Cowboys Charter Does BPS Pass and Team Lands in Waco
(This is normally a Premium content item but being the first road trip we made this a free item for all to see.)
WACO, Texas – The Cowboys United Airlines charter flight landed at Waco Regional Airport around 4:45 p.m. finishing up an hour and 10-minute flight with a slightly rough landing, but nobody seemed to shook up. There are always some young players that might be making one of their first flights, but this group seemed very veteran as they arrived at their hotel headquarters for Friday. In past trips to play Baylor, Oklahoma State’s team has had to stay in Temple, about 45 minutes away and longer on Saturdays with game day traffic on I-35. However, a new wave of hotels in Waco has produced some more than acceptable alternatives to get the team closer to McLane Stadium for a shorter bus ride on game day.
The simple facts are the No.9/7 Cowboys (3-0) will be playing No. 16/14 Baylor (3-1/1-0) for an early up in the Big 12. Baylor lost to BYU in non-conference but handled Iowa State 31-24 last week on the road in Ames to go 1-0 in the Big 12. Oklahoma State is playing their Big 12 opener after a bye week last Saturday, so the Pokes are rested and in the best health state since they started fall camp in August.
Courtesy of Chris “The Bear” Fallica and ESPN+ Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy since 2016 is 13-3 in games with a point spread between +3.5-to--3.5. Since 2010 in games of the same close spread and on the road, Gundy’s teams are 12-2.
You’ve seen the match-ups and the Cowboys got a reminder of what they are playing for as the United charter flight passed over the Oklahoma State campus and the Sherman Smith Training Center and Boone Pickens Stadium as it took off from Stillwater Municipal Airport. The game will kick off at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday in front of a “gold out” Baylor home crowd and on FOX Sports on television and the Cowboy Radio Network on the airwaves.
One former Cowboy that told me this week he would love to be on the trip is last year’s starting center Danny Godlevske. After the foot injury that sidelined him the last five games of last season, flared up again as he was training and working out for Pro Day, Godlevske is back in his native Indianapolis and is having success selling industrial safety supplies and as he says, “I’m on to the next chapter of my life.”
In his last playing chapter as a super senior for Oklahoma State after having played for Miami of Ohio, Godlevske was stout at the center position and after watching most of the Big 12’s centers try to block and compete with 6-4, 258-pound Baylor nose tackle Siaki Ika. My opinion is Godlevske fared better than any in the Cowboys early season meeting with the Bears in Stillwater.
“Ika is a special player and he is a house to move, “Godlevske said of the 24-14 Oklahoma State win. “I remember a lot about that game. It was my favorite game of the season. I remember preparing really hard that week and Coach (Charlie) Dickey having a really good game plan. We watched a lot of film, and I had a good idea of what his strengths and weaknesses were and I got a lot of help from (Josh) Sills and (Hunter) Woodard.”
The Cowboys ended up running for 219-yards in the contest with running back Jaylen Warren and Spencer Sanders leading the way.
“My favorite play was that fourth and goal where Jaylen (Warren) ran right behind me on that play near the one to seal it,” added Godlevske. “That was the tipping point of that game. Me and Siaki battled and he won some and I won some. In the end that was the play that really mattered. It was a blast to play against him. He is a great player, and I can’t wait to watch Preston (Wilson) and the guys go against him and Baylor tomorrow.”
Cowboys center Preston Wilson has said leading up to this week that he milked Godlevske for knowledge and he also has help with left guard Taylor Miterko and right guard Hunter Woodard.
“Preston was my backup that whole spring and summer until he switched positions, so we got pretty close. I was always around him and Sills and he always had a Whataburger in his hand, almost every night,” Godlevske said and admitted he had his share of honey butter chicken biscuits. “I don’t know why Whataburger doesn’t give him an NIL. Preston is a tough guy, he’ll be fine.”
Wilson comes anywhere close to doing the kind of job on Ika inside then the postgame snack had better come from Whataburger. There are plenty around and the best thing is their color is orange.