Okey Lite preview
1 year 3 months ago #380
by wvu4u2
Okey Lite preview was created by wvu4u2
Editor’s note: This is the seventh installment of a 12-part series previewing West Virginia’s football opponents for the 2023 season.
MORGANTOWN — Oklahoma State had a rough ending to the 2022 season, and West Virginia was a part of that.
The Mountaineers were already out of bowl contention when they made the trip to Stillwater, Oklahoma, for the regular-season finale, but they beat the Cowboys 24-19 at Boone Pickens Stadium to snap a 14-game Pokes home winning streak.
Oklahoma State concluded the season with three straight losses and dropped five of its final six games after a 5-0 start to the year.
WVU’s win over the Cowboys was one of the Mountaineers’ two in its final three games — the other was against Oklahoma — and part of the reason WVU coach Neal Brown entered the offseason with some optimism that this season could be better than an otherwise down 2022 campaign.
“I’m proud of how our guys finished, winning two of the last three. I am proud of that, and beating Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, those are big wins,” Brown said in an offseason news conference. “But we weren’t consistent enough. I know that.”
WVU and Oklahoma State will meet earlier this fall than last. The Mountaineers and Cowboys are scheduled to face off in an Oct. 21 homecoming game at Milan Puskar Stadium.
There are some questions around Oklahoma State entering the season after the poor finish in 2022 and what it lost to the transfer portal. The Cowboys lost 18 players, including eight starters, to the portal, but brought in 14 replacements, according to the Associated Press. The Cowboys were selected seventh in the 14-team Big 12 preseason poll.
“I attribute it to the times,” Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said in July at Big 12 media days at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. “We can look across the country in the portal. We’ve got players that are playing on national championship teams that are leaving and going to other schools. We have players that are leaving after one year, players that are leaving after five years.
“For a while there I thought it was interesting, but I’m almost considering the NIL and the portal like religion and politics where it’s not even worth discussing because we don’t necessarily have a rhyme or reason for what’s happening. We’re very excited about the players that we brought in. I guess you have 10 or 12 go out, you bring 10 or 12 in, and you get your roster set and try to have a good spring ball, good summer and get ready to play in September.”
The most notable newcomer is redshirt senior quarterback Alan Bowman, who spent the last two seasons at Michigan and the three before that at Texas Tech. Oklahoma State returns Garret Rangel and Gunnar Gundy as well under center. They appeared in four games each last season, and the longtime coach said the Cowboys will likely get midway through camp before naming a starter.
“They’ve worked hard. They’re out there,” Gundy said. “We’re rotating guys with ones, twos, threes. They’re getting a lot of work. We’ll run this thing through half of fall camp, somewhere in that area, and if we feel like we know what direction we want to go, I’m going to be for making that decision at that time. If we don’t feel like we know, then we won’t make that decision.”
Oklahoma State was eighth of the 10 Big 12 teams in scoring offense at 30.6 points per game last fall, but the Cowboys bring back some skill. Brennan Presley, a preseason all-Big 12 selection, led Oklahoma State with 813 yards on 67 receptions, and running back Ollie Gordon II finished as the Cowboys’ third-leading rusher last year as a true freshman.
Oklahoma State is also hoping for immediate impacts from De’Zhaun Stribling and Arland Bruce IV — receivers who transferred Washington State and Iowa, respectively.
The Cowboys brought in Bryan Nardo as defensive coordinator — their third defensive coordinator in as many seasons — in January, after Nardo most recently worked in the same role at Division II Gannon University. He replaces veteran coach Derek Mason.
Preseason all-Big 12 linebacker Collin Oliver and safety Kendal Daniels highlight the returners on Oklahoma State’s defense, which finished fifth in the league with 28.9 points allowed per game in 2022.
“My goal at that time was to give us the ability to play some odd front and some even front,” Gundy said on Nardo’s hiring. “I felt like our defensive staff knew that even front really well, and we had to go find a guy that understood the odd front. That’s why we went and got coach Nardo.”
WVU is 5-9 all-time against Oklahoma State after last year’s win, which snapped a seven-game losing streak in the series.
Game time and broadcast information for the Oct. 21 game between the Mountaineers and Cowboys have not yet been announced.
