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Sep. 17—Oklahoma State football had one of its better weeks of practice ahead of a Week 3 matchup with South Alabama, one that capped nonconference play for the Pokes, in front of a sold-out crowd at Boone Pickens Stadium.
The Cowboys, 19th-year coach Mike Gundy said, prepared better leading up to Saturday evening than before their win at Arizona State a week prior.
The result:
South Alabama 33, Oklahoma State 7
“Let me make this real clear: They outcoached us, and they outexecuted us. But we didn’t get any breaks,” Gundy said in the aftermath of OSU’s first loss this season. “Combination of that made a perfect storm.”
Perhaps the Cowboys’ first regular-season nonconference loss in nearly a decade was due to another outing with a one-dimensional offense anchored by a three-way battle at quarterback that’s continued longer than anyone expected.
Only their third nonconference loss in the past 11 seasons could’ve been because of a poor defensive game plan — or, more accurately, a flat-out better offensive plan from South Alabama.
Really, OSU’s largest nonconference loss since 1991 could be chalked up to the Pokes overlooking one of the most formidable Group of Five teams in the country, though star linebacker Collin Oliver said it’s more so because of South Alabama’s game plan.
But that’s what the Cowboys showed through the entirety of four quarters.
“I mentioned during the week this is a good football team. Our team was made aware of that. I told them multiple times during the week this is a really, really good football team,” Gundy said. “There’s no surprise in what happened. They were made aware this was a good football team.”
Losses like these this early in the season aren’t too common in Stillwater. The Cowboys now have a nonconference record of 28-3 since 2013, which included 17 straight before South Alabama came to…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/walk-talk-oklahoma-state-hits-035900440.html?src=rss
Author : Stillwater NewsPress, Okla.
Publish date : 2023-09-18 03:59:00
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