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What We’re Most Excited About For 2016

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The season starts two weeks from today. Here’s what we’re getting excited about.

Kyle P.

1. Jordan Sterns has a legitimate chance at becoming an All-American this season. His renewed focus in the offseason has me giddy about what the future holds. Oklahoma State’s secondary has question marks, but the twosome of Sterns and Tre Flowers is not one of them. One more ride for No. 13, and it should be a great one.

2. This team has some swagger to it. It’s the first team I can remember since maybe 2011 that swagged (?) this hard going into the home opener. According to the way Mike Gundy is talking, players don’t seem to be getting out over their skis either. Gundy has always been quietly straightforward with how good his teams were going into the year, and he hasn’t said anything to imply that OSU is going to be anything less than terrific once again this year. The swag seems valid.

We underrate how important a role confidence can be in a player or team’s success. J.W. Walsh’s entire football career is a shining example of the “you can perform well beyond your ability if you simply have irrational confidence at how good you actually are” mentality. This team seems bent on maintaining that type of thinking which obviously gets my stamp of approval.

Kyle B.

1. One thing I’m pumped about is watching the true frosh Dillon Stoner go to work. Getting to watch him play last year for Jenks, I’m pretty intrigued to see how he makes the jump to OSU. It’s not every day Mike Gundy says a guy is farther along than most players during his tenure, but he seems to have the head honcho’s approval. I’m expecting to see big things from No. 80 in his first season in Stillwater.

2. Of all the running backs in the group, Barry J. Sanders is going to draw all the hype. But I’m more interested to see what Chris Carson can do in year 2. He had an up-and-down year 1, and injuries *may* have had something to do with his rocky midseason slump. But he finished the season on a high note against Ole Miss and ran hard and with better vision than we saw for most of the year. I think he can build off that and make a leap this season. I’m buying stock in Chris Carson.

Thomas Fleming

1. Im excited with the idea that OSU is capable of having a better run game this year. The run game was their weakest phase last year and it really held them back, especially in the back half of the season. I’m not expecting anything spectacular, but I know that the run game could be better because they have more talent at both running back and offensive line this year. Plus, the coaching staff could do so many things to improve it schematically, although whether this will happen is currently a mystery. If their run game is better, that means that the chances of them having an excellent season are much higher — that excites me.

2. I’m excited to watch the play of the defensive line. I’ve always thought that Jordan Brailford and Jarrell Owens are the next big defensive ends. Porter wrote a solid piece on the state of the 2016 defensive line, mentioning both Brailford and Owens. Vincent Taylor will get a lot of attention this year, so I’m optimistic that that DE duo can wreak havoc on the edge and really surprise people. Plus, they’re both just redshirt sophomores, so there’s a good chance that one (or both) of them could leave the school as one of the best DEs in recent OSU memory.

Sam Aldrich

1. I cannot WAIT to see what James F. Washington can do as an encore to his breakout Sophomore season last year. After eclipsing the 1,000 yard mark and averaging 20.5 yards per catch, with 10 touchdowns to boot, No. 28 is ready to establish himself as one of the premier wide receivers in both the Big 12 and in the nation. People are starting to notice that Washington is the most profilic wide receiver in Stillwater since no. 81 was catching deep fades from Weeden. With this potentially being Mason Rudolph’s last season in Stillwater (!), look for Washington to go off on defenses all year long.

2. The schedule also excites me. I don’t think you have to squint too much to envision this Cowboys team at 10-0 heading into Fort Worth on November 19th to play TCU, if they can stay healthy. There’s a reason ESPN has OSU ranked number 9 in their Football Power Index, and Kyle P. wrote all about it here. I’d break this year’s schedule down into 3 categories-

Cupcakes
  • Southeastern Louisiana
  • Central Michigan at home
  • Iowa State at home
  • Kansas at home
Very Winnable
  • Pitt at home
  • Texas at home
  • West Virginia at home
  • Texas Tech at home
  • Baylor on the road
Get Your Popcorn Read
  • K-State on the road
  • TCU on the road
  • Oklahoma on the road

If they can get through a less talented but scrappy K-State team and a Baylor with a new head coach under the microscope on the road, this team probably should be untouched going into the final two games of the year against TCU and OU. At that point, anything can happen, but another 9-3 and 10-2 season looks very doable at this point.

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