Oklahoma State won a Big 12 championship in 2011. The Cowboys are picked to win a Big 12 championship in 2013 and their next game is a Sept. 28 league opener at West Virginia.
Quarterback J.W. Walsh was a redshirt spectator during the season in which OSU won a Big 12 title for the first time. He was asked if anything he learned from being around the program in 2011 might prove beneficial in 2013.
"Those guys faced a lot of adversity," Walsh said, referencing a come-from-behind win at Texas A&M and a down-to-the-wire game against Kansas State in 2011.
"There were a lot of times where people just doubted them and doubted the kind of season that they could actually have."
Walsh said he "took a lot" from starting quarterback Brandon Weeden and other players who were senior leaders in 2011. Added Walsh, "They did a great job of handling adversity and I think that's something that I think our team right now is doing a very good job of and I think we just need to carry that on."
Adversity? OSU got four doses of it last week when Sports Illustrated uncorked the first four chapters of "The Dirty Game," a five-part investigative report on the Cowboy football program. No current players have been cited in alleged wrongdoings, but current players will have to block out the fallout as they progress through the season.
OSU did not play like a distracted team in the first game since SI's project was unveiled. A bored team? At times, yes. A distracted team? No.
The Cowboys drove for touchdowns on their first three possessions in a 59-3 trouncing of Lamar in a Saturday home opener.
"I thought we got flat in the middle of the second quarter," coach Mike Gundy said, adding that it was tough to get players motivated (when the score was 31-3).
"The other issue is when you start to run (substitutes) in ... and they don't really understand the game plan, you become very vanilla. The benefit that you get from young people being out there and playing in a game that deserve to be out there is far greater than giving up some yards or scoring touchdowns."
Walsh left the game midway through the third quarter and was replaced by Clint Chelf, who threw only six passes (and completed them all) the rest of the way. The Cowboys still produced their fifth-most lopsided victory since 1945.
"There have been times at Oklahoma State where we have played games like this and have been biting our nails in the fourth quarter," Gundy said.
"I have been around here a long time. But fortunately we are far enough along in the program that we are in control of these games early and it gives us a chance ... to where we can work some other guys."
Gundy said during his postgame press conference that he was not permitted to answer questions about the SI series. His program will be the subject of a final chapter Tuesday and the Cowboys will get the week off to prepare for Big 12 competition.
Up next
At West Virginia
TBA, Sept. 28
TV: TBA
Radio: KFAQ am1170
Jimmie Tramel 918-581-8389
jimmie.tramel@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: Cowboys playing through adversity
