A Quick History Lesson and All of the History Favors Gundy and the Cowboys

STILLWATER – That picture is of Mike Gundy walking across the field at Boone Pickens Stadium following the Cowboys 23-16 win over Missouri State. It was Oklahoma State’s closest call in a game against a Division I FCS opponent since Gundy’s first game as a head coach in a 15-10 win over Montana State. The 23-16 close call was a product of losing the starting quarterback to COVID protocols and some injuries across the board and a Missouri State team coached by Bobby Petrino that was loaded with some very talented transfers from Division I FBS schools. Gundy knew going in that Missouri State was not your average FCS opponent. There was evidence of that going back to the previous season. In this case, Oklahoma State survived and launched what would turn into a memorable 12-2 season ending with the Fiesta Bowl in over Notre Dame because the defense did their job.

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Now Detroit Lions starting linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez was a star in this win.

"The defense obviously did a great job. We put them in terrible situations multiple times, and they continued to make play-after-play,” Gundy said immediately after. “They faced 83 plays, which is a lot, so they really stood tall and made a bunch of plays. I told them I was proud of them after the game and that I've been in games that were 61-59 and this one ended up the other way where the defense continued to make plays."

Fortunately, those two games cited, last season with Missouri State and that first Gundy win as head coach over the Bobcats are the only close calls against FCS schools and Saturday with Arkansas-Pine Bluff is not expected to be one. 

“So I told the team that overall on paper, whatever paper means, didn’t mean a lot last week, but on paper, people are gonna say you’re a more athletic and a more talented team, and I’m okay with that,” Mike Gundy said in his weekly news conference. “So, but I’m stressing the importance of focus, stressing the importance of us improving in all three phases, and then also understanding that we always respect whoever we play.

“This is where we’re at, this is who we are, this is who they are,” Gundy continued. “This is what they’ve accomplished. This is what we’ve done this year. This is what we need to get accomplished this week, all while having a game plan for these guys just like we would anybody else.”

Here is Mike Gundy’s history as head coach in games against FCS competition:

Meanwhile, Arkansas-Pine Bluff is 2-0 on the season for third-year head coach Doc Gamble, who coached wide receivers at Kent State for six seasons and has seen plenty of Division I competition. As a head coach at UAPB he got his Division I FBS feet wet last season with a 45-3 loss to Arkansas in Fayetteville. Coach Gamble is going to push his team to dream big and play big. He also knows his team needs to play fast, especially on defense.

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UAPB quarterback Skyler Perry was not intimidated at Arkansas and he won’t be at Oklahoma State.

“Our expectations don’t change,” Gamble said. “They play at a fast pace and snapping the ball. We have to play at that speed and not be overwhelmed by the gameday environment. What I like is we have some guys that believe they should be playing at that level. We’ve recruited guys that were recruited by guys at that level. They believe they should be playing at that level.”

As far as that level, here are the recent games where the Golden Lions at Arkansas-Pine Bluff have reached up to that level. They were 0-6 in these games and none of them were close.

No surprise here, Oklahoma State is more than a prohibitive favorite, more of an absolute favorite.