The case for Oklahoma State in the national title game
You won’t get any lobbying from me. That’s not my job as a reporter.
And, clearly, you won’t get any politicking from Mike Gundy, either. Moving on.
But some media voices around the country have started arguing that OSU, not Alabama, is really the team that deserves to play for the national title if the Cowboys beat No. 10 OU on Saturday night.
Shortly after the latest BCS standings were revealed Sunday night, this piece by Sports Illustrated’s Stewart Mandel started circulating.
Then this graphic flew around the social media world. I had it sent to me multiple times. (Click on the image for a larger view.)
Then this piece was posted by CBS’ Tom Fornelli on Monday, complete with a blind resume comparison and poll at the end for readers to vote on. The team with 80 percent of the vote, as of Wednesday afternoon? OSU.
Then Jay Walker of KPEL Radio in Lafayette, La., said he would vote OSU No. 2 on his Harris poll ballot of the Cowboys beat the Sooners.
And earlier Wednesday, CBS’ Dennis Dodd dedicated multiple Twitter posts to OSU and linked back to Fornelli’s story.
As my colleague Jenni Carlson learned Monday, some voters don’t even think the Cowboys are the third-best team in the nation. And it’s going to take nearly all of them to vote OSU No. 3 or higher in order for the Cowboys to have any shot at passing the Crimson Tide.
Of course, none of this matters if OSU doesn’t win Bedlam. And even then, it still looks like a long shot that the Cowboys will be playing in New Orleans in Jan. 9.
But it appears that the Cowboys have a whole lot more backing than they did just a few days ago.
Reflecting on the Oklahoma State women’s basketball tragedy
I was inside Gallagher-Iba Arena on Monday for the memorial service for OSU women’s basketball coach Kurt Budke, assistant Miranda Serna and Olin and Paula Branstetter. And today, I was back at GIA as the Cowgirls took the court again for the first time since the plane crash.
I’m not really sure how to describe what it’s been like to be in my position during this tragedy. “Interesting” certainly isn’t the right adjective. Neither is “odd” or “different.” No words feel right.
I remember the plane crash from 10 years ago, but I did not live here then. I had one face-to-face conversation with Budke. I’ve lived in Stillwater for three months. I wasn’t even in town when the news broke about the crash—I was in a hotel room in Kansas City getting ready to head to Ames. In a lot of ways, I am very much an outsider.
I’m not going to try to pretend that I truly understand the emotions the OSU community felt 10 years ago and has felt the past nine days. I don’t.
The only thing I could remotely compare it to is when Pat Tillman was killed in Afghanistan in 2004. Tillman was as beloved as any Sun Devil ever because of what he did on the field and off, and his death really affected the ASU community. And his legacy still lives on in the athletic department and university.
But it’s still not the same as what has happened here twice. Not even close.
As a reporter, my job is to be unbiased. But when everyone stood up at the end of the memorial service and sang the OSU alma mater, I got chills. You aren’t a human being if you don’t feel something in that moment.
The same thing happened at the Cowgirls’ game today. The standing ovation (rather than a moment of silence) before the tip was a great moment. But for some reason, the alma mater is what got me. Then, when the players and coaches found and hugged the Budke family in the stands, I got chills again.
I’ve learned a lot about the school that I cover during the past week. I’ve learned what made Budke and Serna special people, and hearing others talk about them made me wish I had gotten to know them. But I’ve learned more about the Oklahoma State people. I’ve seen what a tight-knit, passionate group it is all throughout football season, but this tragedy has really shown how supportive and loyal Cowboys and Cowgirls are to their school and each other. That is what’s going to get the OSU faithful through yet another extremely difficult time.
You hear the term “family” used way too often when describing a team or group of people. Yet it absolutely applies here at OSU. And this outsider recognizes it.
Gina Mizell’s Power Lunch Chat Recap
Memories of OSU coach Kurt Budke
The news that Oklahoma State women’s basketball coach Kurt Budke and assistant coach Miranda Serna were killed in a plane crash last night hit me like a punch to the stomach this morning.
