This is Mike Gundy's 8th year as head coach in Stillwater. He has a career record of 64-33, and 36-26 in conference play. That kind of fogs the picture a bit as to where this program is under him right now though. From 2008 through the 2011 season no Big 12 team had a better record than OSU's 41-11, or 25-8 in conference play. Gundy is an OSU alum of course. Some of you older West Virginia fans may remember him handing the ball off to Thurman Thomas and Barry Sanders in the 1987 Sun Bowl, the last time our two programs met. He is an offensive minded coach that also called plays for the offense after Larry Fedora left for Southern Miss in 2007 until he was... uhm... asked to hire an OC to take those duties after the 2009 season. That is, obviously, when he hired Dana Holgorsen. It wasn't the perfect match off the field, but on the sideline the two worked brilliantly together to turn in OSU's first ever 11 win season in 2010. In 2011 he lead OSU to it's first Big 12 conference title and a win in the Fiesta Bowl. Earlier this year Gundy surpassed his old coach to become OSU's winningest coach all time.
Todd Monken replaced Holgorsen as OC in 2011. Monken was an assistant at OSU under Les Miles, and followed him to LSU. He coached receivers and quarterbacks later for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was new to the Air Raid offense when he came back to Stillwater, but with an experienced 28 year old quarterback and most of the offensive staff still around it was a seamless transition for him, and the work environment for the coaches probably improved a lot too. Monken has embraced the offense Holgorsen left him in Stillwater, but he's also added his own wrinkles and is more focused on the team game as a whole than DH was as OC. The passing game is basically the same, but Gundy and Monken like to run it a bit more than DH, who occassionally seemed to forget to utilize All-American Kendall Hunter when he was calling plays. There is also a higher emphasis on downfield blocking by the receivers. Monken is a more conservative play caller than Holgorsen, but so are about 6,782 other D-1 OC's (OK, I stretched that number a bit).
Bill Young is a veteran DC, and like Gundy is also an OSU alum. He runs a base 4-3 defense most of the time, although one of OLB's is essentially a large safety. On third down he will frequently use a 3 man front in order to flood the passing lanes or confuse the line/QB with various blitz packages. The OSU defense has had mixed results, to say the least, with this approach on third downs though. He is a fairly conservative play caller that emphasizes tackling and forcing turnovers. He's OK with a bending defense so long as it holds in the red zone, and for the most part it's done exactly that at OSU. In his first three years back at OSU the Cowboys ranked at least 11th in turnovers forced nationally, and lead the country last year, but so far this year turnovers have been scarce.
The Offense
Quarterback(s) - I have no idea who will play this game. QB1 Wes Lunt is a true freshmen with a big arm. He's a tall kid, but it's a stretch to call him a big one yet. He has good vision, is intelligent and has a cannon for an arm. He's a lot like Brandon Weeden was in this offense... Except he's not as mature yet. His development has been hampered by injuries all season. In the first series against ULL in our third game he dislocated his knee cap and probably suffered a high ankle sprain that kept him out of our first three conference games. He was rusty against TCU, although he dominated the second half after a rough start. He had a hard time figuring out Kansas State's coverage schemes in Manhattan as he never seemed to see the safeties in route to three picks before leaving the game with a concussion. In his 3, and only 3, true D-1 games he has thrown 7 interceptions. One of those in each game was returned for 6. On the positive side there's not a throw he can't make, and he is very confident in his abilities. QB2 JW Walsh is currently out with what I assume is a leg fracture of some kind. They don't like telling us these things at OSU anymore... If Lunt can't go that leaves Clint Chelf, a fourth year junior that was Weeden's backup the last two seasons. He has a strong grasp of this offense and makes quick decisions where to put the ball. The problems are arm strength, which is only average, and accuracy, which comes and goes. Chelf isn't really a fast QB, but he's got a knack for picking up yards with his feet. If he starts he'll be able to run the offense fine, but isn't likely to dial up a home run throw without someone falling down first. Monken hasn't seemed to trust either Walsh or Chelf much in the red zone (or the receivers for that matter), so even if he leads the offense down the field all day long they'll struggle near the goal line if they can't dominate their run blocks.
