After three straight 10-win seasons, Oklahoma State football could be in for a bit of a rebuild. Can Mike Gundy find a new quarterback and continue the streak?
Mike Gundy’s tenure at Oklahoma State has been, unquestionably, a massive success. The eccentric head coach has brought more success to Stillwater than any other coach, with consistent wins and some extremely high level play. The Cowboys have reached new heights under Gundy, and are at a level that many never saw possible at Oklahoma State.
With that being said, the Cowboys, and Gundy, are at a bit of a crossroads. He flirted with Tennessee this offseason, following what was generally considered a disappointing 2017 campaign. His athletic director has (justifiably) complained about his recruiting. It hasn’t reached a fervor yet, but there are rumblings about Gundy needing to take a step forward.
No matter where a school is coming from, or what the history looks like, once they start winning, it’s never enough. Every fan base in America always wants more, no matter how good a coach is. That may be something Mike Gundy has to worry about in the future, but like I said, we’re not there yet.
Last season certainly didn’t help his case though. With one of the most electric offenses in America in 2017, Oklahoma State did the exact same thing they’ve done in now four of the past five seasons; ten wins, three losses. That’s great. There are programs that would kill for that kind of success. It needs to be put into context though.
Oklahoma State had one of the nation’s best quarterbacks in Mason Rudolph, and the best receiving corps in all of college football. Rudolph, James Washington, Marcell Ateman, Jalen McCleskey. One of the best running backs in the conference, with Justice Hill. This is, by all measures, one of the best offenses in all of college football on paper, and they went 10-3. Didn’t make it to the Big 12 Championship. That’s entering “problem” territory.
Those problems mostly stemmed not from the offense, but from the defense and special teams. Oklahoma State’s defense was awful most of last season, and it hurt them against the best teams they played. They couldn’t keep up with Oklahoma, because they couldn’t get a stop. They gave up 44 points to an above average (but not great) TCU offense. Kansas State scored 45 points on them. It doesn’t matter how good your offense is when you give up that many points.
The second biggest issue this team had was their numerous, crippling mistakes. This team made some unbelievably bad decisions in big games, and it cost them. Whether it was a wide receiver pass late in the TCU game, or turnovers against Oklahoma and Kansas State, Oklahoma State really struggled with getting out of their own way.
With so much production departing, 2018 might be even tougher than 2017. Can Gundy pull off another impressive coaching job, like he did in 2013?