OU was idle yesterday while Oklahoma State hit the road to play a West Virginia team which was on a nice two game winning streak since their own bye week three weeks ago.
Oklahoma State just basically stuffed West Virginia with a dominant defensive performance while cruising to a surprisingly easy 24-3 road win.
It was a vintage defensive performance by the Cowboys. Jim Knowles’ defense sacked Mountaineer QB Jarrett Doege eight times on the day. One more sack and the Cowboys’ would have tied a school record mark for nine sacks in a single game.
On the day the defense allowed only 133 total yards of which 59 yards came on West Virginia’s intial possession which resulted in their field goal and only points scored in the game. This means that in the remaining three quarters the stellar O State defense gave up a combined total of 74 yards.
This is a sneaky good defense anchored by a group of fifth and six year seniors on the back seven and some edge rushers. They don’t beat themselves and they play a very heady style of football combined with some physicality. Plus…they tackle well in space.
As I’ve watched O State football from an OU fans’ prism over the years this is clealy the best defense I’ve seen at Oklahoma State in the Mike Gundy era.
I was looking through their sports media guide this morning and came upon Gary Gibbs’ name as one of the defensive analysts for Mike Gundy’s team. Gary Gibbs was Barry Switzer’s defensive coordinator for all of those great OU defenses during the Switzer era in Norman. Plus, Coach Gibbs was one helluva linebacker himself during the Chuck Fairbanks era. Wiry, tough as a pit bull, and smart.
Coach Gibbs was the head coach who actually succeeded Barry Switzer in 1990 when David Swank and the OU Regents forced Barry Switzer to retire. If I remember correctly…Coach Gibbs lasted four years then was fired for not being able to feed The Monster at an acceptable level.
Of course then came the infamous Howard Schnellenberger one year experiment in Norman with his lovely wife Beverly…omg.
Anyway…kudos to Mike Gundy and his team for an excellent 8-1 start to this football season. Mike Gundy hasn’t looked so much like the Mullet King this season, but more to the point a guy who’s looked within himself, grown a little on his own life journey, and rediscovered why he wanted to be the head coach at his alma mater seventeen years ago.
The mullet is gone and with its departure what we’ve seen so far is the gut cinch leader in the clubhouse to win Big 12 Coach of the Year if his team stays on course. Plus, I would think Mike Gundy could be on most short lists for National Coach of the Year as well.
Mike Gundy is this week’s recipient of my National Helmet Sticker of the Week Award.
In closing… college football is literally a bizarre trip in human dysfunction nowadays with the transfer portal and other stuff. Mike Gundy in Stillwater has Barry Switzer’s main man on the defensive side of the football as his behind the scenes anyalyst to go along with Jim Knowles. I’m told what he does is breakdown the other team’s offense in preparation of the next week foe. I’ll have to do some research on all that.
So anotherwords…Gary Gibbs was charting TCU’s offense and Chandler Morris yesterday.
Gary Gibbs…Mike Gundy’s mysterious mystery man analyst. I’m guessing about right now Steve Sarkisian realizes what a sweet deal being an analyst is versus being the head coach of dumpster fire piece of shit program like the Texas Longhorns who just joined the SEC West. He should have waited for the Florida job to open because I doubt Dan Mullen makes it to Tuesday.
O State’s coming home game this week versus TCU all the sudden looks pretty interesting considering what former OU backup quarterback Chandler Morris did yesterday in the upset of Baylor.
Truth be told while OU is playing Baylor next Saturday all the sudden the TCU vs. O State game itself just became somewhat interesting.
Kayse Shrum big picture could have a semi-valid point… with the Soviet Union-like complete collapse of what was once known as the University of Texas football program…there might be the argument made that O State instead of Texas should be headed to that SEC West pod with OU, Arkansas, and Missouri.
Who in their right mind a month ago with Texas leading 28-7 in the first period of the Red River Rivalry could even think this …let alone jot it down on their underground blog.
Oklahoma can be a crazy place is my only explanation.