Running Back - Joseph Randle is the full package. All of his skills are at least above average. He has good, but not great, speed and agility. His vision is good and he hits the holes well. If there is an area he struggles it's short yardage situations. He's tough, but not really a big back. He's also had fumble issues. I can only remember him losing six fumbles in his three years at OSU, but four of them came in two consecutive games last year. Two of those at Iowa State. What sets him apart form other backs is he's just as good a receiver as he is a running back. OSU will occassionally line him up in the slot or out wide, and when they do that he's not a decoy. He has fantastic hands and runs good routes, and he has 101 career receptions to prove it. He is also the best blocking TB I remember watching at the college level. When he stays back in pass protection he almost never misses a blitzing player and isn't afraid to chip a DE or DT that breaks through. He will lay a hit on someone. His ability to block is a huge reason OSU QB's are sacked so rarely. His backup is Jeremy Smith. Smith is just as dangerous a ball carrier in his own right, but hasn't been playing 100% since the Texas game. If he's healthy now he'll get 30-50% of the carries, and the majority of the short yardage carries. He's about average size, but incredibly strong and is very fast on his first step. Unlike Randle, he almost never gets caught dancing looking for holes. He's going to hit the first seam that opens in front of him. He has good speed, protects the rock and can make the first guy miss with regularity. Although he's as dangerous coming from the backfield as Randle he struggles when asked to do anything other than take a hand off. Smith has below average hands receiving and isn't much of a blocker. Kye Staley is the FB. He was a 4-star RB out of high school, but suffered a similar injury to Lattimore's recent one in practice. The agility that made him a highly sought recruit is gone. What he is now is a fast man that loves to hit people, and he will ruin someone's day when he's on the field. He rarely is asked to carry the ball, but is usually good for one big catch a game. Most DC's fail to scheme for him and they're caught by surprise, he has good hands.
Receiver - We've been hit with the injury bug here just as bad as at QB. Senior outside receivers Tracy Moore and Isaiah Anderson are both hurt. Anderson will probably play some, but mostly to give the other guys a break right now as he's not very effective with his injury. Moore is out of the year, and he's probably OSU's best receiver. There are a handful of other guys out as well, forcing OSU to play two true freshmen quite a bit at outside receiver. Sophomore Josh Stewart is on pace for 1,000 yards. He's a kid Holgorsen recruited to be an inside receiver, and he's filled that role nicely. He's been the most consistent this year. He doesn't have a lot of speed or size, but he runs great routes, has good hands and is very agile. He'll make guys miss all day. Blake Jackson is the other inside receiver. He was a TE in junior college. He's a home run threat when he catches the ball because there's not a lot of safeties that can tackle him easily, and he has good speed for a big guy. He's a huge target in the middle of the field that is a mismatch for S's and LB's both. The problem is his hands. He seems to do fine when it's a tough catch, but he'll drop balls when he's open frequently. Charlie Moore is a fourth year junior that's been our most effective outside receiver since Tracy Moore was hurt (not related, one's white). He's caught TD's in each of the last four games from three different QB's. He has good speed on the outside, decent size and great hands. He doens't have a lot of shake-and-bake though, and he's not likely to win a lot of jump balls. Austin Hays and Blake Webb are the true freshmen you'll see out there a lot, and other than Anderson they maybe the only other receivers we can use right now. Hays is a bit like Charlie Moore, but not quite as fast. Webb has serious track speed, but he's small and inexperienced.
Offensive Line - We think this is the best offensive line in the Big 12, but we think that every year. This unit isn't as good as the one we had last year or when Holgorsen was here though. They are strong on the left side behind LT Parker Graham and LG Lane Taylor. Graham is a great run blocker, and Taylor has started nearly every game for four years now. The right side isn't as strong, but do a solid job of pass protecting considering the losses they've dealt with (RG Jonathan Rush is playing hurt when he plays and Daniel Koeing is still just a pup that's starting at RT because someone got himself kicked off the team). This unit's only allowed Cowboy QB's to be sacked three times this year. They don't always get the praise they deserve, but Joe Wickline's boys are the foundation of the Gundy era Cowboys. The next bad offensive line Wickline coaches at OSU will be the first. In Fedora's spread offense they lead the Big 12 in rushing four consecutive seasons, and they've been just as good in the Air Raid, consistently allowing OSU to produce All-American type numbers at RB despite the limitations this offense puts on a running game.
Between the 20's this OSU offense is almost as dangerous as the one that nearly played for the national championship last year. They average over 7 yards/play, and they're second in the nation in yards/game. They are fast and skilled at every position, but not as fast as West Virginia or Baylor at receiver. Where they've struggled, with no go to receiver and a revolving door at QB, is in the red zone. Gundy and Monken have perhaps been too conservative in that area with the assurance that kicker Quinn Sharp is automatic on kicks under 50 yards. OSU is 12th in the country in red zone scoring percentage, but only 54th in red zone TD percentage. Mostly this offense will look a lot like the West Virginia offense schematically. It has more faith and desire to use the ground game, will sacrifice pace more readily if the game situation calls for it, won't be as aggressive on third down, probably won't go for it often on fourth... We don't use the jet sweep packages Holgorsen developed last year at West Virginia, although we do have some similar plays (not as effective), but we haven't broke them out much this year. We will use a FB probably 5-15 times depending on how effective it is. We like to occassionally use a TE as well, but we don't currently have one that's healthy. If Chelf starts OSU might use some zone read packages, but I doubt it.
