Oklahoma State University Athletics
OSU Rides Positive Trend Into Cactus Bowl
December 30, 2014 | Cowboy Football
TEMPE, Ariz. - There is a prominently-placed sign near the north entrance to Oklahoma State's Gallagher-Iba Arena that quotes Ed Gallagher: "If you don't make any sacrifices, you won't give a care whether you win or not."
Those words shed some light on the level of dedication that it takes to be part of a successful team.
Those words shed some light on the adversity, criticism, injuries and other setbacks that coaches and athletes deal with.
Those words shed some light on why the 2014 Cowboy football team enters the TicketCity Cactus Bowl with undeniably positive trajectory despite a modest 6-6 record.
How is that possible? Oklahoma State - a team that has become accustomed to either winning the Big 12 or being one of the last teams standing in the conference title race over the span of the last seven years - is trending upward at 6-6?
You bet it is.
In the midst of counting wins and losses, it should not be disregarded that Oklahoma State was one of the least-experienced teams in the country and dealt with the adversity of season-ending injuries to starters at perhaps the three most critical positions on the field - quarterback, left tackle and cornerback.
The Cowboys stood at 5-1 and were ranked as high as No. 15 in the Associated Press poll after a pair of non-conference victories plus Big 12 wins over Texas Tech, Kansas and Iowa State, yet several times during the winning streak, coach Mike Gundy referred to the Cowboys as being just average. He saw something - the team wasn't ready yet.
Oklahoma State then lost five consecutive games, with three of those losses coming to teams that were ranked in the top 11 of the final A.P. poll and a fourth at the hands of a team that was ranked at the time of the game. Interestingly, several times during that losing streak, Gundy referred to the Cowboys as a team that was getting better. He saw something - the team was developing and steadily improving, it just wasn't winning games.
"There were times during games this year where we just didn't play well - the other team was better than us and we got beat, but then there were times when we played well even though the other team was better than us. We have to look at that as coaches," Gundy said. "We lost to a team that was No. 1 in the country (Florida State), we lost a team that was ranked sixth (Baylor) and we lost to a team that was ranked 12th (TCU). We played some pretty good football teams during the year."
The validation of Gundy's vision of an improving team came when Oklahoma State went into Norman and defeated No. 18 Oklahoma despite starting a true freshman quarterback playing behind a starting offensive line that included two freshmen and two sophomores.
"It helped everybody," Gundy said of his team's Bedlam victory. "It lifted their spirits. These guys on this team, especially the veteran players, they've won a lot of football games. When they went through a tough stretch, they stayed strong, kept fighting and continued to practice hard. I said this after the game, but in the two weeks leading up the game, our guys practiced as well as they were practicing in September. We were just fortunate that we were able to hold it together as a staff and continue to get them to work hard. It paid off for them."
The win not only put the Cowboys into the post-season, but also gave the players and staff confidence and a morale boost.
"When we had that losing streak, the team still practiced hard," receiver David Glidden said. "It's a young team, so mistakes were going to happen, but the guys were still going out there fighting. I think that's eventually what happened in the Bedlam game, and we never gave up. It really showed after the weeks of practice we'd been having."
Cornerback Kevin Peterson added some insight on how the Cowboys worked through the adversity that came with a five-game losing streak to now owning positive momentum heading into their bowl game.
"We've just stayed really close," Peterson said. "Even if we lose, we believe the scoreboard doesn't show what the game really means. In the public world, everything is kind of about wins and losses, and even if we had a rough year this year by that measure, we stayed close. We stay focused and we stay together."
The togetherness Peterson talked about plus the brand of toughness that Gundy instills in his team year in and year out are at the very core of how OSU navigated through a season of adversity yet still has a positive trend moving forward.
"It's a blessing to be here," Peterson said of the Cowboys' trip to Arizona for the TicketCity Cactus Bowl. "We worked hard to get here, and now we have these extra practices, which is great. It (has an impact) on next year, considering that we have these extra practices. We get to see a lot of guys who haven't practiced a lot. They've come in and had some good looks, and now we all have a chance to go out there and show them what we can do one last time."
Gundy also talked about the Cowboys' Cactus Bowl goals and what they mean as the team moves forward into 2015.
"We want to play well, we want to play fast, we want to give great effort and we want to play as a team," Gundy said. "That's more important than anything right now with these guys building their camaraderie and setting themselves up for the spring and next year."
