Mike Gundy Addresses Upcoming Match-Up Against Wisconsin
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy met with the media Sunday evening via Zoom following the announcement of the Pokes in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl to discuss the upcoming matchup against Wisconsin.
The Cowboys have an interesting task ahead of them as they’re facing a team that’s also dealing with transfer portal issues. Starting linebacker Mason Cobb took to Twitter on Saturday to announce his intentions of entering the portal. Fast forward nearly 24 hours later and Wisconsin’s starting quarterback Graham Mertz took to Twitter to announce he’s entering the transfer portal.
As everyone knows, the Cowboys have been dealing with a rather large number of injuries since the middle of the season. Gundy was asked during his Zoom if he’s going to continue to allow players who have entered the portal to play in the bowl game, something he’s done in the past.
“We’re gonna look and see where we’re at, see what we’re dealing with,” said head coach Mike Gundy. “When you look at our team right now from a health standpoint, we have to be a little careful about what we’re gonna do or not do because we need enough healthy guys to practice over the next three weeks and then obviously get out there and play a good competitive game. So, we’ll have to see what we’re facing over the next couple of days; the portal, I think, opens [Monday, Dec. 5]. You’d like to think by Tuesday evening you would know who’s in the portal and who’s not. That’d give us a better idea of what we’re dealing with at that time.”
As for Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell, the former Cincinnati head coach, he addressed the departure of Mertz, something that members of the Wisconsin media pool said “not unforeseen.”
“Lots of conversations with Graham,” Fickell said. “Actually, I just got off the phone not too long ago with him. I had some conversations with his family as well, and it's a tough situation. He knows that. We want nothing more than the best for him. Obviously, I can't tell you I know him, but I met him a few times. I encouraged him to stick around here and wait to see how the changes go. But I think at some point in time, some of those guys feel like there's something that they need to do. So, I don't want that. That's not what I encouraged him to do, but I also respect that. We have to continue to move ourselves forward in all that we are doing. So does that open up some things for us? Yes, that's another one of those unique things that we have got an opportunity at this bowl practice to find out what we really got and have had behind him. That's what we'll do.”
On the other side of the field, Mike Gundy expects the Cowboys’ starting quarterback Spencer Sanders to be back from the shoulder injury he’s been dealing with most of the season.
“I think Spencer’s doing really well,” coach Gundy said of Spencer Sanders. “Obviously, much better than he was two weeks ago. It’s not an injury we examine, it’s just a ‘how do you feel?’ injury and my personal opinion is I can’t imagine he won’t feel good in even another week. That injury, that trauma in that tissue starts to go down and scar up a little bit, you feel better and better every day and I would expect him to feel really good in another week.”
The main discussion on Twitter following the disappointing end to the season is the importance of this game. While it’s certainly not the most prestigious bowl game, Mike Gundy is looking across the field at the opponent and how they can build upon this game moving forward.
“Well, every game we play is important,” said coach Gundy. “And I've always said this, we try to instill basic values and core principles in our team from day one. It doesn't make a difference who we are playing, where we are playing, what the records are, we're playing in a game. And so, we all signed up for this. We have an obligation to compete, to prepare, to play the very best we can, coach the very best we can, put the best product on the field every game. This game is just as important as any other game. I'm not arguing the national stage of last year compared to whatever this is. This game is on TV. It's at nighttime. A lot of people are going to see it. It's in a great location. And it's against a very well-known opponent. Wisconsin is very well-known traditionally football-wise. I think there will be a lot of exposure with this game. I haven't met with the team really and gone into detail with this, but we're expecting guys to practice and prepare for this game just like we did last year.”