Photo Attribution: US Presswire
Yesterday we looked at five stories I’m excited about for the upcoming season. Why stop there though1, here are five more narratives to keep an eye on over the next four months.
6. What do we get from Lunt – We don’t need the world but he can’t be Bobby Reid 2.0 either. I’m still a little stunned Gundy rolled the dice with him. If you go Chelf you pretty much know what you’re getting: 245 yards a game, 3-1 TD-INT ratio, some solid leadership, an 8-4 or 9-3 record. With Lunt though…the variance is so much greater. Could you go 6-6? I guess, but you could also be looking at 11-1 or 10-2 and another Big 12 title. It’s the great unknown and the hinge upon which OSU’s season rests. I can’t wait to watch it unfold.
7. Is Bedlam back – Josh Heupel recently said Bedlam is a rivalry after last year. I’m not sure the snark is necessary but he’s essentially correct. House the pre-season conference favorite en route (and rout) to your first Big 12 title and put at least a seed of doubt in ‘ol Bobby’s dome about the next few years and Bedlam is definitely back. There aren’t a lot of years (I can count all of them on one hand) where I thought OSU was going into Norman to get a W2 but I actually feel pretty decent about it this season3.
8. What do the new guys offer – This is what happens when you start building a national program, to remain relevant you have to plug new faces in and expect them to perform immediately. And OSU is rather dependent on its newbies this year. Wes Lunt, C.J. Curry, Blake Jackson, Calvin Barnett, and potentially Victor Irokansi, Blake Webb, Jeremiah Tshimanga, Kevin Peterson, Shamiel Gary, and Jhajuan Seales. They don’t have to be All-Big 12 players but for another dream season, OSU needs a lot from all of them.
9. Is Gundy the new Big 12 media darling – The torch is being passed as Mack rolls into the sunset (cheerleading contingent in tow) and I’m pretty sure Gundy is the one seizing it. Patterson and Stoops are too closed off, Weis and Tuberville too irrelevant, Mack and Snyder are too old, and Dana’s too crazy. That leaves Briles, Rhoads, and Gundy and if Gundy keeps piling up wins it’s going to be a no-brainer. Thayer Evans columns aside, it feels like the national (and local media) are falling for the former signal-caller. I think this year goes a long way in seeing how authentic the love is.
10. Are the scheduling gods still with us – Last year the lightning bolts of Zeus struck pretty much every school4 but OSU5 as the season wore on.
At Texas during the day, no night game in Lubbock, prime time Bedlam, Baylor at home against Griffin for the third straight time, so on and so forth. On paper this year isn’t bad either, but will that hold up when TV times and schedules come out? K-State at night in Manhattan would be hell. Ditto for Baylor. OU is going to be hell regardless. Other than that though, it’s breezy, Friday night games be damned.
- Does Dana stop at five Red Bulls? No, and neither will I. ↩
- And this always, ALWAYS ended very badly. ↩
- Somebody email me this post in early November when we’re a 22-point dog going into that game and Lunt is hovering at 53% on the season with 33 picks. ↩
- The only lightning OSU had to dodge was literal and happened in Tulsa on a Sunday morning. ↩
- Again, WE chose to move a routine Saturday game to the always-dice Friday night time slot, WE CHOSE THAT! That’s on you, Holder!! Clearly I’ve moved on…. ↩
Baylor is hell, whether it be night or day
+1, much like the city of Waco
“Bobby Reid 2.0″? Come on man… It’s not like Bobby Reid was horrible… he just wasn’t as good as Zac Robinson, but he was an above average college QB. People forget that Reid was second Big 12 in passing efficiency (Colt McCoy was first) and was 16th in the country in 2006. He had 24 TDs and only 11 INTs. I think Lunt has a much higher ceiling than Reid, but I’d take a Bobby Reid in 2006 type season from Lunt this year in a heartbeat.
Based on past HS stats & Monken’s comments, I expect better than that from Lint.
Also, Reid didn’t have the receivers/O-line/Stable of running backs we have now (may paint a little different story if he came into onto the team today) Ok that’s my 2 cents
One thing I haven’t seen discussed on the interwebs is how much Lunt should be expected to improve over the course of the season. I doubt he’s going to play like a “freshman” all year with little improvement.
We definitely don’t need “I’m a man” II.
I would be OK with another “I’m a man rant” (not about Wes Lunt of course). Any publictiy, good or bad, is technically “good” publicity, and right now I want OSU on as many channels, and having as much of the media talking about us as possible. I can’t freakin’ wait for this season as I feel this is a HUGE building block into what could be a national title type run in a couple of short years. GO POKES!
Technically you’re right, but I still prefer more positive outbursts…and I’m making my prediction/opinion clear…this team is going to be in conversations THIS YEAR that no one even remotely expects…
Just so you know this was not be in an argument with you. I was just stating my opinion, so I hope that it was taken that way. I agree that we will be talked A LOT about this year. Having a true freshman QB is big in and of itself. Not to mention there are a lot of underrated players on that field for OSU that will/are going to step up.
No problem at all, didn’t take it that way. Your point was very valid.
And I definitely need to be tranquilized…
We’re all saying the same thing; Lunt may be an unknown just yet, but we’ve seen Gundy deliver and I think many of us suspect that he has some pretty good reasons for moving this direction. Then again….I too have drank the koolaid….
Wait, are you saying the schedule was in our favor last year???
Look at our road schedule from last year and tell me that it was in our favor. At TAM, At Texas, At Missouri, At Tech. Wasn’t one of our strongest narratives last year that the schedule was brutal and we got no favors from the league in that department?
Sure it turned out great since we overcame the obstacles, but it was a brutal stretch.
Yep, it was easy because of the time of the games. All those games were played during the day at places you do NOT want to have night games (if the A&M game was at night I think we lose). And at Tech was a joke last year. Everybody won there.