I heard the news on the radio while driving into the office today. I immediately thought back to the OSU men’s basketball plane crash, and then a few years earlier to my time at Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, Texas.
I was a cheerleader and sports editor at the school paper there from 1997-99; Budke was the basketball coach while I was there.
He was a dominant coach at the junior college level. The two years I was at Trinity Valley, the Lady Cardinals lost one game — the national championship game my freshman year. That was a tough loss for Budke. He grew up in Kansas, and brought his team home to play in the NJCAA tourney in Salina, Kan.
My sophomore year, Budke’s team went undefeated, making it back to Salina to sweep through the national tournament. When I went to Budke’s hotel room after the championship game to interview him for my newspaper story, I didn’t expect him to give me the time of day.
Earlier that year, I wrote a scathing column — the kind of column only a 19- or 20-year-old wannabe journalist would write — because Budke had kicked the cheerleading team out of the gym one day so his team could practice. I said he didn’t have any respect for anyone else, essentially that he thought he and his team were God’s gift. Budke was ticked off in a big way. He dressed down my cheerleading coach and I think my newspaper adviser as well.
And then, just a few months later, here I go wandering into the man’s hotel room looking for a quote about an undefeated season and a national championship.
Budke was sitting in an armchair in the corner of the room, surrounded by his assistant coaches, his family, and others. He was smoking a huge cigar — the smile on his face was just as big.
He recognized me and waved me over, the smile never leaving his face. I congratulated him on winning, probably looking a little sheepish because I didn’t know what I was about to get in return. It was the first time I had spoken to him since my boneheaded column was published.
Budke didn’t bring up the column. Didn’t look down on me. He gave me the quotes I needed. We chatted for a couple minutes. He was happy and satisfied, what you’d expect from someone who was on top of his profession and place in life.
Fast forward eight years to the spring of 2007. I had since graduated from Oklahoma State and moved on to my job here in The Oklahoman’s news department. I traveled up to Stillwater in March as a fan to watch the OSU men’s team play Marist in a first-round NIT game. At halftime, on my way back to my seat from the concession stand, I spotted Budke holding court in the concourse overlooking the Gallagher-Iba court. It was the first time I had seen him since 1999.
He was sitting on a 20-10 record and had learned just days earlier that OSU was headed back to the NCAA women’s tourney. This had to be especially satisfying since the team had gone 6-22 the year before in Budke’s first year. I walked up and introduced myself. He gave me an “I know you from somewhere” look. I told him I was a cheerleader and sports editor at Trinity Valley. His eyes lit up. I told him several Trinity Valley cheerleaders had transferred to OSU and we were all thrilled that he had found his way to Stillwater as well, and that he’d returned the Cowgirls to prominence.
In his seven years at Trinity Valley, he lost only a handful of games. He sent several players on to Division 1 hoops. He brought Serna — a player for him on his 1996 championship team and an assistant on the 1999 championship team — to Oklahoma State to grow her young coaching career. It was no surprise to me he could bring victories to Stillwater as well.
What did surprise me was how excited he was to talk to me at that basketball game in 2007. We talked for about 10 minutes — he wanted to know what I was doing with my life and how Trinity Valley’s old cheerleading coach was doing. He motioned his wife to come over and talk. She seemed just as thrilled to relive the connection to the Trinity Valley days. The cheerleading team at TVCC was one of the best in the country, and everyone at the school had a lot of pride in the squad — even the other athletes and coaches. I could feel that even eight years later. I thought about how dumb my column was.
And then fast forward to this morning. Sitting in my car, driving my son to school. Frantically turning up the volume on the radio when I thought I heard the words “OSU” and “plane crash.”
It’s hard to believe this has happened. How could OSU suffer through another plane crash? How can more OSU families have to receive those devastating phone calls?
I try to think about Budke sitting in that hotel room in Salina. That smile and that overwhelming sense of satisfaction. He had accomplished so much.
