OSU Football Notebook: One more game
BY JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer
Wednesday, December 05, 2012
12/05/12 at 3:44 AM
After Oklahoma State ended the regular season with a loss at Baylor, offensive coordinator Todd Monken indicated he was grateful there is a bowl system at the FBS level instead of only a playoff for top teams.
"Otherwise we would be done," he said. "We would be done as a team. We would not be headed anywhere. Whatever the playoff system would be, we wouldn't (be in it). We get a chance to enjoy our players again."
Wish list: Monken was asked what he would most like to see from his unit in the bowl game. Instead of getting specific, he went with a big-picture answer.
"Everybody wants to finish on a high note," he said. "Whether we like it or not, there is a lot put on that game. How you finish, the perception of your team, feeling good in the offseason with a win - a convincing win - propels certain teams to a different confidence level. On a national stage, where you get to play an opponent from another league, no one wants to go and not play well."
If OSU beat Purdue, the Cowboys will be 8-5. If OSU falls, the Cowboys will be 7-6. Monken agreed that 8-5 sounds much better than 7-6 even though it's just a one-victory difference.
OSU enters the bowl game on a two-game losing streak. The Cowboys haven't lost three games in a row since a five-game skid in Mike Gundy's first year (2005) as head coach.
Kicker commits: Gundy said during a Sunday night teleconference that some of his assistant coaches were already on the road recruiting and he said "everybody else" will join them early in the week.
A commitment came Monday night, when kicker Ben Grogan of Martin High School in Arlington, Texas, gave word that he was OSU-bound.
The Cowboys are in the market for a kicker because Quinn Sharp's career will end at the Heart of Dallas Bowl.
Dueling Armstrongs: Neill Armstrong was an OSU All-American in 1946. Neil Armstrong, a 1955 Purdue graduate, was the first man to walk on the moon. The astronaut died on Aug. 25 and fifth-year wide receiver Tommie Thomas requested that the football team honor one of Purdue's most famous alums. The Boilermakers played this season with helmet stickers that depicted an astronaut planting a Purdue flag on the moon.
Rank and file: Where does the Heart of Dallas Bowl match-up rank among 35 bowl pairings this season?
Graham Watson of Yahoo! Sports ranked it 31st, ESPN's Mark Schlabach ranked it 30th and SI.com's Stewart Mandel ranked it 27th, saying "Oklahoma State tied for third place in the Big 12 and its coach is being wooed by suitors like Tennessee. Purdue went 3-5 in the Big Ten and its coach has been fired."
