Oklahoma State’s offense was good, not great (by Oklahoma State standards) in 2018, but its defense was no where near where it needed to be during Jim Knowles’ inaugural campaign as DC, as even Knowles would admit.
But the Cowboys defense did manage to do well in two specific categories in 2018. (The first you’ve probably already said aloud before you got to this sentence.) They led the Big 12 in sacks and came in T12th nationally with 39, which ranks as the sixth-best season at OSU since they started tracking the stat in 1981.
The other was their ability to limit offenses in the red zone.