I was hoping to see him accomplish much more.
– Assistant News Editor Nick Trougakos
Kurt Budke made early impression
I, like so many others, woke up to the terrible news that OSU women’s basketball coach Kurt Budke, along with assistant Miranda Serna and two others, died in a plane crash in Arkansas Thursday night.
I don’t have the history with Budke that many of my colleagues, or OSU fans, do. But he made a wonderful impression on me the two times we crossed paths.
His Cowgirls came to Tempe to play in the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament when I was a senior at Arizona State in 2010. Women’s basketball was one of my beats during my time at the campus newspaper, and even though the Sun Devils did not make the tournament that year, I covered those games at Wells Fargo Arena.
I just remember walking away from those two postgame press conferences thinking “I like that guy.” His personality was easygoing yet engaging, and he talked about his players in such a positive manner.
I got to meet Budke in person for the first time at OSU basketball media day a few weeks ago. Again, he was upbeat and optimistic when talking about his team, and so welcoming when briefly chatting with me after the press conference.
I brought up that I was at those games in Tempe two years ago and that I covered ASU women’s basketball for three seasons, and Budke immediately asked about ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne, who is taking a leave of absence this season to spend time with her family and to “re-center herself.” Later that day, I shot Turner Thorne a text saying that Budke sent his well wishes, and she told me to tell her “good friend Kurt” hello.
I was looking forward to relaying that simple message to Budke the next time I saw him. I’m saddened that I never got to.
I was not in Oklahoma when tragedy struck OSU in 2001, but I always find myself taking a moment to stop and reflect whenever I walk past the plane crash memorial inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. It’s impossible to explain why one school or community should have to go through this again.
Suddenly, the football game in Ames I will be at tonight doesn’t seem all that important.
Power Lunch: Chat with Gina Mizell
Introducing Cezar Guerrero
Cezar Guerrero shows his skills from high school.
By John Helsley
follow on Twitter @jjhelsley
Someone posed the question late Wednesday night – “Have we been hyping the wrong Oklahoma State freshman?”
How about answering a question with a question, “Why pick only one?”
Le’Bryan Nash came to the Cowboys with all the credentials – high-ranking national recruit, dunk champion, NBA body with crazy skills.
Cezar Guerrero came in under the radar, despite a big-time prep career in California. Then his early major moment was a scare, when he suffered a stinger, lost feeling in his extremities and had to be medi-flighted to Oklahoma City.
Well, Guerrero’s second impression, made on a wild Wednesday night in Gallagher-Iba Arena, is what prompted the original question. With 29 points, almost all of them clutch, and eight 3-pointers the little guard won over the Cowboys crowd and all but won OSU the game, 90-85, in overtime.
The 29 points tied Guerrero with James Anderson and Byron Houston for the most by a freshman in Cowboys history, but more than anything, established his personality: fast, fun and fine in prime time.
“I didn’t know about any records, to be honest with you,” he said after the game. “I just go out there and play. I just want to do me and do what I’m capable of doing. And that’s making shots, creating stuff and winning games. I’m a leader. If you need me to be vocal, I’m vocal.”
That’s right, Guerrero fancies himself a leader, no matter his freshman status.
With Keiton Page out with a toe injury, Guerrero took it upon himself to fill the void.
“This is real stuff, I told KP, ‘I’ve got you,’” Guerrero said. “When he was putting on his clothes, his regular clothes, I told him, ‘Hey baby boy, I got you. Don’t worry about it. I’m here. I’m going to support you and I’m ready to take on that role to be that leader for you.’
“There’s always moments for us to be leaders in this game. You’ve got to take your opportunity to be a leader on the court and just flourish with it.”
Guerrero flourished, alright.
And his intensity and aggressive play should help Nash, who sometimes plays like he needs a jolt of excitement.
Nash has flashed his potential, with a 26-point effort in his exhibition debut and a gliding style and strength in and around the basket. He’s an obvious talent.
