Oklahoma State University Athletics
Spring Football Confidential, Part One
March 02, 2009 | Cowboy Football
The Team Rewind
Oklahoma State is coming off of a 9-4 season that included an appearance in the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl. The 2008 season marked just the eighth time that Oklahoma State reached the nine-win plateau, but it was the second nine-win season of the decade (2003). Three of OSU's four losses came to teams ranked first, second or third in the Associated Press poll at the time of the Cowboy game. OSU was 1-3 against the AP top five last season, including a win at No. 3 Missouri.
The Final Numbers
Oklahoma State finished the 2008 season ranked No. 16 by the Associated Press, No. 18 in the USA Today balloting and No. 13 in the final BCS standings. The Cowboys were ranked in the final AP poll for the first time since 1997 and the No. 16 final ranking was the highest by OSU since the 1987 and 1988 teams both ended at No. 11 in the AP.
Gundy Numbers
Oklahoma State head football coach Mike Gundy has four years in the books as head coach at his alma mater and the direction of the Cowboy program under his leadership is coming into focus. A strong argument could be made that OSU has improved each and every season under Gundy's direction. His overall record is now 27-23, including 23-16 over the last three seasons.
Climbing The Big 12
Each year under head coach Mike Gundy Oklahoma State has made headway in the rugged Big 12 Conference. The Cowboys were 5-3 in Big 12 play last season, tying for OSU's best league record in the 13-year history of the conference. It was the third time in seven years that the Cowboys ended Big 12 play with a 5-3 record.
OSU vs. The Big 12 Under Mike Gundy
2005 1-7
2006 3-5
2007 4-4
2008 5-3
Back In Black (And Orange)
One of the headlines of the off-season for Oklahoma State football has been Bill Young's return to Stillwater. The former Cowboy player, graduate assistant and assistant coach is OSU's new defensive coordinator. Young is one of the most well respected coordinators in the country. Mike Gundy was able to steal Young away from the University of Miami. Young was on the Kansas staff that led the Jayhawks to the Orange Bowl in 2007 and he has served as the defensive coordinator at USC, Oklahoma and Ohio State during his career.
Also New
Two other new coaches on staff are running backs coach Robert Gillespie, previously from the University of South Carolina and Robert Matthews. Matthews assumes quarterback duties after previously serving as OSU's director of recruiting. Another new member of the staff is director of football operations Mack Butler. Butler held the job of operations director at LSU for the past four seasons and had served at OSU in that capacity for Les Miles prior to heading to Baton Rouge. Johnny Barr has rejoined the Cowboy fold as well, serving as OSU's Director of Recruiting. A former Cowboy assistant coach, Barr was most recently a staffer at Texas A&M.
The Player Rewind
Three Oklahoma State players, Dez Bryant, Kendall Hunter and Perrish Cox, are returning All-Americans. Bryant was a consensus All-American and is also the reigning Big 12 special teams player of the year. Hunter was the first-team All-America running back as selected by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA). Cox was an All-American in the kick-return game as selected by Sportsline.com. Bryant led the Big 12 in receiving while Hunter is the Big 12's rushing champion. OSU also welcomes back two more national honors candidates in 2009 in first-team all-Big 12 offensive tackle Russell Okung and 2008 Manning Award finalist quarterback Zac Robinson. For a complete list of OSU's lengthy honors from 2008 please see the season in review section of this publication.
What's Back
Oklahoma State returns 16 starters and 34 letterwinners from last year's squad. Eight starters return from the second most prolific offense in OSU history (488 yards per game) and the sixth most productive offense in the country in 2008. OSU welcomes back six starters on defense, and two starting specialists return as well.
Skill Set
OSU may well return the best set of skill players in the country in Dez Bryant, Kendall Hunter and Zac Robinson. In 2008, Bryant finished among the top three nationally in four major categories, Hunter was seventh nationally in rushing and averages 6.5 yards per carry for his career. Robinson returns as the NCAA's fifth-rated active career passer. He was also fifth in the country last season in that category and is already OSU's career leader in total offense. Last season he recorded just the second 3,000-yard passing season in Oklahoma State history. Another national honors candidate lurks on the offensive line in returning first-team all-Big 12 tackle Russell Okung, who will be entering his fourth season as a starter.
Unique Numbers
Thanks to the air-ground combo of Dez Bryant and Kendall Hunter, Oklahoma State was the only school in the country last year with a 1,400-yard receiver and a 1,400-yard rusher. One could also throw in the 3,064 passing yards of Zac Robinson. Incidentally, Hunter and Bryant combined to score 38 touchdowns.
