OSU Football Notebook: Pop culture
BY JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
11/20/12 at 3:04 AM
Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Bill Young - a native Oklahoman - was quizzed about the Bedlam series Monday and he said he has been involved with it all of his life. He told a story about selling pop at OU and OSU home games when he was in junior high.
"There was a Dr Pepper plant in Oklahoma City and we would jump in the back of a truck and (whichever team) was at home that weekend, that's where we went," he said.
Young said he would sell one tray of pop before sitting down to watch games.
"I was really doing it to get to the game," he said. "I didn't make a lot of money, but I had a lot of fun. I used to watch Bud Wilkinson and (Cliff) Speegle and all of them. I saw so many good games."
Morale victory: When Mike Gundy announced during a pre-game radio show Saturday that junior quarterback Clint Chelf would start against Texas Tech, the coach cited team morale as a factor.
"I think the guys are behind him," Gundy said Monday.
"I'm responsible for trying to get a gauge for how the team feels about each one of the quarterbacks. If there is an issue - if we think one guy is the best guy and we are not getting much from our team because of the way we feel about him, then we have to make a decision on is he that much better of a player? Or do we go with the guy that is good for the morale of the team?"
Gundy said players (specifically offensive linemen) like all three quarterbacks who have started this season.
"But the way (Chelf) played at Kansas State, they were excited and they were happy. The way he played against West Virginia and in practice (last) week, he's the guy that deserved to be the starter based on the morale of the team."
Unpleasant surprise: During Gundy's weekly press conference, the coach said it is his opinion that kicker and punter Quinn Sharp is the country's best special teams player.
But Sharp - voted the Big 12's top special teams player last season - got a double dose of bad news a few hours after the press conference. He wasn't on the semifinalist list for the Ray Guy Award (given to the college football's top punter) or the Lou Groza Award (presented to college football's top kicker).
Sharp was a semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award in 2010 and the Lou Groza Award in 2011. He is the active NCAA leader in career punting average (45.67) and would own the nation's 10th-best punting average this season if he had enough attempts to qualify for NCAA statistics. He leads the nation with 2.1 field goals per game this year.
Bowl talk: Bowl projections have OSU playing in the Alamo Bowl (possible opponent: UCLA) or in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl (possible opponent: Michigan State or Wisconsin).
"It just doesn't matter," Gundy said when asked about bowl projections. "My kids, I walk in and they say 'we are going to go to this game.' I say 'really, how do you know that?' Anything can happen. There are so many scenarios sitting there right now that I don't know that you could predict what could happen. I don't pay attention to (projections) because it's really just a waste of time."
