STILLWATER — The Cowgirl basketball team starts its practice for the 2024-25 season on Monday, as Oklahoma State enters Year 3 of the Jacie Hoyt era. Hoyt met with reporters Monday to give updates on the program ahead of the first practice. 
Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog.
0 Comments
STILLWATER — The Cowboys are flirting with being out of Big 12 title contention at the beginning of October, which would’ve sounded like crazy talk before the season. Oklahoma State is 0-2 in Big 12 play for the first time since Mike Gundy’s first season in charge back in 2005. The Cowboys host West Virginia at 3 p.m. Saturday, as they look to avoid an 0-3 start. Gundy met with the media Monday for his weekly media luncheon. Here are five things he said with his full news conference in video format below. 1. Bowman ‘Was Much Better than His Play Against Utah’Alan Bowman hasn’t dealt with a ton of heat in the pocket this season, having been sacked once, but social media has turned up the temperature on OSU’s starting quarterback the past few weekends. Bowman was pulled at halftime in OSU’s loss to the Utes. He played the entire game against Kansas State on Saturday despite the score getting away from the Pokes. In those two games, Bowman has gone 42-for-83 (51%) for 570 yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions. When asked Saturday why Bowman played the entire K-State game, Gundy said he didn’t think it was best for “what we’re trying to get accomplished offensively.” Monday, Gundy said Bowman was better in Manhattan than he was against Utah. “There’s things that we’ll coach him on,” Gundy said. “I’ll be really honest with you, there were four or five plays that would make the general public look and say, ‘He was really bad.’ When the other 55 plays he played good. That’s what happens when you play that position. When you make glaring decisions like why did that happen, at crucial times, that can happen. When I graded him Saturday night, that’s what I saw. When I watched it again Sunday with the staff, that pretty much confirmed what I saw. … “His play in this game was much better than his play against Utah. There’s not even a comparison. There are four or five plays that are glaring that were really bad. One of them ended up being an interception. He’s older and more mature. I saw him yesterday, and I think he’s fine. I really believe that.” 2. Abandoning Run Had to Do with Falling Too Far BehindOllie Gordon and the OSU run game showed some juice Saturday for the first time in a while, but it didn’t last. Gordon, the reigning Doak Walker winner, had 72 rushing yards in the first quarter. He was trucking people, jumping over others and even threw a cement stiff arm at the end of a play. The issue is, though, that Gordon finished the game with 76 rushing yards. After having nine carries in the first quarter, Gordon carried just six times in the final three. Gundy said Monday that K-State didn’t necessarily adjust to what the Pokes were doing on the ground, but because K-State kept scoring, OSU had to take the clock into account and throw the ball. K-State led 7-3 after the first quarter and 24-13 at halftime. “My brain has to start working with the clock,” Gundy said. “So the clock’s running. If you stay with the original game plan, the clock’s going to run. So what I have to do — right, wrong or indifferent — I have to figure out, in my head, how many more times we’re going to get the ball and what our success ratio can be to allow us to score enough points to at least tie the game. Based on what they’ve done during the game, you have to say they’re probably going to score at least once because they’ve already scored X number of points through 41 minutes of the game. “So I have to start adding that up in my head. That’s how that happens. So if you just keep playing the way you’re playing, we don’t get to play until tomorrow. The game’s gonna end when the clock expires. So do you actually give yourself and your team a chance versus just fizzling out and losing by 10 points, and you never had a chance because the clock just began to run? And it’s a little bit more of a factor now with the new clock rules.” 3. ‘College Football Needs a Commissioner’College football is trying to determine its next steps as an entity as the NCAA still tries to catch up to the modern way of how things are getting done. ESPN reported Monday morning that the Big Ten and SEC, the two most prominent organizations in the sport (probably more prominent than the NCAA itself), are in talks about a possible scheduling partnership. Such a partnership could provide a further stranglehold on the sport for the two conferences. Rarely afraid to give his views on where the sport is headed, Gundy said college football needed a commissioner and pointed to former Alabama coach Nick Saban as a potential candidate. With as open as Gundy is on wider scoped topics, he was asked whether he could see himself getting into that world when he retires from coaching. Gundy said it will be hard finding him when he is done coaching. “College football needs a commissioner,” Gundy said. “And if it’s one of the four guys, now, if it’s the SEC commissioner, I don’t care. We need a commissioner. And then we need the Power Four, Power Five if we go back to it. Those commissioners are under them. And then we need a football oversight rules committee that is going to enforce the whatever rules that we say there are –whether that is recruiting, NIL, salary cap, employment agreements, transfers, whatever those rules are. And they need to follow the NFL model. … “For the sake of the game, we’re at a real dangerous predicament right now. And I hope somebody, like — I probably need to text Coach (Nick) Saban before I say this, but I hope somebody like that becomes a college