Following an embarrassing 33-7 loss at home to the South Alabama Jaguars, Cowboy head coach Mike Gundy said, “We got outcoached and outexecuted.” That’s an understatement. Prior to the game, Gundy said, “If my team isn’t ready, they’ll get embarrassed,” and that’s exactly what happened.
For years, Gundy has seemed satisfied with what has become the status quo in Stillwater: win some games early, beat a team that’s probably better, lose a game or two despite being heavily favored, and then make it a mediocre bowl game. Well, times have changed, and that’s just not enough. The transfer portal is a never-ending rotation of players, NIL seems to be at the forefront of everyone’s mind, and doing the same old thing just isn’t going to cut it anymore.
That brings us to the present day. Oklahoma State entered this season with an unreal turnover of players, and with the lowest recruiting budget in the conference, the Cowboys have no chance of bringing in top players. And so, what was bound to happen actually happened, and South Alabama, a team that is fresh off their first winning season in their short 11-year tenure as an FBS team, came into Stillwater and whooped the Oklahoma State Cowboys for the worst non-conference loss of Gundy’s career.
Playcalling was poor. Issues seemed to pop up in every area. A lack of preparation seemed to be the theme of the game.
“Fire Gundy” has become about as prevalent as ever amongst the Loyal and True. The other side of the crowd is screaming to throw money at the program. I’m not sure either of those is the fix-all, but perhaps one or both would do the trick. Ideally, changes could be made within the program, but it’s hard to tell if that’s even possible.
At this point, something has to change. Mike Gundy needs to take a good hard look at the way that he’s been doing things and realize that while he’s “not really worried about the portal” as he puts it, perhaps he should be worried. Gundy also said that “if a player is gonna transfer, he’s gonna transfer,” and while that sentiment might hold some level of truth, it’s a pretty ridiculous perspective as the leader of a team that supposedly functions as a family.
I’ve been a Cowboy football fan since I was a kid. I went to my first football game in Stillwater when the parking lot was still gravel. I used to listen to the games on the radio because Oklahoma State was rarely good enough to be on TV in the late 90s and early 2000s. For the last couple of decades, I’ve been one of Mike Gundy’s biggest supporters. At this point, though, he’s going to have to either make some changes or be the change.
It’s hard to knock a nice guy. It’s hard to knock a guy who played for OSU. It’s hard to knock a guy that has surprised us a few times. Bu this is A NEW ERA and it’s time to take a good hard look at how you do things. Gundy look in the mirror. Are you giving OSU their money’s worth? You didn’t prepare the team as a whole to be ready…no matter who is playing or not. The job was sloppy and you were in charge. And I have been to games since the 70’s …..still a fan but as a fan I anticipate more from all the money that has been spent to make this program better…but the team seems to get worse. It’s not all the individual players’ fault. They come into the program expecting top coaching and improvement with every rep.They are counting on coaches that coach…..that are prepared……can anticipate the rhythm of the game. This was definitely a BIG DISAPPOINTMENT this early in the season. Now what? Can you the coach pull this team together and improve? Can you show leadership? Can you make changes because changes are absolutely needed. It’s time.
I’m with Teresa. While I haven’t been an OSU fan for as long as she has, I still have been through my share of tough times, close calls, and disappointing losses. This loss, however, has been the most disappointing that I have ever seen. I remember Gundy saying this was the toughest team they would face thus far. I can’t help but think he was saying this as a possible cop-out in case the team lost.
Look, if they had lost by less than 10, I would have said “Good game. Tough loss. Prepare for conference play.” If there had been bad calls a la the end of the CMU game, I wouldn’t have completely faulted the loss on them.
This loss, however, is bordering on unforgivable. Bad coaching. Bad play calling. 0 points scored for over 45 minutes of game time, and the one TD scored could have arguably been called a “garbage time” score simply based on what happened (or, what didn’t happen) afterwards.
Do I think Gundy needs to go? I choose to withhold my decision until the end of the season, because my hope is the team and coaching staff will get their collective acts together and proceed to dominate their opponents in conference play. If they have more losses like this one and/or fail to qualify for ANY bowl game, you will find me among those bearing the torches and pitchforks calling for any number of heads to roll.
