Cowboys Keep Drawing Teams Off Momentum Building Wins

STILLWATER – Count em, four opponents in a row for the Oklahoma State Cowboys that have come into their game with on a surge with either an impressive win or an above average effort. The No. 10, and likely soon to be moving up in the College Football Playoff Selection Committee rankings, Cowboys have survived those tests with the latest being the 63-17 demolition of TCU following the Frogs upset victory over Baylor. I don’t have to tell you who Baylor beat last Saturday. I know the CFP Selection Committee takes into account strength of schedule, but do they take in and observe most recent result and what kind of surge an opponent might be riding into a match-up with a playoff possible candidate.

Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy was asked in his weekly media conference if Kansas, West Virginia, TCU, and now Texas Tech riding a wave could be helping his team psychologically prepare for Saturday?

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Gundy at the TCU game.

“It could be. With the players there is so much going on and there is so much information available on phones and with social media and technology,” Gundy answered. “Maybe they see them (opponent) play well and they feel like they have to practice hard and get ready. They are still young people and need to be motivated and mentally charged. We tell them that every week. I’m honest with them and I tell them we’re not a good enough football team to not practice well and then go beat somebody on Saturday. When Brandon Weeden was here, I didn’t tell them (that team) that because we were a good enough team that we could not play well and win. I’ve told them the truth and maybe that does make them prepare and play better.”

One advantage with the way the schedule has broke with teams getting big wins or playing well prior to playing Oklahoma State is style points. The College Football Playoff Selection Committee has to be seeing this too, the setup, all of it, and Oklahoma State has worn all of these teams out the next Saturday.

Gundy was asked in particular about this week’s foe Texas Tech beating Iowa State. The win was finally accomplished on the last play of the game when veteran kicker Jonathan Garibay, this week’s Big 12 Special Team Player of the Week muscled through a 62-yard field goal for the 41-38 win.

“They played another quarterback and played well. They played physical against Iowa State,” Gundy said of Texas Tech. “We need to stay in our box, practice well, and then we have a chance to play good.”

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Donovan Smith appears to be a challenge.

I asked Gundy in particular about the new quarterback. This is the second week in a row that Oklahoma State will get a new and second-time starting quarterback. Texas Tech’s Donovan Smith, the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week after he threw for 322-yards and ran for 50-yards. The 6-5, 230-pound Smith is the son of Texas Tech running backs coach DeAndre Smith. Donovan was a wide receiver playing high school at Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas, Nev. before moving to Frenship High School in Lubbock where he transitioned to quarterback. He is a red-shirt freshman for the Raiders.

“He is a big kid and can throw it around,” Gundy said of Donovan Smith. “He’s a big kid, looks like he weighs 225-pounds. He can run and he is athletic. He’s a pretty big kid. He had, now he has 76 (pass) attempts on the year. Forty of them were the other day, so he’s new and just getting started. Obviously, they like him, and he played well the other day.”

He is a big kid, as Gundy said. That does make him different than TCU’s Chandler Morris from last week. Morris is a dual threat but is just 5-11, 190-pounds. Just another week for the Oklahoma State defense.