Photo Attribution: US Presswire
Oklahoma State routed Purdue today in the Heart of Dallas Bowl to cap off one of the strangest college football seasons in recent memory. I have thoughts — despite Purdue’s best efforts to dull my mind with its offense…
1. Bill Connelly said this well, and it’s yet another reason I think Gundy is a top 10 coach.
Good on Mike Gundy for motivating his disappointed team a hair better than Lane Kiffin.
— Bill Connelly (@SBN_BillC) January 1, 2013
2. Gundy is going to name a starter before the Spring Game and it’s going to be Clint Chelf. And it should be. The biggest question between now and next August is whether or not Lunt is going to transfer, redshirt, or be third string.
3. These couldn’t top the commercial of Boone repeatedly inviting me to a game that was already being played…
Flex seal, metal detectors, ear vacuums, and finally–skin tag medicine. #HODbowlcommercials
— Nate Thiry (@natethiry) January 1, 2013
4. Oklahoma State is now the all-time leader in bowl win percentage (15-8). They passed USC after that — whatever that was — against Georgia Tech. If Ole Miss beats Pitt then OSU and the Rebs will be tied. Pretty crazy stat, right?
5. How did Purdue play Notre Dame within three and take Ohio State to overtime? This would be like Iowa State doing the same to Alabama and Kansas State. Can you fathom that?
6. Gundy is always good for lots of unintentional comedy and today was no different. Among the many things he did that made me laugh:
Going hat instead of bare head or visor — can’t let the headset mess up that ‘do.
Staring at his play card like Dez staring at an algorithm. I tweeted this during the game but I don’t really blame Gundy for running it up because I’m not totally sure he knew what plays he was calling1.
Rocking the KD “towels over the neck tucked into the shirt” look late in the 4th.
Here’s a good look:
RT @tommie_grant: Gundy getting his Gatorade protector on… @pistolsguy twitter.com/tommie_grant/s…
— Pistols Firing (@pistolsguy) January 1, 2013
7. This team almost pulled off a full reverse regression to the mean in turnover differential today alone. The mean isn’t 0, but that’s where OSU ended up for the season. I wouldn’t have minded a more even distribution throughout the year (like, say, the Arizona and K-State games…)
8. We made a lot of fun of it but the Heart of Dallas people couldn’t have put on a better show. From their social media wizardry to their excitement about bloggers (me!) to their warm embrace of all the fans, I can’t imagine an organization doing a better job with such a crappy bowl than they did. Good work.
9. It was almost like Gundy was taunting the Purdue fan base with his quarterbacks at the end of the game. “Oh, your sixth-year starter doesn’t have an ACL? My second-string guy was Big 12 freshman of the year and my third string guy has the best arm in our conference.” Speaking of Lunt, how about him having the 5th (!) best QB rating in this game for OSU? Fifth!
10. OSU’s crazy, wacky year has finally come to a close. They might have had the best 7-5 team in the history of the Big 12 and yet things end unceremoniously (with lots of fireworks, but still unceremoniously) at 11 AM on New Year’s Day. People will ready way too much into this thrashing as we head into the Mississippi State game next year and not enough into one-possession losses to OU, Baylor, and Texas.
But make no mistake, Gundy has this program around to stay2 and anything less than 9-3 and a Cotton Bowl appearance in 2013 will be a disappointment.
Much more to come tomorrow, appreciate you guys putting up with me all season.
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I don’t think this team is elite with Chelf at the helm. Our defensive philosophy and CB play has to improve for us to be considered favorites for anything.
What are you basing that on? He almost beat OU in Norman in his first road game as a starter. He played well against K-State. He’s a double, no, triple threat since he has made some nice catches this year. He actually managed to stay healthy through three games. I say start Chelf next year, then Walsh after Chelf graduates, and then MAYBE Lunt. Lunt looks like Landry Jones to me. So much talent, so little composure in a high pressure situation.
I say start Chelf, spot play Walsh like they have been, and redshirt Lunt. Chelf can’t throw like Wes or Rin like JW but be he can do both well enough to win a lot of games. I’d actually like to see Chelf and Walsh on the field at the same time. There would be some fun stuff they could do off of hand offs and reverses that way. Give Lunt a year get bigger and stronger (and more durable) and then he can start his last three years. That is if Daxx doesn’t beat them all out. At this point nothing would surprise me.