At this point, though, it is Nardo’s first year, so he is the only one who gets a pass when it comes to getting cut. The rest of the staff who have been there for 2 years or more, however, will be fair game, and I’ll be among the first to reach out to the AD and push for the guilty parties to be cut. If that means Gundy, then so be it. And, if he gets cut, it’s time for the big-time donors to do like Colorado did to secure Coach Prime and try to snag Nick Saban, Kirby Smart, Dabo Swinney or a similar big-time coach and pull their staffs over to OSU with them.
Well said and I agree with everything except your last line. We might be able to snag the next iteration of Coach Prime but we are not getting a Saben, Smart, or Swinney to Stillwater. We are not that kind of program.
We need to let Dunn go. He has not been good for the team.Try Walsh or bring Weeden in I am sure either one can’t be any worse. Their younger minds could be great for the team. Weeden has been in the NFL and could cook up some plays from his playing days. Or offer Zac a chance to come in and be the guy to take over when Gundy leaves.
I’d love to see that happen!
My feelings about the coaching staff is not related to this season alone. The Cowboys have been backsliding for a few years now and the O has become worse, and we’ve heard Gundy’s lame excuses for the loss(s) for years now. He offers the same excuse for every loss. How stupid does he think the fan base is? “We just got out coached and outplayed” that lame excuse is not going to cut it anymore. There doesn’t appear to be any urgency in this team at all. There have been issues with the OLine for years now, the O play calling is pathetic without any kind of consistency in building a rhythm, it’s dull and uninspiring. Gundy doesn’t seem to care anymore, he seems like a guy who is beyond his capabilities. If the team was winning 9, 10, 11 or 12 games a year Gundy’s attitude would be easier to accept. But Gundy is not Nick Saban. And he says “the fans are spoiled, they are used to winning. If I watched this game as a fan I would be frustrated too”. That is no solution to the problem. At the very least the team should have a new OC and OLine coach. But I don’t believe that will happen. Gundy will take this team down in flames. K Dunn is the poorest excuse for an OC. It’s time for a change.
He’s had enough time to fix what’s wrong. Dunn should have never been hired as the OC. It’s almost like he has dirt on Gundy as the reason he isn’t released. I’m tired of hearing about how he was out coached. Quit making excuses and own up to your mistakes.
It is Definitely time for Gundy to make changes. Kacey Dunn has never been a good OC, the o-line has sucked ever since Joe Wickline left. Gundy has no passion. There has been rumors that majority of the team is leaving to go into the portal after Iowa State. May not enough for both sides of the ball. Just what I have read and if that is the case Gundy is completely at fault. I have read that most of the backfield players are unhappy with Dunn and have expressed their concerns.
The majority of players are not going anywhere because they are not good enough to play elsewhere.
The recruiting has been subpar, obviously on the O-line and at QB. OSU has shined when we have had an outstanding QB. Gundy used to state that a team is only as good as its QB. Of all the QBs in the portal, he ends up with Bowman. When that was announced I knew the season would be bad. Dunn, in my mind, was a poor choice for OC because he lacked experience. A victim of the Peter Principle. Get promoted to your level of incompetence. Nardo during the Iowa State massacre could not make in game adjustments so that his guys covered their guys at a closer distance. It reminded me of why Glen Spencer was canned. He had his guys play off of the receivers too much, so we had what we have no, poor pass coverage, It’s a mess and does not seem fixable during this season. It would take deep pockets and a miracle to rebuild this team from the portal for next season. We will see if Flores wants to stick around after seeing our history of the O-line and the play calling from Dunn. I was disappointed with Gundy after he stated that he didn’t think we have any major problems. Marshall keeps hitting Gundy with reality while Gundy answers either with lies or poor reality testing. This current team reminds me so far of the OSU teams that I starting watching from 1966 until Jimmy Johnson arrived with his upset of Arizona State. We can’t beat Southern Alabama but Central Michigan can. No offense to the Chips because I went there after I graduated from OSU, but they have not been a good team lately. So a bad team can beat Southern Alabama, but OSU cannot. I think that is a barometer for the storm that is upon us.