{"id":5537,"date":"2018-08-14T17:40:37","date_gmt":"2018-08-14T22:40:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=5537"},"modified":"2018-08-20T14:16:52","modified_gmt":"2018-08-20T19:16:52","slug":"oklahoma-state-in-the-roundup-big-twelve-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=5537","title":{"rendered":"Oklahoma State in the roundup…. Big Twelve preview"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Photo: Tulsa World<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
With the Big Twelve loaded with similar types of teams (all with high expectations based mostly on fact but not withstanding favoritism), the games will play out and the wins and losses will tell the tale by seasons end.\u00a0 Pre-season prognostication is a crap shoot and\u00a0 personal lens colored glasses are\u00a0just\u00a0blinders to what will happen soon enough.\u00a0\u00a0Sports fans of the conference, all hope springs eternal three weeks before that first kickoff.<\/span><\/em><\/h6>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h6>\n
Oklahoma State, Texas Christian, Kansas State, West Virginia and Texas all are in the hunt to be that second team\u00a0 to meet Oklahoma, the clear cut pre-season favorite.\u00a0With that, today I will focus on\u00a0the\u00a0Cowboys.\u00a0 They have an opportunity to be that second best team. They also could fall\u00a0somewhere between 2nd and\u00a07th, and even\u00a0farther down, as Iowa State, Texas Tech, and Baylor all have representative teams and can cause distress to any in the conference.<\/em><\/span><\/h6>\n
<\/h6>\n
<\/h6>\n
Speculation on this 2018 Oklahoma State football team can be tricky.\u00a0 The Cowboys are coming off another ten win season with some key players returning, but the loss of Mason Rudolph and James Washington lend some to believe<\/em> that hopes for another great season might be a year off.\u00a0 <\/em><\/span><\/h6>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h6>\n
<\/h6>\n
Let\u00a0the games will play out beginning in Stillwater against a weak Missouri State.\u00a0 Pre-season prognostication is a crap shoot and\u00a0 personal lens colored glasses are of no help.\u00a0\u00a0Sports fans of the conference, all hope springs eternal three weeks before that first kickoff.<\/em><\/span><\/h6>\n

 <\/p>\n

Examine\u00a0the men of Stillwater the past years under Head Coach Mike Gundy.\u00a0 Ten\u00a0win seasons (four of the past five) without a high\u00a0standard being<\/span> met is not possible. The Pokes\u00a0has been built on average to above average recruiting talent\u00a0that has included the signing of specific “great” college players that have and will make their mark in the National Football League.\u00a0 This selection of talent is not by happenstance. OSU\u00a0recognizes the high school\u00a0talent that can transition into Big\u00a0Twelve\u00a0players of quality. \u00a0Along with the superior development of players, mostly on the offensive side of the ball, but not limited to it exclusively, Gundy and staff have won 47 games in the past five years mar. This is a mark of an excellent Power Five program.\u00a0\u00a0 Also, the talent on campus currently\u00a0should not be disregarded either.\u00a0 Those stepping up to fill the spots of the departed will not be void of talent.<\/span><\/em><\/h6>\n

 <\/p>\n

Getting an easy non-conference start with Missouri State and South Alabama at home\u00a0and winnable games just following, OSU can see a\u00a0positive start to\u00a02018.\u00a0Six and zero\u00a0through September is not something out of the question.<\/span><\/em><\/h6>\n

 <\/p>\n

Early August\u00a0season practice has senior quarterback Taylor Cornelius (6’6, 235) running the show.\u00a0 He has broken away from any challenges by the back-ups and his decision making being the key in early games. He can make all the throws. \u00a0Gundy will be giving him the snaps and expects a better than good passing game with Cornelius his pocket passer.\u00a0 The Boise<\/span><\/em> State game (Sept. 15 in Stillwater)\u00a0is nut cutting time for him.\u00a0 Expect that game to be a shootout and key to a six game winning streak. Cornelius will have a big time running game to use with All Big Twelve Justice Hill as\u00a0the feature back. Hill is backed by 2nd year runner JD King who would be a starter on many teams\u00a0 OSU has enough returning pass catchers not to fall off much from 2018 with Jalen McCleskey, Dillon Stoner, and Tyron Johnson all better than average.\u00a0 An experienced offensive line will be better than last season to protect the quarterbacks and open holes for the runners\u00a0 The Pokes will not have problems scoring.<\/span><\/em><\/h6>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Jalen McCleskey crosses the goal line in game action (NEWSOK)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

New defensive coordinator Jim Knowles who was at Duke last year will work at improving the numbers on that side of the ball.\u00a0 He has Jordan Brailford (d-line), Justin Phillips (linebacker), Calvin Brundage (linebacker),\u00a0and Jodarius Williams (d-back) to build on. Look for a more aggressive defense which could be what the doctor ordered.\u00a0 Yet, making turnovers will again be a key as stops will still be difficult in the Big Twelve.<\/span><\/em><\/h6>\n

 <\/p>\n

The punter (Zach Sinor) and placement (Matt Ammandola) will be returning and that is good, but the overall punt and kickoff coverage need to get much better. The 88th ranking in 2017 was not good.<\/span><\/em><\/h6>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h6>\n
Head Coach: Mike Gundy (14th season)\u00a0 114-53<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/h6>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h6>\n
Prediction:\u00a0 8-4\u00a0 and 5-4 in league play<\/span><\/em><\/h6>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h6>\n
Games the Cowboys will win:\u00a0 Missouri State, South Alabama, Kansas<\/span> <\/em><\/h6>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Games the Cowboys can win or lose and it would not be a surprise:\u00a0 all but Oklahoma<\/span><\/em><\/h6>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h6>\n
Games the Cowboys will lose:\u00a0 Oklahoma<\/span><\/em><\/h6>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h6>\n
Feature Photo:\u00a0 Getty Images<\/span><\/em><\/h6>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/path><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the Big Twelve loaded with similar types of teams (all with high expectations based…<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/path><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10,4,7],"tags":[127,1264,1265,351,1262,1263,64,63,16,169,1261,955,136,312,1266],"class_list":["post-5537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-college-football","category-featured","category-home","category-latest","tag-baylor-bears","tag-dillon-stoner","tag-jalenmccleskey","tag-james-washington","tag-jim-knowles","tag-justice-hill","tag-mason-rudolph","tag-mike-gundy","tag-oklahoma-sooners","tag-oklahoma-state-cowboys","tag-taylor-cornelius","tag-texas-christian-horn-frogs","tag-texas-longhorns","tag-texas-tech-red-raiders","tag-tyron-johnson"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":1296,"today_views":0},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5537"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5537\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5563,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5537\/revisions\/5563"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}