So who deserves the hype?
Celebrate them both.
Page Update
For the first time in his career, Page did not play for the Cowboys.
The injury occurred in Tuesday’s win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff, as Page came up limping after crashing out of bounds on one end. He played on, however, and Ford was looking forward to his long-range shooting to combat UTSA’s zone, when word came that he was really hurting.
Page tried to give it a go in warm-ups, but changed from his uniform into a sweat suit before the game. X-rays revealed nothing too serious, with the injury being termed as similar to a turf toe.
Cowboys coach Travis Ford is optimistic about his availability for the NIT semifinals in New York on Wednesday.
“My guess is he’ll be ready to go,” Ford said.
Don’t Sleep On UTSA
Former OSU standout Brooks Thompson brought a savvy and talented team into GIA.
The Roadrunners return four starters and 12 lettermen from last year’s 20-14 team that won the Southland Conference Tournament and made the school’s first NCAA postseason appearance in any sport.
A definite advantage for the Roadrunners is the benefit a summer trip to Australia delivered in the form of practices and games and chemistry.
“This is with the utmost respect, San Antonio is probably a better basketball team than we are right now, for the fact they have four returning starters, they went to Australia in the summertime and they’re just so much further ahead,” Ford said. “They’ve got good players and are really well coached.
“Without Keiton Page, even with Keiton Page, I knew this was going to take a special effort, period. I got to watch enough tape on San Antonio to realize that at this time of year, they’re really very well polished.”
UTSA was the unanimous pick to win the Southland West Division.
Oklahoma State-Texas Tech Live Chat Recap
Weeden For Heisman? Maybe
Brandon Weeden is climbing the Heisman watch lists.
By John Helsley
follow on twitter @jjhelsley
The Heisman spotlight is finally finding Brandon Weeden.
For now, it’s not the glowing center of the spotlight, but clearly Weeden has moved from the shadowy outer edges into the circle of light.
In the latest Scripps Heisman Poll, which involves a sampling of votes from the different geographical areas of the country, Weeden ranks No. 4, his highest position yet. In ESPN’s Expert’s Poll, Weeden is No. 5, also a high-water mark for the senior from Edmond.
The surge comes on the heels of his school-record, 502-yard, four touchdown performance in OSU’s wild 52-45 win over Kansas State. He completed 78 percent of his throws against the Wildcats and is at 72.1 percent for the season.
ESPN’s take:
“These are heady times in Stillwater, and Weeden is the main reason. He’s completing 72 percent of his passes and is averaging 31 completions per game for the nation’s second-highest-scoring offense. Better yet, he has the Cowboys at No. 2 in the BCS standings and in control of their own destiny in the national championship race.”
Quarterbacks dominate the Heisman projections, with Boise State’s Kellen Moore and Houston’s Case Keenum also among the top five, with Oklahoma’s Landry Jones, USC’s Matt Barkley and Wisconsin’s Russell Wilson also drawing attention.
The lone non-QB heavily involved in the race is Alabama running back Trent Richardson, who lost some appeal after the Tide’s loss to LSU.
By all accounts, the Heisman is Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck’s to lose. Luck has essentially been the frontrunner since preseason and has done nothing to change perceptions. The lone hurdle in Luck’s path: a Saturday visit from Oregon.
Weeden, meanwhile, may have the best opportunity to keep impressing and keep moving up, with three more TV games, including a Friday night special at Iowa State offering a singular stage, and of course, Bedlam, as long as too many voters haven’t already mailed in their picks.
Breaking down the final drive of Oklahoma State’s victory over Kansas State
I’ve watched the last Kansas State drive, and more specifically, the last three plays, about 10 times since Saturday night. I was going to write about that last series for today’s paper until Mike Gundy really opened up about his time with Les Miles and what he meant to OSU. So that shifted our plans a bit.
Still, I got some great insight from players and coaches about the Wildcats’ last possession, a 15-play, 66-yard drive down to the Cowboys’ five-yard line that ended when a Collin Klein pass fell incomplete in the end zone in the final second.
