Tulsa World: Bowl wins can provide boost for later

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Bowl wins can provide boost for later

By JOHN KLEIN Senior Sports Columnist
Published: 12/28/2008 2:28 AM
Last Modified: 12/28/2008 2:48 AM

Oklahoma State has used bowl games the past two seasons to give us a sneak peek at next fall.

"We definitely know it's big to get a win and carry that momentum (into next fall)," said OSU quarterback Zac Robinson.

It could happen again when the Cowboys, who return the core of this 9-3 team, play Oregon in the Holiday Bowl.

The Ducks have the kind of firepower to simulate Big 12 South Division rivals.

And OSU will have pretty much the same operatives on offense and it believes another improvement on defense looking ahead to next season.

But, first things first. The Cowboys have to play at the level they did for much of the past season to knock out Oregon in what will probably be a wild offensive show.

Certainly, the potential for a good show is obvious. The Cowboys have an offense that puts them pretty much on the same level with some tremendous offensive rivals in the Big 12 South.

Many believe Oregon has the best offense in the Pac-10, a league that was eventually won and dominated by Southern Cal's defense.

A bowl game doesn't always foretell the future. For instance, Oklahoma has lost the past two Fiesta Bowls but followed those losses by winning the Big 12 the next two seasons.

Tulsa followed a disappointment in the Fort Worth Bowl two years ago with two of the best offensive seasons in school history.

But, OSU has followed bowl victories the past two seasons with similar results.

In 2006, OSU dominated much of the Independence Bowl against Alabama before blowing the lead and needing a late rally to hang on for a narrow victory in a game it should have won easily. The next season, OSU appeared on the verge of something big but blew games against Texas and Texas A&M that could have been season turners. The Cowboys spent much of the season alternating between looking great and bad in the same game. Eventually, the Cowboys hung on to record a narrow 7-6 winning season.

Last December, the Cowboys overwhelmed Indiana with a fabulous offensive show in the Insight Bowl. OSU also showed some improvement on defense in that bowl game.

So, what happened this season? The Cowboys had one of the best offenses in the country and was better on defense.

It may not always hold true for every team in every bowl, but in the past couple of years the bowl game has been somewhat of a preview of the next season for O-State.

OSU coach Mike Gundy believes there are positives to playing well in a bowl game. Winning in late December can have an impact with players who come back for offseason drills and in the spring.

Eventually, next season has nothing to do with what happens during the bowl season.

Still, it can give a team a mental lift heading into the spring.

"I think it's (getting a bowl victory) good," Gundy said. "I think the win against Alabama and against Indiana carried over into the offseason with the players."

Gundy believes the defensive improvement OSU showed this season was on display last December.

O-State's defense set the tone of the game early, shutting down the Hoosiers and letting the Cowboys get out to a huge lead.

"Early in the season before we started, there were a lot of comments about our defense," Gundy said. "I had said that I thought they played very well in the bowl game, and it helped them in spring ball and with the addition of the junior college players that we brought in January.

"This will be even more of a challenge for our defense."

But, after a season when the Cowboys faced five of the most lethal offenses in the country (Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech, Missouri and Houston), OSU should be well-prepared to face the high-flying Ducks.

The Cowboys hope a victory in the Holiday Bowl could be the first glimpse of something even bigger in 2009. By JOHN KLEIN Senior Sports Columnist

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