Oklahoma State Back at Work with Heaviest Practice in Houston
HOUSTON, Texas – Oklahoma State players had the morning to sleep in with no curfew on Thursday night and no curfew on Friday or Saturday either. Practice was at midday over at the University of Houston and their indoor complex and adjacent TDECU Stadium, a facility where Oklahoma State has some fond memories from this season and the 43-30 win over the Cougars. The hope is that the Cowboys can create another positive memory and win No. 10 on the season against Texas A&M.
“There’s something about the SEC versus the Big 12 that I like,” linebacker Xavier Benson said after practice on Friday. “Or just the conferences in general. They’ve got some big teams, but we can show them that we’re just as big and physical. That’s why I like it.”
The Cowboys Friday practice, a typical Tuesday practice on a game week with no new schemes introduced and just polish on what was installed in Stillwater earlier. The two and a half hour practice concluded at 3:30. The team went back to the hotel and then some of the players and travel party headed over to the Toyota Center for the game between the Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks.
NBA basketball can get physical, especially in the playoffs or in a Texas rivalry like Dallas and Houston, but it’s not as physical as next Wednesday night. Portal departures be damned. Oklahoma State is practicing and preparing for a physical defense from Texas A&M, the top defense in he SEC this past season.
“I would say there’s more physical stuff. More establishing the run and stuff like that,” slot receiver Brennan Presley said of the work at home and in Houston. “They are a bigger defense. In the Big 12, they play a lot of zones (coverage), but some teams run a lot of man (coverage). In the SEC, they play a lot of man. Just more of working on your skills rather than a team’s schematic thing.”
“This week, (we’re) making sure everything’s clean and cleaning up everything,” added Benson. “Everybody knows their job. Being able to suggest on the fly, just in case we get another lick that we’re not ready for. We’re getting ready overcommunicate and stuff like that. If we stay solid and communicate, we’ll be fine.”
The goal at the end of this is another bowl win, Oklahoma State is the leader in bowl win-loss records from teams that have been to 30-or-more bowl games. This could be the eighth double-digit win season of the Mike Gundy 19-year era as head coach and the second in three seasons as the Cowboys were 12-2 in the 2021 season that culminated with the Fiesta Bowl win over Notre Dame. 10-win seasons and wins over blue blood programs or programs that think thir blood is blue have become a lot of fun.
“A lot,” Benson answered when asked how much a 10th win would mean. “It shows how much we can persevere and fight through. I feel like this whole team has been built off that togetherness and perseverance. I know it would mean a lot to me because I hate losing. I think it would mean a lot.”
Saturday is a Wednesday type of practice and at the end of the day a trip to NRG Coliseum for the Rodeo Bowl, this will be the only night the Cowboys and Aggies run into each other before the game on Wednesday.