I'll do the defense later...
Todd Monken replaced Holgorsen as OC in 2011. Monken was an assistant at OSU under Les Miles, and followed him to LSU. He coached receivers and quarterbacks later for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was new to the Air Raid offense when he came back to Stillwater, but with an experienced 28 year old quarterback and most of the offensive staff still around it was a seamless transition for him, and the work environment for the coaches probably improved a lot too. Monken has embraced the offense Holgorsen left him in Stillwater, but he's also added his own wrinkles and is more focused on the team game as a whole than DH was as OC. The passing game is basically the same, but Gundy and Monken like to run it a bit more than DH, who occassionally seemed to forget to utilize All-American Kendall Hunter when he was calling plays. There is also a higher emphasis on downfield blocking by the receivers. Monken is a more conservative play caller than Holgorsen, but so are about 6,782 other D-1 OC's (OK, I stretched that number a bit).
Bill Young is a veteran DC, and like Gundy is also an OSU alum. He runs a base 4-3 defense most of the time, although one of OLB's is essentially a large safety. On third down he will frequently use a 3 man front in order to flood the passing lanes or confuse the line/QB with various blitz packages. The OSU defense has had mixed results, to say the least, with this approach on third downs though. He is a fairly conservative play caller that emphasizes tackling and forcing turnovers. He's OK with a bending defense so long as it holds in the red zone, and for the most part it's done exactly that at OSU. In his first three years back at OSU the Cowboys ranked at least 11th in turnovers forced nationally, and lead the country last year, but so far this year turnovers have been scarce.
The Offense
Quarterback(s) - I have no idea who will play this game. QB1 Wes Lunt is a true freshmen with a big arm. He's a tall kid, but it's a stretch to call him a big one yet. He has good vision, is intelligent and has a cannon for an arm. He's a lot like Brandon Weeden was in this offense... Except he's not as mature yet. His development has been hampered by injuries all season. In the first series against ULL in our third game he dislocated his knee cap and probably suffered a high ankle sprain that kept him out of our first three conference games. He was rusty against TCU, although he dominated the second half after a rough start. He had a hard time figuring out Kansas State's coverage schemes in Manhattan as he never seemed to see the safeties in route to three picks before leaving the game with a concussion. In his 3, and only 3, true D-1 games he has thrown 7 interceptions. One of those in each game was returned for 6. On the positive side there's not a throw he can't make, and he is very confident in his abilities. QB2 JW Walsh is currently out with what I assume is a leg fracture of some kind. They don't like telling us these things at OSU anymore... If Lunt can't go that leaves Clint Chelf, a fourth year junior that was Weeden's backup the last two seasons. He has a strong grasp of this offense and makes quick decisions where to put the ball. The problems are arm strength, which is only average, and accuracy, which comes and goes. Chelf isn't really a fast QB, but he's got a knack for picking up yards with his feet. If he starts he'll be able to run the offense fine, but isn't likely to dial up a home run throw without someone falling down first. Monken hasn't seemed to trust either Walsh or Chelf much in the red zone (or the receivers for that matter), so even if he leads the offense down the field all day long they'll struggle near the goal line if they can't dominate their run blocks.
Running Back - Joseph Randle is the full package. All of his skills are at least above average. He has good, but not great, speed and agility. His vision is good and he hits the holes well. If there is an area he struggles it's short yardage situations. He's tough, but not really a big back. He's also had fumble issues. I can only remember him losing six fumbles in his three years at OSU, but four of them came in two consecutive games last year. Two of those at Iowa State. What sets him apart form other backs is he's just as good a receiver as he is a running back. OSU will occassionally line him up in the slot or out wide, and when they do that he's not a decoy. He has fantastic hands and runs good routes, and he has 101 career receptions to prove it. He is also the best blocking TB I remember watching at the college level. When he stays back in pass protection he almost never misses a blitzing player and isn't afraid to chip a DE or DT that breaks through. He will lay a hit on someone. His ability to block is a huge reason OSU QB's are sacked so rarely. His backup is Jeremy Smith. Smith is just as dangerous a ball carrier in his own right, but hasn't been playing 100% since the Texas game. If he's healthy now he'll get 30-50% of the carries, and the majority of the short yardage carries. He's about average size, but incredibly strong and is very fast on his first step. Unlike Randle, he almost never gets caught dancing looking for holes. He's going to hit the first seam that opens in front of him. He has good speed, protects the rock and can make the first guy miss with regularity. Although he's as dangerous coming from the backfield as Randle he struggles when asked to do anything other than take a hand off. Smith has below average hands receiving and isn't much of a blocker. Kye Staley is the FB. He was a 4-star RB out of high school, but suffered a similar injury to Lattimore's recent one in practice. The agility that made him a highly sought recruit is gone. What he is now is a fast man that loves to hit people, and he will ruin someone's day when he's on the field. He rarely is asked to carry the ball, but is usually good for one big catch a game. Most DC's fail to scheme for him and they're caught by surprise, he has good hands.
