Gundy, OSU nearing anniversary of crossroads game
Published: 10/9/2012 1:48 PM
Last Modified: 10/9/2012 1:48 PM
On Oct. 13, 2012, Oklahoma State will play a road game at Kansas and Mike Gundy will coach his alma mater for the 94th time.
On Oct. 14, 2006, OSU played a road game at Kansas and it was a crossroads moment in Gundy’s head coaching career.
One week before the KU trip, OSU squandered a 10-point fourth quarter lead in a game at Kansas State and allowed the Wildcats to score two touchdowns in the final 3:04.
Maybe the knowledge that the KSU quarterback (Josh Freeman) who made his first college start that day now starts for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers makes the loss easier to swallow.
But, at the time, the come-from-ahead defeat certainly didn’t boost Gundy’s approval rating. His record as a head coach dropped to 7-9, including 1-8 in Big 12 games. Two days later, athletic director Mike Holder felt compelled to go public with words of support for the Gundy regime.
In OSU’s first game after that, Gundy trekked to Kansas and, watched his team fall behind 17-0 in the third quarter. The Cowboys didn’t seem to be doing their coach -- or the athletic director who backed him -- any favors.
Then Bobby Reid threw a 54-yard touchdown pass to Adarius Bowman and it started an avalanche. Bowman collected a school-record 300 receiving yards as the Cowboys scored 42 points in the last 23 1/2 minutes and won by 10 points.
The victory helped OSU post a 6-6 regular season record and become bowl-eligible. The Cowboys have been bowling ever since.
Every new head coach who has yet to establish himself encounters “hump” games, recalled Gundy during an interview this week. The 2006 OSU-KU game fits that description.
Said Gundy, “If two or three things go wrong (early in a coach’s career), doubt can be created and you can’t recruit and people that support the program don’t believe in you and then it becomes infectious into the players. And then you get shut down. It happens.”
Gundy indicated the come-from-behind victory over the Jayhawks and an Independence Bowl victory over Alabama later that season got things rolling in the right direction.
Gundy said people started buying into the program and good players began showing up on campus. Six years later, the Cowboys are coming off a Big 12 championship and a BCS bowl victory.
You can thank what happened six years ago in Lawrence for making it all possible.
Written by
Jimmie Tramel
Sports Writer
