Daily Bullets (January 18)

Lack of defense has befallen Pokes

Good stuff from Underwood here.

Oklahoma State was in position to win each of its past four games, dropping all by 10 or less points. The Cowboys, coming off a 12-20 season under Travis Ford, don’t know how to close out games.

“We aren’t that far away from being 4-2 or 3-2,” Underwood said. “We have been very inconsistent on the defensive end. That has been one of the things I am the most frustrated with. We have shown we can score. We are capable of that, and yet we are trying to establish a culture based on toughness and work and grit. That’s something we have had at times, but we need a lot more of it.” [Wichita Eagle]

Jelani the Great

Here is Jelani Woods’ high school coach on his leadership and smarts.

Smith raved about the growth of Woods’ immediate passing game in addition to an accurate deep ball, but will remember his now-former quarterback’s voice as much as his play. It rang loud as a vocal leader his senior season. When Cedar Grove was driving down for a score against top-ranked Greater Atlanta Christian in the Georgia Dome last month for the state title, Woods drew up a play that finished in the end zone.

“Jelani was the one who came up with the idea,” Smith said. “He told me what they were doing on defense, and he kind of called it out.” [NewsOK]

Can’t wait for the first bad Road Rudolph game in 2017: Put in Jelani!

Solomon reflects on No. 1,000

GIA will see its 1,000th game on Wednesday evening.

“My earliest memory is coming to camps, 10-, 11-, 12-years old,” he said. “Coming and staying overnight with my friends.” So playing in game No. 1,000 is special. “Oh, for sure,” Solomon said. “That’s a big honor. It’s like a dream come true to be able to play a historic game in a historic place.” [NewsOK]

Hopefully we get more zeros (as in Brad Underwood’s 100th win) on Wed. as well. Also, Dizzy gonna Dizzy.

The Cowboys have a class of “fearless” freshmen according to @OSUCoachBrad, and none more so than @thomas3dzi. #okstate pic.twitter.com/v4jP995z5o

— Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) January 17, 2017

What about No. 1?

Here is the O’Colly on the very first game.

Excitement filled the air that night. Thousands of screaming fans packed the new rowdy arena to watch Henry Iba’s Aggies take on Phog Allen’s Kansas Jayhawks. “Five hundred thousand dollars of steel and stone will pulsate with life tonight when an expected crowd wildly cheering fans gather in the new Oklahoma A&M College gym to witness the inaugural event in the arena,” student writer Joe Mayfield wrote in the O’Colly that day. [okstate]

That’s some writing, folks.

Flying chairs at duals

Good column here on how intense the OSU-Iowa dual was on Sunday.

I thought about the “flying chairs” comment again Sunday while watching a rivalry renewal between No. 1 Oklahoma State and No. 3 Iowa. The Cowboys impressively defeated the Hawkeyes, 24-11, snapping a three-match losing streak to Iowa, now 7-1.

This dual resembled several high-profile, intense Cowboy duals from days past, beginning with the large crowd. O-State officials worried about the projected inclement weather affecting the crowd. Neither the forecast nor the steady rains kept 7,809 fans away. It was the largest home attendance for an OSU dual since 2007. [Stw Newspress]

I want OSU and Iowa to wrestle every week!

More OSU

I wrote about ceilings for current superstar golfers … Oh good, Kirby Hocutt is back … The death of the Sigma Chi last fall was ruled alcohol poisoning … Underwood is about to start hosting his radio show from the Greek houses … Can Solomon keep up his KU performance?

Good job, OU.

Aggravated robbery arrest warrant issued for former La Vega HS star and current #Oklahoma #Sooners DB Parrish Cobb: https://t.co/d5J4eMcAVP

— Waco Tribune-Herald (@wacotrib) January 18, 2017

More PFB

• Washington could go down as all-time leading WR
• Investment in tennis program starting to show
• Fua Leilua reaffirms commitment to Pokes
• Uh, Mike Yurcich to Auburn?
• OSU’s 2017 WRs are embarrassment of riches
• A look back at the 2016 survey
• Jordan Sterns on how good Tyron Johnson can be

More Stuff I’m Reading

With aging comes greater sorrow … Facebook is going to stop paying people to make live videos … This New York Times review of what it needs to start doing better is super Inside Baseball, but it is spectacular … A comment’s path to publication.