Originally published at: https://pistolsfiringblog.com/mike-gundy-has-an-ou-problem-he-will-never-solve/
Barring massive changes to the OSU program, it will always be second fiddle to OU.
Felt like a pre donation loss. OU owned the LOS and was better in space. I was really proud of the effort from the oSu players. They fought hard and kept the game close for most of the game.
yep, the faith tank in Gundy ever being anything beyond “above average” is empty. no fire, no passion, complacency
1 Like
Think this is kind of a reactionary article. It sounds like the “are we just going to be happy with 9-10 win seasons” crowd. ou is good. That’s a disgusting, nauseating fact. They’re going to be hard to beat for a long time. But, I’ll take 9-10 wins year in and year out over going 4-7 and beating them any year.
1 Like
My opinions here haven’t been subtle. We are paying too much for mediocrity on any level. What we are getting from Gundy is highway robbery. Recruit better. Beat OU. Win the Big 12. If you can’t or won’t do any of those three on a regular - not yearly, mind - basis, you need to go. Flat out.
2 Likes
A. OU is better than OSU
B. OU didn’t have any turnovers
C. OSU did
D. OU never lets OSU sneak up on them
E. OSU loses again
F. The sun rises in the morning, my life is good…
4 Likes
Frustrating Gundy hasn’t gotten over the hump when we’ve been close 2 of the last 4 years even though ou was the better team.
Inexcusable when we were the better team in 09, 10, 12, 13. That was his time to take the reins from OU and he didn’t. He single handedly resurrected ou in 13. Now we are left playing for 2nd in the Big 12 every year, and the foreseeable future. Obviously much better than the losing seasons of the past, but just completely infuriating at the same time. Sad thing is, I don’t know who we could get to be better.
Here’s to holding out hope Jerry J. throws big dollars Lincoln’s way this offseason, and he leaves. 
1 Like
Kyle Boone. Why do you act like it’s a shock. We played without our starting quarterback and NFL WR. In addition, Chuba is banged up. We settled for field goals… 2 turnovers and there you have it. Not a surprise. They could have played a bit better but there you have it.
1 Like
The thing is we are still second fiddle to OU, but OU is second fiddle to the true blue bloods. They can win the big 12 every year and still not win a CFP game. Just like OSU can’t beat them. They keep trying with Heisman Winners and coming up short.
If we fire Gundy do we become ark. Tenn. Neb, not even smelling a bowl game. It’s frustrating not beating them, but we are competitive most years.
Our team is young this year with only 12 seniors. OU will have a young QB one of these years. Just look at Texas they have the same record as us this year with a senior QB and how did that work out for them along with all the recruiting stars.
We.are.good, just not national good, but outside of The top 6, who is?
2 Likes
Gundy said it himself: we couldn’t handle their gtp play which they ran over us with at will all night long; we had some TO’s; we missed numerous tackles (too many to count); overall the defense did a fair job compared to past OU games. Brown played a fairly good game. Would things have been better with Sanders and our #1 WR? Probably. But one thing was clear. As usual…OSU was outcoached. Unable to make required adjustments during the game…just like the Tx and Baylor games. The team has only been “run over” once this year and that was against TxTech. The three other games we had a chance to win, but the coaches did not have the team prepared to meet the challenges they would face and the coaches did not show any ability to rise to the challenge and adjust their plan when the time came. Same old song just the next verse.
2 Likes
I think this is kind of a strange year to write this piece given the losses of Sanders & Wallace, but there is no question that Mike Gundy losing bedlam games more than a boomer loses their keys will be a big part of his legacy at OSU.
Gundy’s not playing for 2nd in the conference. He averages 4th and finished 4th this year.
I think Gundy is a brilliant tactician. I really do. That’s your first mistake, he’s NOT! You harp too much on recruiting, go re-evaluate those recruiting classes AFTER and see how much difference there is. He’s getting OUT COACHED!
Riley has perennially snatched the best transfer from the portal or grad pool the last 3 years…before that potentially too. I haven’t seen a four-year QB over there in a while.
It’s all about using the tools in the best way possible. I’m not really sure Gundy has taken a look at the transfer portal except to complain how it depletes teams because of the 25 recruitee cap in each class. (Yeah, I know Brown and Siverand are grad transfers, but he needed insurance after MR graduated.)
