College Football 2015 Preview No. 24: Oklahoma State Cowboys
By Ty Duffy
Regular Season Records: 6-6, 10-2, 7-5, 11-1
SRS Rankings: 65, 10, 15, 3
Talking Point: Mike Gundy. He’s a man. His consistent Top 15-ish program took a nosedive last season, after losing 28 seniors. Gundy has done an admirable job, considering the school’s history and the amount of coaching turnover. But, his relationship with the school was rumored to be rocky, even when things were going well. He nearly left for Tennessee. Things looked bleak last year, before the late turnaround. This could be the year Gundy reasserts himself as one of the nation’s top coaches. If things fall apart again, he could be on the hot seat.
Why Not To Like Them: The Cowboys plunged from 24th to 70th in FEI offense in 2014. Part of that was quarterback play. Part of that was not being able to run the ball, ranking 109th in yards/carry. Both problems stemmed from the offensive line, now on its third coach in three seasons. OSU will hope they luck out in a big way with UAB transfer left tackle Victor Salako.
Schedule: The schedule yo-yos back in Oklahoma State’s favor in 2015. Central Michigan, Central Arkansas and UTSA non-conference. They play Kansas State, TCU, Baylor and Oklahoma in Stillwater, with time to tune up. That’s a major reason we included OSU among our potential sleepers.
Throwing Darts: Oklahoma State gets off to a hot start, 7-1 or 8-0, against a soft schedule and climbs the rankings. They don’t have quite enough down the stretch to catch up with Baylor/TCU, but keep things interesting. 10 wins is not out of the question.
Random Alum: Gary Busey (one class short of graduation)
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