Receiver - We've been hit with the injury bug here just as bad as at QB. Senior outside receivers Tracy Moore and Isaiah Anderson are both hurt. Anderson will probably play some, but mostly to give the other guys a break right now as he's not very effective with his injury. Moore is out of the year, and he's probably OSU's best receiver. There are a handful of other guys out as well, forcing OSU to play two true freshmen quite a bit at outside receiver. Sophomore Josh Stewart is on pace for 1,000 yards. He's a kid Holgorsen recruited to be an inside receiver, and he's filled that role nicely. He's been the most consistent this year. He doesn't have a lot of speed or size, but he runs great routes, has good hands and is very agile. He'll make guys miss all day. Blake Jackson is the other inside receiver. He was a TE in junior college. He's a home run threat when he catches the ball because there's not a lot of safeties that can tackle him easily, and he has good speed for a big guy. He's a huge target in the middle of the field that is a mismatch for S's and LB's both. The problem is his hands. He seems to do fine when it's a tough catch, but he'll drop balls when he's open frequently. Charlie Moore is a fourth year junior that's been our most effective outside receiver since Tracy Moore was hurt (not related, one's white). He's caught TD's in each of the last four games from three different QB's. He has good speed on the outside, decent size and great hands. He doens't have a lot of shake-and-bake though, and he's not likely to win a lot of jump balls. Austin Hays and Blake Webb are the true freshmen you'll see out there a lot, and other than Anderson they maybe the only other receivers we can use right now. Hays is a bit like Charlie Moore, but not quite as fast. Webb has serious track speed, but he's small and inexperienced.
Offensive Line - We think this is the best offensive line in the Big 12, but we think that every year. This unit isn't as good as the one we had last year or when Holgorsen was here though. They are strong on the left side behind LT Parker Graham and LG Lane Taylor. Graham is a great run blocker, and Taylor has started nearly every game for four years now. The right side isn't as strong, but do a solid job of pass protecting considering the losses they've dealt with (RG Jonathan Rush is playing hurt when he plays and Daniel Koeing is still just a pup that's starting at RT because someone got himself kicked off the team). This unit's only allowed Cowboy QB's to be sacked three times this year. They don't always get the praise they deserve, but Joe Wickline's boys are the foundation of the Gundy era Cowboys. The next bad offensive line Wickline coaches at OSU will be the first. In Fedora's spread offense they lead the Big 12 in rushing four consecutive seasons, and they've been just as good in the Air Raid, consistently allowing OSU to produce All-American type numbers at RB despite the limitations this offense puts on a running game.
Between the 20's this OSU offense is almost as dangerous as the one that nearly played for the national championship last year. They average over 7 yards/play, and they're second in the nation in yards/game. They are fast and skilled at every position, but not as fast as West Virginia or Baylor at receiver. Where they've struggled, with no go to receiver and a revolving door at QB, is in the red zone. Gundy and Monken have perhaps been too conservative in that area with the assurance that kicker Quinn Sharp is automatic on kicks under 50 yards. OSU is 12th in the country in red zone scoring percentage, but only 54th in red zone TD percentage. Mostly this offense will look a lot like the West Virginia offense schematically. It has more faith and desire to use the ground game, will sacrifice pace more readily if the game situation calls for it, won't be as aggressive on third down, probably won't go for it often on fourth... We don't use the jet sweep packages Holgorsen developed last year at West Virginia, although we do have some similar plays (not as effective), but we haven't broke them out much this year. We will use a FB probably 5-15 times depending on how effective it is. We like to occassionally use a TE as well, but we don't currently have one that's healthy. If Chelf starts OSU might use some zone read packages, but I doubt it.
I'll do the defense later...
That might have something to do with their relationship. I'm sure if Gundy can do it, he will try to score a few extra touchdowns on Saturday to rub it in to Holgs if the rumors are true about their relationship off the field.
