He saw only the fading green grass of Folsom Field between him and the end zone.
Like it was meant to be.
The former Oklahoma State Cowboy and current Colorado Buffalo snagged the interception, and just a few seconds later, he was celebrating his pick-six. He got down on all fours and pretended to be a dog peeing on the football.
But then, it wasn’t the worst thing we saw Friday on Folsom Field. That would be the Cowboys’ offense. And defense. And coaching. And playing. And game planning. And play calling. And competitiveness.
Just when you thought this embarrassment of a season would struggle to get any worse, it did. The Cowboys suffered the worst defeat of the Mike Gundy era — we’ll get to him in a minute — and finished without a single Big 12 victory. It was the first time in three decades OSU went winless in conference play and only the third time in program history that a team finished with nine or more losses.
Even the most optimistic Cowboy wasn’t predicting victory, but getting shut out? Being beaten by more than half a hundred? Looking totally uninspired doing it?
It sure looked like this football team was just ready to get this season over. Anyone who has watched this disaster of a year might feel the same way, but to see the coaches and the players acting that way is disturbing to most and triggering to many.
Those folks may feel the same about what Gundy said after the game regarding what he plans to do during the offseason and how it will be different after a losing season compared to the past 18 winning seasons.
“It’s a different challenge,” he said, “but we won’t change.”
We won’t change?
WE WON’T CHANGE?!?!?
Listen, I went on record several weeks ago saying I didn’t think Gundy would be fired. He has a two-decade track record of success. He made a perennial winner in a place where one didn’t exist. Let him make changes to the staff, the system, whatever, and then if next year isn’t better, it’ll be time to start talking about change.
But if what Gundy said Friday after the game isn’t him just talking out of his head and is actually true — “We won’t change” — then I’d be hard-pressed to argue against anyone ready for wholesale change.
Gundy admitted that a couple of things will be different as the Cowboys point toward next season, including the transfer portal and the NIL landscape.
“But as far as what we’ll do in the offseason to build for spring ball and then build for the summer and then for next September will be very similar,” he said.
What, he was asked, gives you the confidence that will work moving forward?
“Twenty years,” he said.
Those two words may well send some Cowboy fans into orbit. There’s a belief among many that despite Gundy’s track record of success, the game has passed him by. He was great in the previous era of college football, but not now. The belief is that him leaning into what he’s done in the past is going to continue to hamper the program.
It’s weird. Gundy seems astute when talking about what’s happening now and what’s coming in the future. The money. The recruiting. The rules. And yet, there doesn’t seem to be a connecting of the dots back to his program.
How can all of that change be used to OSU’s advantage?
Last season, we saw it with the Cowboys recovering from big portal losses to build a team that made the Big 12 title game.
This season, the Cowboys regressed. And regressed. And regressed.
Now, it feels like they have absolutely no momentum moving forward. There’s almost nothing to feel good about. Not what’s just happened. Not who’s coming back. Not who’s coming in.
Now, the transfer portal could change that, but it sure feels like OSU needs more than that. A new coordinator or two with different ideas and schemes could add some juice. Same for a spate of new position coaches.
And again, if someone said the changes needed to include a different head coach, I’m not sure I could build much of an argument against that.
What happened Friday was unconscionable. The offense was inept, managing only two first downs on its first 10 possessions. The defense was suspect, put in bad spots but nevertheless failing to offer much resistance.
All of it was doo doo.
So for Mike Gundy to say, “We won’t change”? For him to indicate that the process during this offseason stays the same? For him to think the program can continue to do what it’s always done?
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