I’ll be surprised if Lunt doesn’t transfer. Monken is gone, starting job gone, confidence in question.
Hope he doesn’t leave and gets bigger/stronger and then starts after next year. Does he hope to play in NFL?
Maybe, but a years red shirt doesn’t hurt him in my opinion. Full growth to try the NFL is a plus not a minus. He will have an opportunity to have more receivers if they don’t have to recruit another quarterback for two years. Also some more offensive linemen. With scholarship limits per year his leaving will hurt overall talent level possibilities. I know I am old school and think he can get a good academic year with some concentration while he red shirts. Makes the load easier when he is a starter. Maybe early graduation and some work of a post grad degree.
Porter why do you act like Gundy has no football IQ and no idea of anything our offense does? You could not score that many points in a game without some idea of what you are calling. Does he know it as in depth as Monken did or maybe Chelf, no. That’s not his job though. His job is to recruit right guys, hire the right guys, and make sure everyone is where they need to be on offense, special teams, and defense. That’s a ton of guys to account for with coaches and players.
Dude, he’s joking with stuff like that. Man, some people on here just don’t get your humor Porter.
As Mark noted, I’m usually 100% kidding with the Gundy stuff. He doesn’t take himself seriously at all so I like to have fun with it. The underlying truth is that I think not taking yourself too seriously is about as good a quality as you can have in a head college football (or basketball) coach, as I’ve noted over and over again on this site.
Man, I was really ticked off at the announcers for harping on OSU ‘running up’ the score. They would not let that die midway through the 3rd quarter. It’s as if they were berating Gundy for not putting in every backup and asking them to take a knee. Absolute retards. You send 100+ guys to a bowl game and some of the backups are fortunate enough to play, and you expect them to not compete?
It was gratifying though when the one dude was complaining about Walsh being in there and said “He’s basically a starter…”
Speaking of, which: How baller was it of Walsh to come in on 4th down, fresh off the bench, and chuck a touchdown pass on the run? I just don’t know what to think about our QB situation. I’ve got no problems with naming Chelf the starter, but….how do you keep talent like Walsh and Lunt on the bench?
Agree here.
The announcers weren’t even making good points with the running up the score stuff. The only thing I didn’t love is the double pass back trick play stuff. No need for that, but the rest of it, have at it. Just because you’re a crappy B1G team doesn’t mean we’re not gonna let it fly.
I agree with all of this.
Ubben tweeted it during the game, and I remember telling my dad this in the stands during the OU game, but any of our three QBs could start immediately at Texas. It’d be interesting if college football allowed trades because I’d love to see what Mack would offer for Lunt or Walsh. Lunt’s “trade value” would be higher because he has a redshirt season he could take and still have three years eligibility left, plus I think his ceiling is higher. He could offer Malcolm Brown and a future 5-star DL to be named later.
IMO Walsh is the best QB but then again I was hoping Chelf would be named starter after spring ball because I liked how he played in spot duty under Weed, knew he was familiar with the system and believe he’s a winner. They can win and win big w/ Clint, I just think JW is more dangerous. But I won’t be upset if Chelf is the starter, he DESERVES it!
As for Lunt they, Gundy and Monken, overrated his skills. He never looks off receivers, he’ll get better at that, and also needs to put on some muscle. I’d say redshirt him, he might not want to though and that might convince him to transfer but it’d end up being the same thing, have to sit out a season.
Let him transfer. He’s the odd man out and the only QB in our carousel that threw more picks than TDs. He doesn’t handle pressure at this stage in his development. That’s something you can mature out of, it’s something you can alleviate with familiarity of the offense, but it’s not something you can coach away. If you could, Bob Stoops would have coached it out of Landry Jones in 5 years. Lunt is a project that COULD grow out of his jitters and has a lot of talent and upside, but Chelf and Walsh are composed winners right now. There could be a power vacuum in the Big 12 next year, and I’d rather be taking a swing at the crown with our best product than experimenting with Lunt and hoping he can get it together.