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Daily Mullets (December 4)

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The sun came up. OSU will find out its bowl today.

Not going deep

John Helsley on Mike & Mike not taking more shots.

There was a reference to OU’s defensive approach, with safeties playing deep, although such looks didn’t discourage all the other teams the Sooners faced from firing away. “It’s not up to me,” said Rudolph, who admitted that the wet ball, which was wetter when the Cowboys opted for a fast tempo, was an issue. “I tried to execute the plays that were called. “Do I wish that we could have gone deep more? Yeah, I probably do. But there were plenty of plays I could have executed to put us in better positions.” [NewsOK]

I thought about this last night, and I was probably a little harsh on Rudolph yesterday in my 10 Thoughts. Not that he doesn’t deserve blame (because he does), but just that the OSU staff should have called more deep shots. That is unforgivable, especially against that secondary. Especially when it was working!

This one was different for OU

This one ended with Steven Parker diving across soaked Owen Field like he’d just scored a goal in the Premier League. With Baker Mayfield running a victory lap. With Jarvis Baxter turning back flips. With coaches’ wives dancing with their husbands, and Joe Mixon dancing with kids who had spilled out of the student section.

The Sooners got to celebrate their 38-20 victory over Oklahoma State and their latest league title not at Arrowhead Stadium or the Alamodome or Jerry World, but right here at home. It was the “what” that made this different than the rest. [Tulsa World]

Don’t they all just sort of run together at some point?

More on Gundy’s conservative efforts

Bill Haisten goes in on Gundy as well.

This had been a fully loaded, streaking and seemingly confident Oklahoma State football team, coached by a man presumably starving for success against his archrival, so I expected to see maximum effort from the Cowboys and a Bedlam shootout. Instead, during Saturday’s rain-soaked first half, Mike Gundy and the Cowboys were conservative when they could have been aggressive. [Tulsa World]

It’s difficult to reach any other conclusion than the one Berry and Bill reached.

In Defense (?) of Gundy

This will stun you, but Robert Allen defends Gundy’s pre-halftime decision.

At the end of the half, Gundy let the clock run out instead of using his final time-out after Sanders had the kickoff return to the 50. I have no problem, it was a long shot at best and without a time-out it would have been hard to get even a field goal out of it. I wouldn’t have trusted Rudolph on a throw to the end zone at that point. However, at the end of the day, you’d probably like to have it back. I just think it was a long shot.  [Go Pokes]

The point is not whether you would have gotten it. It was a 1 in a 100 chance. The point is what not even trying said to your team.

Gundy goes soft

Whooo boy, Berry Tramel agrees with what I wrote on Saturday that Gundy’s big miss was the pre-halftime shot he didn’t take.

OU won the Big 12 title with a 38-20 victory Saturday that was decided in the few minutes before and after intermission, when the man with the bold hair coached with the flair of a 1954 crewcut. Gundy, quite often a comparative daredevil, tensed up against the Sooners, which long has been the claims of OSU loyalists. I don’t know if that’s fair. It was more than fair Saturday. It was bedrock truth. [NewsOK]

Check.

Mayfield won Bedlam

This is true. OU won because they had the best player on the field on Saturday (and it wasn’t Joe Mixon).

With the Big 12 title on the line, Oklahoma lost one Heisman contender to an injury. Fortunately for the Sooners, they had another. By toppling the Cowboys, the Sooners became the first Big 12 team in seven years to run the table in conference play. [ESPN]

The lone bright spot

Justice Hill and Chris Carson rocked.

One of the reasons for optimism going into this game for Oklahoma State was the suddenly surging rushing attack. While they didn’t get the victory, it was not for lack of a successful run game. Justice Hill had a big day, gaining 99 yards on 16 carries, while forcing four missed tackles. Chris Carson was just as good, gaining 91 yards on 12 carries while scoring a touchdown and forcing a missed tackle. Overall the Cowboys averaged 6.4 yards per rush and if they had gotten a little more out of their passing game this might have been a completely different game. [PFF]

It’s weird to think that it was OSU’s passing game and not its running game that was the Bedlam downfall this year. Can you imagine telling yourself that in September?

Riley says Mayfield played best game ever

Of course it came in Bedlam with the Big 12 title on the line.

In a high-stakes game on a bad-weather day, he was stupendous. He was 13 of 19 for 288 yards and three touchdowns, and two of his biggest throws, a 67-yarder to Dimitri Flowers and a 42-yarder to Jeffery Mead, didn’t even result in touchdowns.”It’s the best I’ve seen him play,” Sooner offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley said. “Easily.” [NewsOK]

Still my personal hell. Also, murder me.

Was Rudolph really that bad?

I say yes, and others agreed.

Saturday was arguably the worst start of Rudolph’s career. He completed fewer than 50 percent of his passes for the first time. His 11 completions were a career low, while his 186 yards were the second fewest, ahead of only his 179 in last year’s Sugar Bowl. It was his first loss to a Big 12 team other than Baylor. Part of his struggles could be blamed on the damp weather, but Rudolph said the Cowboys prepared all week. Plus, his OU counterpart, Baker Mayfield, seemingly had few qualms with the weather, throwing for 288 yards and three touchdowns. [O’Colly]

I’m not sure how No. 2’s performance was defensible.

More News

Some great photos of the game here … A guide to Selection Sunday

This is true.

More PFB

Five thoughts on Maryland’s 71-70 win … Basketball notebook: Jeffrey Carroll is playing greatHere’s the Sterns on Dede hit (it’s pretty bad) … Postgame show (I called Carson to chat) … Best Bedlam tweets … 10 Thoughts on OU’s Bedlam win … Big plays doom PokesThis on Gundy’s conservative coaching by Kyle Cox is terrific … We did almost set a Bedlam rushing record which is weird.

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