Cowboys Have Position and Everybody Engaged for November Run

STILLWATER – With the NCAA mandated November election Tuesday day off for all athletic teams including football, Oklahoma State has Tuesday off. Cowboys head coach Mike Gundy, coming off the 55-3 win over Kansas and heading toward another showdown on Saturday at West Virginia, leveled with his team at practice. The Mountaineers are fresh off upsetting Iowa State 38-31, and the Cowboys have owned WVU with six wins in a row, including the last three in Morgantown. Gundy told his team they have put themselves in position. The exact position will be known Tuesday evening when the first College Football Playoff rankings from the CFP Selection Committee are released.  

Pat Kinnison - Chief Photographer

Mike Gundy running out with his team vs. Kansas.

"Well, what I told the team last night was, is the way that they've handled themselves and their commitment to each other and taking care of their bodies and their focus and discipline and their toughness and the way they’ve practiced, (they) have put them in a really good position in November,” Gundy relayed. “That's a fact. So, the one area you’re careful about now is, human nature is to ease back a little because everybody's tired; players are tired, coaches are tired. We're into the fourth month now, and that's where you could get into some issues. So, you’ve got to push forward. If you've had a good season up to this point, and you've had success, it's a little bit easier to get players to continue to work hard and have fun in practice, do the things that's necessary, focus and play well on Saturdays. And I told them you're now in a good position. There's a lot of teams in the country that would like to be where you are. It does two things; one, it doesn't guarantee you anything moving forward; but two, it allows you to understand the importance of continuing to give yourself the best chance to play on Saturday at a high level. That's kind of what I told the team last night."

Related: Mike Gundy’s tenure shows him as more Wizard than Scarecrow

Lots of information there, but Gundy saw a team that is completely energized. The starters on both sides of the ball played well and cemented the lead. Then those guys came back in the second half and instead of lounging and kicking back the rest of the night, they were standing, engaged, and cheering and congratulating the back-ups as they continued the domination of the Jayhawks. Everybody is charged up after a game like that.

"If you watched the sidelines during the game, the players were excited for the other guys, all the way down to the last second of the game, which tells you that we have a good chemistry amongst the group, that we have a good culture with our team,” Gundy said smiling. “They care about the other guys making plays, and you would see it all the way from Spencer (Sanders) and Malcolm Rodriguez all the way down to freshmen like Gunner (Gundy) that he was excited that his buddies got to play in the game and got to do things. I kind of watched everybody and that's a good thing."

Pat Kinnison - Chief Photographer

Cassity on the improvised catch vs. Kansas.

The Oklahoma State players see good position too heading into November, but for other reasons as well. Cowboy back Braden Cassity, who looked good again and actually improvised on a scramble play and ended up catching a Sanders’ pass that was his longest reception of his career. A former defensive player, Cassity goes just where you thought he would.

"Discipline and toughness, that's what it has been,” Cassity said of Cowboys core qualities. “I feel like that's what it is going to be, that's engraved in us and something we take very seriously. I would say grit as well. Playing football, you're not going to feel great, but you have to get it done. We'll go to practice with smiles on our face not because we're joking, but because we're enjoying what we're doing."

Middle linebacker and Butkus Award semifinalist Malcolm Rodriguez points to being long in the tooth.

"It just goes back to being veterans. We've been here a long time, it feels like,” Rodriguez said. “Just going out every month and just coming together and sticking it out. I mean, everyone is going to be tired. Everyone is going to be fatigued. It's just one of those things where, we've been here before, and we know what it takes."

Past Novembers and not getting to the Big 12 Championships will provide lessons to learn from for a team that is in position.