Tag: Mike Gundy

Oklahoma State game next year will be a barometer reading

The Razorbacks’ first trip to Stillwater in over five decades will tell us where the program is heading under Sam Pittman.

With no bowl game to prepare for, the Arkansas football program is stuck to looking towards the future.

2024 is upon us.

A few weeks ago, the schedule was released and of course it was a difficult schedule, because life in the Southeastern Conference always is.

The Arkansas football program, since vaulting back into the top 10 at the beginning of October 2022, has gone 8-14 since.

That includes losses to Liberty and BYU, two programs that are solid but shouldn’t be on par with Arkansas, especially on its home field.

If Arkansas is going to field a competitive team next fall, i.e. win more than 6 games, we will know based on how they do in Week 2.

Oklahoma State, while hardly a national power, has been a consistent Top 25 team over the last decade-plus under Mike Gundy.

They are usually in the mix for a New Year’s Day bowl game and have flirted with the College Football Playoff a couple of times.

The UA-Pine Bluff game the week before the Oklahoma State trip will tell us nothing about Arkansas, just like Western Carolina this past season told us nothing about the Razorbacks in 2023.

Let’s say Arkansas goes into Stillwater and wins by 2-3 touchdowns. That would be a convincing enough victory to convince me (and others) that the program has turned a corner and could compete for a New Year’s Day bowl game.

A loss or even worse, a blowout loss? We’re right back to square one.

Steve Sarkisian snubbed for Big 12 Head Coach of the Year

Mike Gundy was given the Big 12 Coach of the Year award.

The Big 12 Conference announced on Wednesday that Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy won the Chuck Neinas Coach of the Year award. Continue reading “Steve Sarkisian snubbed for Big 12 Head Coach of the Year”

Report Card: Offense’s dysfunction dooms Sooners chance to end Bedlam on top

Grading the Oklahoma Sooners by position group in their loss to Oklahoma State.

If Saturday was the last time Bedlam is played, the Oklahoma Sooners will always regret how things went in their final game against their in-state rivals. The Sooners will walk away from this game knowing they have dominated this series. There’s no debating that the Sooners have owned the Cowboys. But on Saturday, Oklahoma had the chance to put one final bow on this lopsided series, and they didn’t get it done.

Oklahoma State came out swinging, and the Sooners responded. But the most common theme was Oklahoma’s offense stalling on four different possessions once they got to the Oklahoma State side of the field. Most notably on the Sooners’ final drive of the game.

Defensively, Oklahoma played well enough to win. After getting bullied early, the defense found its footing and locked in the remainder of the contest.

In the end, the dysfunction and mistakes on offense put Oklahoma in a near-impossible spot. When it mattered most, they couldn’t rectify their own mistakes.

Oklahoma will move on and turn their attention to West Virginia. Before that, it’s time to pass out grades for Oklahoma’s performance against Mike Gundy’s Oklahoma State Cowboys.

5 takeaways from the Sooners’ 27-24 loss to Oklahoma State

Oklahoma lost 27-24 in the last Bedlam game. Here are our five takeaways from the loss.

Oklahoma, for the first time since last year, finds itself on a two-game losing streak. OU lost the final matchup of Bedlam on Saturday, 27-24, in controversial fashion.

The Sooners entered the game looking to bounce back quickly after losing a close game on the road against the Kansas Jayhawks.

Oklahoma played much better collectively this week. Ultimately, the result was the same. Now, Mike Gundy and his Oklahoma State Cowboys will have the distinction of owning the last win in the Bedlam series before it takes an indefinite pause.

The Sooners had every chance to put themselves in a position to win the game but failed multiple times to either extend their lead early in the fourth quarter or avoid big mistakes. As the dust settles, it’s time for our five takeaways from the game.

No. 11 Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State: Sooners Wire Staff Predictions for Bedlam

The Oklahoma Sooners face a stiff test with the streaking Oklahoma State Cowboys. How will it go? Here are this week’s Sooners Wire staff predictions.

As disappointing as last week’s loss to Kansas was, the Oklahoma Sooners still have everything to play for this season. But all the Sooners need to worry about is going 1-0 this week and winning each day.

Standing in the way of Oklahoma’s hopes to get back to the Big 12 title game are the Oklahoma State Cowboys. It’s been a one-sided affair, but this season, the Cowboys have a squad capable of hanging with Oklahoma and winning what will be the last Bedlam for some time.

How will the Showdown in Stillwater play out? Here are this week’s Sooners Wire staff picks.

No. 11 Oklahoma Sooners vs Oklahoma State Cowboys: How to Watch, key players, weather forecast for gameday

Here is how to watch the final regular season Bedlam game as conference foes.

The Oklahoma Sooners head north to Stillwater to take on the [autotag]Oklahoma State Cowboys[/autotag] in the final Big 12 Bedlam battle.

The Sooners have a record of 91-19-7 in the series. The Cowboys are looking to end the series by winning two of the last three games. They come in red hot winning four straight and by an average margin of victory of 15.25 points per game.

Ollie Gordon has burst onto the scene, rushing for more than 900 yards in his last five games. He currently leads the nation with 1,087 yards rushing. The Sooners come into the game off their first defeat of the season and two weeks removed from a nailbiter against UCF.