“It was very, very, very stressful,” OSU defensive end Richetti Jones said. “The whole time we were like, let’s get it done, let’s win the game. Let’s get off the field, let’s get a turnover and just go home. It seemed like the longest drive of my life.”
K-State converted a fourth-and-four with a seven-yard run by Klein down to the OSU 27 and later got a huge play when Klein completed a 22-yard pass to Chris Harper near the sideline at the Cowboys’ five-yard line with 12 seconds left.
Then things got even more dramatic.
Klein tried to go to the right corner of the end zone when he lofted a pass to Tyler Lockett on a fade route, which was broken up by Markelle Martin. Then, with five seconds left, Klein went the other way on a pass to Harper, which was batted away by Brodrick Brown.
Plenty of Cowboys thought the game was over after that, but there was still one second left on the clock.
“I was taking off my earphones,” OSU defensive coordinator Bill Young said. “I had my back to the scoreboard and I thought the game was over. Then I turned around, and I’ll be doggone if there wasn’t another second. I took them off anyway and we just stood there and talked to each other and made the call and there we went.”
Young called a base defense used frequently near the goal line and pointed out two key things to me that were important to disrupting K-State’s final play.
First, Shaun Lewis jumped to cover Harper, who was set in motion before the snap, out in the flat. That forced Klein to throw the ball toward outside receivers Lockett and Torell Miller, who were running a similar route in the end zone.
Second, Jones got in the nine technique—you’ll see him shift over so he’s outside the tight end’s shoulder right before the snap—which helped him get up the field and block Klein’s vision a little bit as he rolled to his right.
The pass fell incomplete, and OSU escaped with a 52-45 victory.
Here are some more quotes players and coaches about that last drive.
On the drive:
Safety Markelle Martin
“You just had a feeling that something had to give for us. For me, I just continued to say ‘It’s time to make a play.’ Fortunately for me, they threw a ball my way and I got to make a play. They tried Brodrick, and he made a play. The key guys on the defense continued to make plays, continued to fight.”
“It just came down to the wire and I was just like, ‘I’m glad it’s over. I’m glad we won.’ I was excited, but I was emotional and just tired.”
Defensive coordinator Bill Young
“To have our players down there with (three) downs inside the five-yard line, that was a heck of a feat for them and you really have take your hat off to them.”
On there being one second left on the clock:
Coach Mike Gundy
“I thought it was a nightmare. I looked up there and was like ‘What?’ It’s like the old high school operator. Surely, somebody could have let that run off. I can promise you, if we were at Midwest City, there would not have been one second left. It would have expired while the ball was in the air. Are you kidding me?
“My family, my kids, everybody was like ‘What happened? What’s your clock operator (doing)?’ It’s not our clock operator. He works for the Big 12, and that’s why. But I promise you, if it wasn’t for that, time’s expired. It’s over with.
“That was kind of like the ultimate downer. Everybody’s like ‘Really? We’ve got another second?’”
Defensive end Richetti Jones
“The second-to-last play, I thought the game was over. When there were five seconds left and Brodrick broke up the pass, I was like ‘Yes! It’s over.’ I could not believe they left one second on the clock. Really? That’s something that happens when you’re on the road.”
On the last play:
Quarterback Brandon Weeden
“I watched it. I was on a knee on the way other side and had a pretty good view of it. I was kind of bummed, because whenever they threw that pass in the corner, there was one second left. I went to grab my helmet, and I said ‘Screw that.’ So I set my helmet back down and ran back to the other end, took a knee and watched it. It was plenty of excitement. Too much excitement.”
Defensive end Richetti Jones
“When that one second was left, I thought ‘OK, everything you have for one second. All the hard work, two-a-days, the spring, everything, for one second to stay undefeated.’ Everybody just did their job, and when I saw him throw the pass to nobody, I was like ‘Yes!’ It was over. Sigh of relief, and I just had to thank God that it was over.”