IDK, from my vantage point Gundy’s just not very flexible anymore.
1 Like
Depends who the replacement is, I think a guy like Mike Norvell makes us better!
Two for one deal, Mike, Arkansas needs a head coach and a QB signee. Please consider it. 
That wouldn’t break my heart if he finally leaves us.
“Gunny’s just not very flexible anymore”. I like this take. I do believe that if a coach has his system and that is what he wants to run, then he should do it. However if it just isn’t working, then you have to be able to see that and make corrections. I do think Gundy has changed things a lot this year away from his norm but it hasn’t panned out to the extent everyone would hope.
1 Like
None of that changes the fact OU had really good goal line calls in the red zone and oSu didn’t. Two wide open TD passes with no oSu defenders in sight. oSu deserved field goals and that has nothing to do with OU. OU has safeties that are 5’10" and oSu didn’t exploit that reality. The basketball crew of WR goes unused. CWB goes unused.
OU is a really good team and there is no shame in them winning. It is going down with bullets in your pistol that makes the next 364 days tougher to take. Use the talent on hand.
2 Likes
See Texas and Tennessee who have fired national championship coaches.Look at Arkansas, look at USC. Heck even Oregon with all of Nike behind them and a first round draft pick qb and ace recruiter at OC(brought in Chuba) can’t get over the “hump”. Oh yeah how about Florida st, Miami, Florida, and crazy Texas a&m). Like the kyles have said the frustrating part is the lack of perceived passion toward improving recruiting. All signs point toward ou getting even better; see their recruiting rankings. Yes he seems to be morphing into Bill Snyder(never throwing a forward pass). But look at Lincoln in Norman slowing down the pace to protect his d and LSU speeding up the pace and now giving up way more points. That being said, what Gundy has done at Osu is something that shouldn’t be taken for granted(Matt Campbell still hasn’t won 9 games and lost again this week). I can’t imagine with gundys son close to playing collegiate football he isn’t trying to win conference titles and get in the playoff. It’s easy to complain, but what is the solution. How does Osu get better? Would be interested to hear mike holders opinion on this? In the podcast where pfb interviewed him he mentions recruiting. Maybe it’s going to your statistics dept and students and developing a better analytics program to promote better in game decison making ie harbaugh with the Baltimore ravens. Maybe it’s doing more biomechanics and player development research ie. pro baseball, driveline baseball etc. maybe it’s higher guys that break down film so well like some of those featured on this website. Maybe all of this already goes on?I don’t know what the answer is but that’s why he is paid millions of dollars and not me. I know Holder also says he would hate to see what life looks like without Mike Gundy as head football coach and count me in that corner. OU is a billion dollar brand with way more inherit advantages than Osu. Yes Mike Boynton seems to be winning recruiting battles but it is a lot easier in basketball when there are way less overall numbers of players to recruit. I just don’t think you fire the best coach in program history because he hasn’t been able to beat ou regularly (which In case you haven’t noticed no one else in the big 12 can beat either). I just hope mike continues to look for every way to improve and adapt (again this is his best ceo like quality) and hopefully we win a few big ones along the way. Osu looks to be in good shape on defense for the next couple years with the current talent and what they are red shirting. It’s just a shame(as a fan) that Wallace and Chuba are likely headed to the NFL(they probably should go and deserve to cash in while they can). Hopefully we have the next in line to step up in their place moving forward. There is definitely a really talented qb1 in place if he can learn to make better decisions and not turn the ball over. I guess I wrote all this just to say that because I support Gundy and think he should be the coach doesn’t mean I am accepting mediocrity or have a losers mentality. It also doesn’t mean he is beyond reproach and doesn’t have things to improve.
2 Likes
Context is important! An 8-4 record is nothing to scoff at. Yeah it sucks that we can’t beat our dynasty neighbor more often, but nobody else has either for the past… oh… the 1930s? Look at their record over the years: https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/oklahoma/index.html
The Sooners’ last back-to-back losing seasons were in 1996-1998 and before that, wait for it… 1923-1924.
That dang Sooner magic. Maybe it comes from the band playing “Boomer Sooner” approximately 4,000 times per game.
However, if you want to watch the Sooners get their rears handed to them in another sport, let me invite you to the sport of wrestling. OSU is wrestling OU twice this year and it is typically a reverse beatdown (OSU>OU).