Jared MacDonald covers WVU athletics. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow @JMacDonaldSport on Twitter.
MORGANTOWN — Oklahoma State had a rough ending to the 2022 season, and West Virginia was a part of that.
The Mountaineers were already out of bowl contention when they made the trip to Stillwater, Oklahoma, for the regular-season finale, but they beat the Cowboys 24-19 at Boone Pickens Stadium to snap a 14-game Pokes home winning streak.
Oklahoma State concluded the season with three straight losses and dropped five of its final six games after a 5-0 start to the year.
WVU’s win over the Cowboys was one of the Mountaineers’ two in its final three games — the other was against Oklahoma — and part of the reason WVU coach Neal Brown entered the offseason with some optimism that this season could be better than an otherwise down 2022 campaign.
“I’m proud of how our guys finished, winning two of the last three. I am proud of that, and beating Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, those are big wins,” Brown said in an offseason news conference. “But we weren’t consistent enough. I know that.”
WVU and Oklahoma State will meet earlier this fall than last. The Mountaineers and Cowboys are scheduled to face off in an Oct. 21 homecoming game at Milan Puskar Stadium.
There are some questions around Oklahoma State entering the season after the poor finish in 2022 and what it lost to the transfer portal. The Cowboys lost 18 players, including eight starters, to the portal, but brought in 14 replacements, according to the Associated Press. The Cowboys were selected seventh in the 14-team Big 12 preseason poll.
“I attribute it to the times,” Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said in July at Big 12 media days at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. “We can look across the country in the portal. We’ve got players that are playing on national championship teams that are leaving and going to other schools. We have players that are leaving after one year, players that are leaving after five years.
“For a while there I thought it was interesting, but I’m almost considering the NIL and the portal like religion and politics where it’s not even worth discussing because we don’t necessarily have a rhyme or reason for what’s happening. We’re very excited about the players that we brought in. I guess you have 10 or 12 go out, you bring 10 or 12 in, and you get your roster set and try to have a good spring ball, good summer and get ready to play in September.”
The most notable newcomer is redshirt senior quarterback Alan Bowman, who spent the last two seasons at Michigan and the three before that at Texas Tech. Oklahoma State returns Garret Rangel and Gunnar Gundy as well under center. They appeared in four games each last season, and the longtime coach said the Cowboys will likely get midway through camp before naming a starter.
“They’ve worked hard. They’re out there,” Gundy said. “We’re rotating guys with ones, twos, threes. They’re getting a lot of work. We’ll run this thing through half of fall camp, somewhere in that area, and if we feel like we know what direction we want to go, I’m going to be for making that decision at that time. If we don’t feel like we know, then we won’t make that decision.”
Oklahoma State was eighth of the 10 Big 12 teams in scoring offense at 30.6 points per game last fall, but the Cowboys bring back some skill. Brennan Presley, a preseason all-Big 12 selection, led Oklahoma State with 813 yards on 67 receptions, and running back Ollie Gordon II finished as the Cowboys’ third-leading rusher last year as a true freshman.
Oklahoma State is also hoping for immediate impacts from De’Zhaun Stribling and Arland Bruce IV — receivers who transferred Washington State and Iowa, respectively.
The Cowboys brought in Bryan Nardo as defensive coordinator — their third defensive coordinator in as many seasons — in January, after Nardo most recently worked in the same role at Division II Gannon University. He replaces veteran coach Derek Mason.
Preseason all-Big 12 linebacker Collin Oliver and safety Kendal Daniels highlight the returners on Oklahoma State’s defense, which finished fifth in the league with 28.9 points allowed per game in 2022.
“My goal at that time was to give us the ability to play some odd front and some even front,” Gundy said on Nardo’s hiring. “I felt like our defensive staff knew that even front really well, and we had to go find a guy that understood the odd front. That’s why we went and got coach Nardo.”
WVU is 5-9 all-time against Oklahoma State after last year’s win, which snapped a seven-game losing streak in the series.
Game time and broadcast information for the Oct. 21 game between the Mountaineers and Cowboys have not yet been announced.
Jared MacDonald covers WVU athletics. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow @JMacDonaldSport on Twitter.
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