They haven’t played well the last two weeks and are dealing with injuries to key players.

But let’s dive into how you can watch the game, some key players, what the weather will look like, and the injury report for both schools.

5 keys to an Oklahoma Sooners victory over Oklahoma State in Bedlam

5 keys to an Oklahoma Sooners victory over the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

The Oklahoma Sooners head to Stillwater for one final time as they get set to take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

The vibes surrounding each team are strikingly different. Oklahoma is coming off of their first loss of the season, to Kansas, no less. That loss was preceded by a scare at home from UCF coming out of their bye week.

Meanwhile, Mike Gundy has his Cowboys on a four-game winning streak and isn’t lacking in things he needs to say to motivate his team for this particular game.

Oklahoma will lose this game if they play like they have the last two weeks. In a rivalry game, mistakes are magnified.

There is nothing more Oklahoma State fans want more than to beat Oklahoma as the Bedlam series comes to a close with the Sooners’ departure to the SEC.

The last two games have shown us Oklahoma is improved. However, they are still capable of losing games if they don’t bring their best.

What do the Sooners need to do to come away with a win. Here are five keys to this week’s matchup.

5 Oklahoma State Cowboys to know before Oklahoma’s final Bedlam matchup

Oklahoma is set to take on in-state rivals Oklahoma State on Saturday. Here’s a look at five Cowboys to know ahead of Bedlam.

Bragging rights for the state of Oklahoma are on the line Saturday afternoon with a rowdy Stillwater crowd. The Oklahoma Sooners and Oklahoma State Cowboys matchup in Bedlam one final time as Big 12 rivals. The two schools haven’t come to an agreement to continue playing in the future.

The game also has massive implications for this year’s Big 12 title race. The winner will put itself in a prime position to book a trip to Arlington to start the final month of the season.

The Cowboys started this season 2-0 before losing 33-7 at home to South Alabama from the Sun Belt. They followed that up with a loss to Iowa State before righting the ship and reeling off wins in their last four games, including wins over Kansas and Kansas State. The makeup of this team is different than Oklahoma State teams of the past.

Mike Gundy is doing an terrific job coaching this team. As the Sooners get ready for one final Bedlam battle, here are five Oklahoma State Cowboys to know ahead of the matchup.

Brent Venables one of the 20 highest paid coaches in college football

Brent Venables is one of the highest paid coaches in all of college football.

[autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] is in year two as the head coach for the Oklahoma Sooners. Venables had been a long-time assistant coach for the [autotag]Kansas State Wildcats[/autotag], Oklahoma and Clemson Tigers.

His first year in Norman as the head man didn’t go as planned. The Sooners went 6-7 and had its first losing season since 1998. Year two has started off much better.

The Sooners are 5-0 heading into the [autotag]Red River Rivalry[/autotag]. The defense went from one of the worst in the nation to now one of the best. They are a top 30 total defense and top three scoring defense. That can be attributed to the work of Venables and his coaching staff.

With it being Venables’ second season as head coach, you can imagine he’s not one of the top 10 highest-paid coaches but where exactly does he fall? USA TODAY Sports put out a list of the highest-paid coaches and Venables comes in at No. 17 making $7.1 million a year.

This actually ranks second among Big 12 schools. Only [autotag]Oklahoma State Cowboys[/autotag]’ [autotag]Mike Gundy[/autotag] makes more at $7.625 million. Next is [autotag]Kansas Jayhawks[/autotag]’ [autotag]Lance Leipold[/autotag] at $5.75 million and Texas Longhorns‘ [autotag]Steve Sarkisian[/autotag] at $5.6 million.

Both Venables and Sarkisian have their teams sitting at 5-0 and ranked in the top 12 in the country. If they are able to continue their success and get both programs back to their high standards, there’s no doubt neither coach will be out of the top 10 for long.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy discusses Colorado’s fit in the Big 12

Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy called Colorado’s move to the Big 12 a “really good fit”

Conference realignment has taken college athletics by storm as of late and one of the more high-profile moves is that of Colorado making its way back to the Big 12 after the 2023 season.

At least one Big 12 coach is excited about the Buffaloes rejoining the league as Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy called the Colorado addition a “really good fit” during a phone interview with BuffZone on Tuesday.

Coach Gundy is entering his 19th season as the Cowboys’ head coach. He was also a player in Stillwater in the late 1980s, so he is well-versed in the old-school ways of the Big 12 and has a lot of history against Colorado.

“I have really good memories of Colorado,” Gundy told BuffZone. “I enjoyed going to Boulder and playing. I think it’s a beautiful stadium. I think the setting is very college footballish, for lack of a better term.”

Coach Gundy also understands the significance of Sanders now being the head coach of the Buffaloes and the excitement that brings to the game of college football.

“I think they’re excited to be in the league and with coach (Deion Sanders) being a part of Colorado football right now, it’s a really good marketing tool for our conference. I’m really excited about Colorado being a part and looking forward to them getting involved.”

It’s easy to see that Gundy is ready for the Buffaloes to be back in the Big 12 to not only take on Sanders but also rekindle some of the traditional rivalries the conference once held.

Contact/Follow us @BuffaloesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Stacey Blackwood on Twitter @Blackwood89.

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