football commissioner because he understands the importance of equality, in my opinion, because he’s a smart man that’s been in it for a long time.” 4. Fourth-Down AnalyticsLast season, the Cowboys were among the best teams in the country at stopping teams on fourth down, but that down has been unkind the the Pokes the past two weeks. Utah was 4-for-5 on OSU on fourth down in the Utes’ 22-19 win. Then Kansas State went 2-for-2 on fourth in the Wildcats’ 42-20 win. In those two games, OSU went for it on fourth once — a failed attempt in the fourth quarter against K-State. In OSU’s three nonconference games, the Cowboys held opponents to just 1-for-9 on the down, so the successes of last season is still in there somewhere. But to this point in the year, OSU has gone for it on fourth down half as many times as it’s opponents. Here is Gundy talking a little fourth-down analytics. “That’s been going on for about three or four years now,” Gundy said. “You see a lot of that. I’m not in their corners, so I don’t know what their thought process is. But, some coaches follow that book of analytics. That’s what it’s called, right? Whatever that book is? I don’t follow it. I don’t read. Don’t listen to it, but some people do. Most of the time, that book says go for it because the book doesn’t know the crowd, doesn’t know the field, doesn’t know a lot of things. It just sees numbers. That could be part of what you’re talking about. I don’t know if Chris (Klieman) follows that book. I don’t know if Kyle (Whittingham) — I doubt Kyle does. But either way, that might be the answer.” 5. ‘I Thought They Were Fine Last Year, and That Is the Reason That I Think They’re Fine’Fortunately (but perhaps actually unfortunately) for the Cowboys, they know they are capable of getting out of a hole early in the season. Oklahoma State was 2-2 to start last season with that stretch including a disgusting 33-7 loss to South Alabama at home. OSU turned it around and found a way to finish the season at 10-4, making a trip to Arlington for the Big 12 title game and winning the Texas Bowl against Texas A&M. With that experience, Gundy said he thinks his group is “fine.” “These guys have been good, and part of the process in the culture that we have here is what we accept,” Gundy said. “So the one thing that I think is important is that at the end of the game, whether we’re not being flamboyant because we won the game or whether we’re not trying to show disgust and anger because we lost the game, is that there needs to be a culture where we look and see no matter what we look to improve — even if we win — for the next game. I think that is what we have here, and that is all we accept here. For that reason I think they’re fine. I thought they were fine last year, and that is the reason that I think they’re fine. … “I think there is a lot of truth to that, and in the back of their mind, ‘We went through this last year, and we’re good.’ Whatever it takes them to get them to that point, I’m good. I just need them to get to that point.”
Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog.
Click to set custom HTML
There’s no telling how things will end in this conference. After only two full weeks of conference action, only two Big 12 teams are still unbeaten — BYU and Iowa State. And the teams picked in the preseason to finish in the top three — Utah, Kansas State and Oklahoma State — all already have at least one conference loss. The Cowboys are still looking for their first Big 12 win with two losses after losing to K-State 42-20 on Saturday, which you read about all over PFB and read the recap here. Outside of OSU’s disaster in Manhattan, here’s how things went throughout the rest of the Big 12. No. 22 BYU 34, Baylor 28This looked to be a blowout early after BYU jumped to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter. Baylor continued to claw back, though, and made it respectable, but the Cougars ultimately prevailed to remain unbeaten in Big 12 play after thumping Kansas State last week. Baylor remained winless in league play after losing to Colorado last week. BYU gets a weeks off now, while things don’t get any easier for Baylor with a trip to Iowa State at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. TCU 38, Kansas 27The disappointed continued for Kansas, dropping its fourth game in a row. It’s like the Jayhawks are back to their old ways, having yet to beat an FCS team. TCU, though, bounced back from back-to-back losses to UCF and SMU. Next week could very well be another loss for Kansas on the road against a surprisingly good Arizona State team. TCU will host Houston, the punching bag of the Big 12. Colorado 48, UCF 21The Buffaloes are starting to play to their talent level, handing UCF its first loss of the season and in Orlando. Speaking of talent, Travis Hunter stayed in the Heisman race after catching a TD on offense and getting an interception on defense. One of three teams still undefeated in Big 12 play, Colorado will have a real test after a week off, though, when it hosts K-State on Oct. 12. UCF will look to rebound against instate rival Florida at The Swamp on Saturday night. No. 18 Iowa State 20, Houston 0And in a blink of an eye, Matt Campbell is the winningest football coach in Iowa State history as the Cyclones stayed unbeaten at 4-0 this season. Houston, meanwhile, still hasn’t even scored a point in Big 12 action after two games. At 1-4, Houston will have a quick turnaround against TCU on Friday night. The Cyclones will host Baylor. Texas Tech 44, Cincinnati 41The Mahomes-Kelce Bowl was a fun one Saturday night. Cincinnati missed a 51-yard field goal as time expired as Texas Tech held on and is now 2-0 in Big 12 play and 4-1 overall. In the win, Tech running back Tahj Brooks totaled 172 rushing yards and a pair of TDs.
