I think the difference is the backups. Generally the OU and Texas type teams are so deep if someone gets hurt the drop off is way less than a Northwester or Iowa State. Our top guys are just as good as their top guys and usually were underrated out of high school. We generally have to develope better and thus our “doing more with less” is semi accurate
I don't think that's even true any more. Look at the O-line for instance. We lost two starters pretty close to the beginning of the year, but they plugged in two new guys and they've been playing lights out.
Look at the end of the Kansas State and Kansas games, where the scrubs got a lot of playing time. Against Kansas State, the second and third team units played most of the fourth quarter on defense and they held KSU to 64 yards in the quarter. The second and third team offense scored a TD, a FG and had another FG try that missed in the same quarter.
Against Kansas, the second and third team defense was swarming to the ball and played a lot in the last two Kansas series and gave up 9 yards on two drives. The offense scored in two plays from over 50 yards out.