STILLWATER – The season has ended, and with it a long chapter of Cowboy football.
Iowa State beat Oklahoma State 20-13 on Saturday afternoon at Boone Pickens Stadium. The Cowboys finished the year 1-11 after the loss, with a Big 12 losing streak extended to 18 games.
While the program had question marks coming into the season, no one expected the answers to be what they were.
A less-than-convincing win to open the year against UT-Martin turned out to be the highlight of the season, with the Cowboys struggling to even find leads in the remaining games.
Following quarterback Hauss Hejny being lost for the season with a foot injury the offense, which was hyped as completely revamped and high-powered, struggled to find an identity. Weeks went by with no definitive answers for who the top guys would be at key positions.
Then the most shocking thing happened; coach Mike Gundy was fired after the first home loss to Tulsa since 1951, with offensive coordinator Doug Meacham being named interim coach.
“I appreciate Chad Weiberg giving me that chance and choosing me,” Meacham said. “Not many people get to experience being a head coach, so I appreciate that.”
Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham would be shown the door soon after, leaving Clint Bowen to take over defensive play calling, while Kevin Johns assumed offensive play calling responsibilities after Meacham’s promotion.
“To get a group of guys to buy into their teammates success mattering more than their own is just really special,” Bowen said. “Guys bought in and knew that they could count on their teammates and show up to work and their teammates were going to work with them.”
Meacham’s message to the team was clear. For those who chose to stick around and play out the season, it was time to just cut loose and have fun and trust the development process.
“With Arizona and Houston it looked like this thing could really take a nosedive, and it just didn’t do it,” Meacham said. “We whittled it down to the guys wo really cared about it, who love the process and the guys who are willing to be coached.”
While the improvement did not translate into any more wins for the Cowboys, the general thought was that the bond the team shared continued to get stronger as the year went on.
“Hopefully the guys coming back next year will learn some lessons from what they went through this year, I certainly did,” Meacham said. “We took a big team photo in the hotel today that I will probably keep on my wall just to remind me how special a lot of these guys are.”
Following this inexplicable season, no one can say for sure what the future is for Cowboy football, but Meacham has said many times that he will never forget this team, or this journey.
“It’ll be a day or two before it really sets in that it’s over,” Meacham said. “They want a national championship here, and they have things in place to be able to do that. Stillwater is a great place and this is a great school.”
