Cowboys Used the Off Week to Recover and Regroup, Are Ready to Bounce Back

Losing isn’t just a part of sports, it’s a part of life in general. How one deals with it says much more about that person than the actual result. Are they resilient, and can they bounce back? Or do they crumble?

I’ve always been fascinated with how that plays out in team sports, especially football. How do you keep 100-plus players and countless coaches and support staff all running efficiently and in the same direction? That’s hard enough to do when things are going smoothly.

We’ve all heard the coach speak before. One of Mike Gundy’s favorite lines is that his team needs to get over this one quickly (win or lose) and get ready for the next one. Sometimes that’s easier said than done.

Losing a game is one thing, and going 1-3 to start conference play is something else entirely. By the way, going 1-3 with a win over Kansas is as close as you can get to starting 0-4 in the Big 12 without actually starting 0-4.

“It was a bad mood. Everybody was quiet,” said senior DT Trey Carter. “Basically, everyone was just thinking what did they do wrong? What could they have done better?

“At the end of the day, everybody hates losing. I just feel like we should take and put it down the drain. Hopefully, everyone has recovered from it. We can’t do anything about (Kansas State) now. We just have to keep going and finish strong.”

Part of that road to recovery has included some tough coaching from the staff in the practices since the 31-12 loss in Manhattan according to fellow D-Tackle Enoch Smith Jr.

“Nobody has the type of attitude here where we are just going to accept losing and fall by the wayside because that is not the type of program Oklahoma State is and not the Cowboy culture,” said Smith. “We pride ourselves on fighting from the beginning until the clock strikes zero. We all stand together. No one man defines this team, we all define this team.”

Smith also echoed the sentiment of junior linebacker Justin Phillips who said he was “tired of losing” after the game.

“When it comes to a loss you are always going to be frustrated,” Smith said “I’m not used to losing, so whenever we do lose it hits home. I’m not that social after a loss, but I have to remember that you can’t harp over one game. We live to play another game. We have five more games to play this season, we have to do what we need to do to become bowl eligible and show everyone else that we’re still here.”

Bowl eligibility is absolutely the goal but is by no means a guarantee. The Cowboys, who own the second toughest remaining schedule in college football according to ESPN, won’t likely be favored again as things sit now. And they need to squeeze two wins out that remaining five-game slate that includes trips to Norman, Fort Worth and Waco and three current top 15 opponents.

But according to Mike Gundy, the bye week has helped with morale and has allowed for some much-needed extra work.

“We had good practices this week,” said Gundy. “The guys were very enthusiastic and probably more enthusiastic than they’ve been in a while. We got a lot done. They’ve been about 15-20 minutes longer each day. We’ve done a little more individual work and have actually put in a period at the end of practice to correct mistakes, which is hard to do during the season because of legs and reps.”

Whether or not there is a change made at quarterback or in scheme, everyone on the roster and on the staff has ownership in the Pokes’ current predicament. The question is whether or not they take those steps necessary to bust out of one the worst funks in all of Mike Gundy’s tenure.

These next couple of games will tell us a lot about who and what this team is. Are they resilient and can they bounce back? Or will they crumble?