How 2017 Sets Up To Be One of The Best Ever For Oklahoma State

As the last piece of confetti settled to the Alamodome turf late Thursday night and celebrations started to move elsewhere, Mike Gundy was already reflecting on his fifth 10-win season.

“A win like this doesn’t guarantee anything,” Gundy said, “but it certainly means a lot for the seniors, the organization and the people that put a lot of time and effort into success.”

The disappointments and frustrations of Bedlam seem like a distant memory (or at least an accepted fact) and the Cowboys get to ride off on a good note for the first time in two years. And in one way, for the first time in six.

In 2014, when Oklahoma State beat Washington in the Cactus Bowl, they were just glad to be there. The lowest year in several ended with a true freshman quarterback pulling out a Bedlam win that got them the chance to be there in the first place.

This year’s Alamo Bowl win was an example of what that QB was capable of. Optimism for next year is not simply, “how good can he be?” but “how far can he take us?”

“I’m very excited about coming back for my senior year. It’s a chance to finish what we started this season and another great opportunity to play at Oklahoma State.”

That quote is almost six years old. It’s from Brandon Weeden as he and Justin Blackmon announced they would be returning for the 2011 season.

While the announcement by Rudolph and Washington was much more subdued (amounting to an 18-second video tweeted out by OSU) the message is the same, especially in terms of what it means to Oklahoma State.

In 2010, the Cowboys finished their season with another Alamo Bowl win against a Pac 12 school in Arizona, capping off an 11-2 season. Justin Blackmon was the Biletnikoff winner (his first one) and Brandon Weeden definitely had the numbers to back up a leap to the NFL (4,277 yards and 34 touchdowns).

But the duo stuck it out and made history for themselves and Oklahoma State the next year. Could #Rudolph2Washington make a similar run?

Next season, the Cowboys get their “easy” home schedule. With the currently constructed Big 12, you can predict home and away opponents by odd and even years. This upcoming odd year will bring Oklahoma, TCU, Baylor and Kansas State. Baylor has slipped in the conference pecking order, but Kansas State may be on an uptick.

In 2017 the Cowboys figure to take another step in reclaiming a “Tailback-U” moniker that’s slipped away over the last four years. Justice Hill is a stud and has three (!) more years of eligibility. And let’s not forget Jeff Carr who figures to compete for snaps in the new-look backfield. Then you have incoming potential stars like Chuba Hubbard and JD King. All will be competing for playing time.

“We should be more consistent in how we block,” said Gundy. “We have good backs. Obviously 27 is coming back. We’ve got young guys redshirting in our program that we like.”

In 2010, Kendall Hunter was a senior but was backed up by freshmen Joseph Randle and Jeremy Smith. In 2011, Randle rushed for 1,216 yards and 24 touchdowns as a sophomore. Justice Hill set the freshman rushing record at OSU with 1,142 yards. It’s not inconceivable to imagine he and at least on of the those other guys putting up huge numbers on the ground.

Another big difference in the 2011 team and the last few has been the process of rebuilding an offensive line almost from scratch. It was supposed to take about three years (from 2014) and it definitely has. But OSU is finally getting there.

“I think we can have up to eight linemen next year that can play,” Gundy said. “I would love to play a first group, then after the fourth series put another group in and play. We may be able to do that. We’ll see.”

Of course, the Cowboys will have enough stars at wide receiver to start for three Big 12 teams. I’m only partly kidding. Gundy recognizes his embarrassment of riches at wide-out.

“We’re very fortunate to have a really quality group of mature receivers that have had a considerable amount of experience playing in big games, with the addition of Ateman coming back. Really, we lose Seales and Austin Hays. Stoner was able to play for us some this year until he hurt his foot. We’ll get him back. Then we’ve got some young players that we feel really good about.”

“I think it just sets us up to do greater things,” said Washington after the game. “We have Marcell and all of our weapons back. I’m looking forward to coming out next year and doing the same thing, hopefully ending with a great outcome.”

On the defensive side, the Cowboys will lose a lot. Vincent Taylor, Mote Maile’, Jordan Sterns, Jordan Burton, Ashton Lampkin, Devante Averette and others have all played their last games as Cowboys.

To put it into perspective, the outgoing players accounted for 419 tackles out of the 921 that were credited this season. That’s a huge loss for Glenn Spencer. The burden will fall to the likes of Chad Whitener, Ramon Richards and Tre Flowers to become the playmakers on defense.

But that 2011 defense was young as well. Only four seniors played meaningful reps that season but still led the nation in turnover margin, largely due to takeaways. Will next year’s team have the same kind of talent as 2011? That’s yet to be seen. In 2011, a sophomore named Justin Gilbert made a name for himself.

The Cowboys were able to end the season on a good note. How much does that really carry over into the spring? I’m not sure. But that’s not really the point anyway.

Oklahoma State gets another year with Mason Rudolph and James Washington and finally has figured out their running game. If a young defense can get up to speed quickly enough, we could be in for a pretty special year.