Next, Tech has a laaaate one at Arizona at 10 p.m. Saturday. Cincinnati will get some rest before hosting UCF. Arizona 23, No. 10 Utah 10And this game is why there’s no clear favorite in the Big 12. After Utah, the preseason favorite, handled OSU last week it looked like the Utes were the team to beat. Then, in true Big 12 fashion, they lost the very next week as Arizona handled the Utes. Two weeks before, K-State thumped Arizona in what was technically a nonconference matchup. But then K-State was whooped by BYU before embarrassing OSU, which was picked to finish third in the Big 12. So Arizona has actually lost to a Big 12 team but is technically 1-0 in conference play. This conference is nothing but chaos, even with scheduling. Next, though, Utah gets a bye before going to Arizona State on a Friday night. Arizona hosts a storming Texas Tech team Saturday. Big 12 Standings
Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog.
Carson Cunningham and Colby Powell recap Oklahoma State’s woeful showing against Kansas State. You know what helps the show and helps us make more shows? When you rate us on Apple Podcasts or subscribe to our pod: Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify | SoundCloud. As always, we appreciate our sponsors Chris’ University Spirit and Yuengling.
Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog.
The Cowboys are a touchdown favorite for their matchup with West Virginia, but there has already been some movement toward the visitors. BetMGM Sportsbook released early odds for the Cowboys’ upcoming home game against the Mountaineers, and OSU is an eight-point favorite. The line will likely move throughout the week. Fan Dual currently has the Pokes as just a 5-point favorite. OSU is 3-0 against the spread as a favorite this year and WVU is 0-1 as the underdog. The Cowboys are 2-1 when at least an 8-point favorite. The Cowboys are coming off consecutive Big 12 losses. Their loss to Utah was a pick’em game and OSU was a 6-point underdog to Kansas State. The Mountaineers are 2-2 (1-0 in Big 12 play) with a loss to a Top 10 Penn State team and then another, in near walk-off fashion, to Pitt in the Backyard Brawl. They have wins against FCS opponent Albany and then kicked off conference play with a 32-28 win over Kansas. They are coming off an early off week. The Cowboys and Mountaineers kick off Saturday at 3 p.m. CST at Boone Pickens Stadium before the Pokes head into their own much-need bye week.
Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog.
The Cowboys have found themselves on the outside of the Big 12 title race (or at least relegated to the back seat on the trip to Arlington) and now they’ve found themselves outside both major polls. Following consecutive losses to start its conference schedule, Oklahoma State fall out of the Top 25 in both the AP and Coaches rankings. Before we get into what changed at the top of the rankings and elsewhere in the Big 12, here are the polls for Week 6.
Shuffling at the TopThere was some movement at the top of the rankings, thanks in large part to the marque game of the week, a Top 4 matchup between Georgia and Alabama. The No. 2 Bulldogs fell to the fourth-ranked Crimson Tide resulting in a swap to Nos. 1 and 5, respectively. Another shift occurred thanks to No. 6 Ole Miss falling to unranked Kentucky 20-17 and falling out of the Top 10. No. 16 Notre Dame beat No. 15 Louisville to drop the Cardinals down the rankings. And Oklahoma moved from 21 up to 19 after a road win over Auburn. Around the Big 12At the top of the Big 12, No. 10 Utah fell at home to unranked Arizona 23-10. Does anyone want to win this league? Along with its win, Kansas State took OSU’s spot at 20. Quietly, Iowa State is now the top-ranked Big 12 team at 16, followed directly by BYU at 17 and Utah, now at 18. And look out for BYU, as well. The Cougars are 5-0 and will host the Cowboys on Oct. 18, following what will be a much-needed bye week for OSU.
Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog.
If this needs to be said, this should not be taken seriously at all. But after another not-so-fun Saturday for the Cowboys, I thought it might be nice to have a little fun and see what a video game thinks is still possible for the Pokes’ 2024 season. Back in August we simulated Oklahoma State’s football season 100 times. Five games into the year, let’s dive back into that spreadsheet and see what’s left. There were 18 simulations that saw OSU start the year 3-2 in this manner (wins against the nonconference foes before starting Big 12 play 0-2). Among those 18 sims that predicted the season would play out this way, the Cowboys’ average record to finish the regular season was 7.8-4.2, so let’s call it 8-2. Looking immediately to OSU’s next game, OSU beat West Virginia 10 times and lost eight. Here is a look at the percentage chance each of these 18 sims give the Pokes in their remaining regular season games. In parenthesis, I’ll put the percentage chance it gave OSU to win each game in all 100 sims: West Virginia — 56% (62%) So, the game says OSU has better than a 50% chance to win each remaining game, but many of those percentages have dropped slightly. Somehow OSU’s 3-2 start means the Pokes are much more likely to beat Texas Tech, though, which is interesting. Among these 18 simulations, OSU did make the Big 12 title game once — and the Pokes won it, no less. So, if you’re a Cowboy fan, Sim 56 is this dream. This simulation saw OSU finish the regular season 10-2, win the Big 12, make the College Football Playoff and finish at No. 5 in the final AP Poll. Perhaps the craziest part of all of these simulations is the fact that OSU made the CFP in four of these 18 sims despite making the Big 12 title game just once. In one sim (Sim 44), OSU somehow managed to turn its 3-2 start into an appearance in the national title game, finishing the year 13-3. Could you imagine? Movies would be made. Among the 18 simulations in question, Utah won the Big 12 more than any other team, doing so on seven occasions. Kansas State won the league in four of those sim. UCF did so twice, and Colorado, Texas Tech, Cincinnati and Kansas all joined OSU with one Big 12 title in the simulations. I should caveat this entire paragraph, though, with the fact that I didn’t track the results of every game for every team, so I have no clue how the game thought Utah, K-State or any other team would do in as much detail as OSU. If you’re worried about OSU’s bowl streak, the Cowboys won at least six regular season games in 17 of the 18 remaining simulations. The only time OSU failed to reach bowl eligibility came in Sim 64, where OSU finished 5-7 with remaining losses to West Virginia, BYU, Baylor, Arizona State and Colorado. OSU finished the regular season 10-2 in three of the remaining 18 simulations, so if it’s any consolation, a video game thinks it more likely that the Cowboys win every regular season game left than finish short of bowl eligibility. So, perhaps the Cowboys, like last season, are in for another turnaround after a wonky start. Or perhaps here in a few weeks, we’ll all click on our PlayStations and make our own fantasy worlds for the 2024 season.
Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog.
The Cowboys got thumped in the Little Apple, and there will be a lot to digest from the loss. That process began on Saturday afternoon as players and coaches met with media before they headed back to Stillwater. Pistols Firing spoke with Mike Gundy, Ollie Gordon, Trey Rucker, Korie Black and De’Zhaun Stribling after the loss. Here’s what they had to say.
Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog.
In beautiful southeastern Oklahoma, River’s Edge delivers stunning scenery and luxurious privacy. A 350-acre riverfront wilderness, perfect for rekindling passions and reconnecting families. A place where you can be close to the ones you love – and far from the ordinary. To check them out head over to www.riversedgecottages.com or call 580-244-7296. Thanks for stopping by – here’s your daily dose of Oklahoma State sports news. OSU Bullets• Marshall’s 10 Thoughts can help us at least start to contextualize this one. [PFB] • Bill Haisten on how OSU’s program went from stout to stale. [Tulsa World] • Scott Wright’s Five Takeaways included maybe the biggest momentum swing of the season. [The Oklahoman] • Grades from K-State: It wasn’t pretty. [PFB] • Superlatives from the beatdown. At least we tried to end on a positive note. [PFB] • #CowboyX got pretty dark after the loss. [PFB] • Oof.
Non-OSU Bullets• How Stillwater got a new resident with Hollywood ties. [Stillwater News Press] • Perfect summation of the primetime game.
Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog. |
   
Gundy's OSU Keeping up with Head Coach Mike Gundy and the OSU football team. 
Archives
February 2026
Categories
|
RSS Feed
