is No. 76, but it is No. 12 in the more important pass efficiency statistic.
There is, however, an area that favors the Cowboys in a way that should have been sounding alarms in Morgantown this week: special teams.
"Special teams is always an area you have to pay attention to," WVU coach Dana Holgorsen said this week. "But [the Cowboys are] extremely solid in kickoff and punt coverage units. They have the [kicker Ben] Grogan kid, the all-time leading scorer at Oklahoma State ... can make kicks from anywhere.
"And then they blocked how many kicks in the Texas game? It seems like four or five. They just do a good job on special teams. Coach [Mike] Gundy is influential in that. He spends a lot of time with it."
For the record, OSU blocked three kicks in that Texas game. Now, nationally, they are No. 1 in that area with five in seven games.
"We know as a staff how much emphasis they put on their special teams," said WVU special teams coach Mark Scott. "They've blocked three PATs and two field goals. They are big; they are physical; they get a ton of push on the inside. We're going to emphasize each phase through the week."
That would be a good idea. The aforementioned Grogan has hit 11 of 13 field goal attempts (84.6 percent), and the Cowboys have statistical advantages in kickoff return defense, punt return defense, punt returns and net punting. In the first three, OSU is nationally ranked No. 8, 13 and 13, respectively. The only edge WVU has is in kickoff returns.
"It's huge here," Scott said. "You look at their coverage units and they're right at the top of the Big 12. So we're going to have our work cut out in the return game, whether it's [Jalen] McCleskey in the punt return or Barry Sanders Jr., who has gotten loose on a couple punts and kickoff returns."
Oh yeah. Barry Sanders' son is returning kicks. All he has is the genes of the best running back in the history of football. (My opinion. Argue amongst yourselves.)
"He's extremely quick," Scott said of Sanders. "He and McCleskey are different guys. Barry Sanders Jr. is a thick kid. He's almost 200 pounds and he still has quickness and elusiveness. McCleskey is more of a speed guy. He's one of their top slot receivers. He's got wiggle and straight-line speed."
Back to that kick-blocking stat though.
"They're going to come after two to three punts every game," Scott said of OSU. "We've got to teach our guys what to look for. Obviously protection is No. 1 always when it comes to punts. Protect your gap. If there's no threat, we've got to get out with the same type of speed as we did against Kansas State and last week [versus TCU]. We've got to use our hands. You can't run away from a block. We've got to be violent. We've got to be the aggressor. We've got to get those hands off and get down into coverage.
"We'll work on that all week. It's hard to say this week is more important than any other, but we want to continue to get better."
That seems to be happening. Scott was asked if the TCU game featured WVU's best special teams effort of the season.
"Absolutely," he said. "Across the board, without question. When we are on top of our game, that's the standard. It's what we expect each and every week. We can't take a step back. When we're clicking on all cylinders, we can be a pretty good football team."
It's been puzzling in a way why WVU hasn't been better over recent years. There's certainly been talent in regard to kick returners. Shelton Gibson, who did have a 31-yard kickoff return against TCU, is there now.
"It starts with our guys up front," Scott said. "Shelton had a heck of a return on Saturday, but he made a play. We need to get the other 10 guys opening lanes and holes to really take advantage of his speed. He's a heck of a returner, but if he's looking at a wall of different colored jerseys, there's only so much he can do."
What Scott has been able to do is make changes on special teams. Earlier in the season Holgorsen threatened to put all starters in if there wasn't improvement.
"I didn't think we needed massive changes, but we've probably changed 25 to 30 percent of our personnel in all phases," Scott said. "We have a lot of competition and it really changes from week to week."
With the changes has come improvement. And this week, against Oklahoma State, the alarms need to be answered.
Contact Mitch Vingle at 304-348-4827 or mitchvingle@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @MitchVingle.