I’m going to be candid as someone who bleeds crimson..it wouldn’t kill me if Mike Gundy and Oklahoma State win this football game. Sure…it would add two additional chapters and a new epilogue to Mullet King: The Boone Pickens-Mike Gundy Saga. But it goes beyond that with me.
It would sting intially, but I’d get over it in a hurry and still be covering Baylor vs. O State next week provided Baylor beats Texas Tech earlier on Saturday.
If OU wins this game though..I have to admit then my competitive soul would then take over and I wouldn’t want OU to lose in Arlington.
There’s a ton of humanity attached to this game which goes beyond just winning a football game.
The main thing is…I respect the manner in which Mike Gundy, his staff, and his players have conducted themselves this season what with all the SEC distractions from OU and Texas leaving.
Unlike from their president the emotional Dr. Schrum…I’ve never heard much bitching and whining. In reality…I think Gundy is glad he won’t have to keep playing OU after next season. Gundy and his players have basically just worked hard to get better every week. To find a style of play which fits with QB Spencer Sanders and attempt to win with toughness every week.
Consider this… minus the 28-23 win over Tulsa and the 24-21 loss at Iowa State–this team has covered the Vegas spread in their nine other wins to get to 10-1. This is not a glamorous offensive football team. This team in my view is nothing like previous Mike Gundy teams out on the wide receiver positions.
It actually stunned me the portal transfer Tay Martin was talking some nonsense earlier this week. If I were Alex Grinch… T-Martin in my view will physically wilt if someone hits him in the mouth in the first period. If I were Grinch I’d have Key Lawrence put Tay on the ground hard the first chance he gets. No penalty though. If could step on him without getting a flag that would be even better.
But minus Martin…this O State group has been deserving of respect. They seem from the outside to be a good group of guys who’ve worked hard for this opportunity.
O State for the first time in the Lincoln Riley Era is actually the Vegas favorite to win the game coming in as a home 3.5 favorite. I have the game virtually at pick ’em. By the same token OU for the first time in the Riley Era minus last year and so far this year doesn’t have a quarterback headed to the Heisman show in New York.
Do I think O State is a great team?
No…I don’t. I think what they are is an older team on the back seven defensively who because of the extra year of Covid eligibility have this rare window to walk through this season. I think those back seven when they get the pass rush from the Colin Oliver kid are tough to deal with unless you have an exceptional, consistent QB on the other side of the ball.
If I’m OU O line coach Bill Bedenbaugh my group understands what Colin Oliver means to the O State pass rush.
O State’s linebackers…Rodriguez and Devon Harper are on my list as well. OU has to be able to block these two guys.
Remember this… O State was one Casey Thompson pick six away from being down 24-3 to the Texas Longhorns. Cornerback Jason Taylor’s pick six in my view was the play which literally changed/saved the O State season and sent Texas on its death spiral.
So tell me who’s the exceptional quarterback O State has beaten this season to get to 10-1?
The answer from my view is they haven’t played a game to date versus a quarterback who in previous Big 12 years would even rank in the top four of the Big 12 unless you view Brock Purdy from Iowa State as that type of player. And to be blunt…Purdy was the quarterback who beat O State in Ames 24-21.
So in the four games since then…O State beat Kansas the week after the Jayhawks almost beat OU, pummeled TCU who had already fired Gary Patterson as their coach, beat West Virginia which has the weakest QB play in the conference, and last week shutout Texas Tech who had fired their coach as well.
So while I say I respect O State’s season, it’s not like if I’m Lincoln Riley I’m thinking to myself I’m going to lose this game unless my team plays sloppy football from a standpoint of turnovers, stupid penalties, and a couple of blown defensive assignments.
If I’m Lincoln Riley and I’ve been seeing Gabe Brkic kicking the ball straight in practice this week I like my chances in Bedlam.
If I’m Riley I’m giving Caleb Williams the Jalen Hurts playbook from Bedlam two years ago in Stillwater when the Sooners won the run game and easily won the game. I want 18-20 running game touches from Caleb coming from RPOs, bootlegs, naked bootlegs, QB draws, intentional QB flushes from the pocket, etc. What I’m saying is I want as a coach to give Caleb as much space and time possible as a ball carrier in this game. For this game I want Caleb Williams to get the Jalen Hurts level touches.
I don’t think this will be easy though for either team. Spencer Sanders and Jaylen Warren are playing with confidence. This should be a tough, physical game won in the trenches.
Plus, for OU… Gabe Bkric can’t have the shanks in this game. Hopefully, his buddies took him on a tequila reckoning of sorts and they got his kicks straightened out.
I’m going OU 26 – O State 24.
Have a sensational Bedlam.
BOOMER!