Three Things McNeese Coach Sterlin Gilbert Said Ahead of Game with OSU

McNeese coach Sterlin Gilbert knows a thing or two about Oklahoma State.

Gilbert was just down the toll road as Tulsa’s offensive coordinator in 2015, and in 2016, Gilbert was Charlie Strong’s offensive coordinator at Texas. Now in his first year as McNeese’s head man, Gilbert is in his first season as a head coach on the college level. Gilbert and McNeese got off on the right foot, beating Southern this past weekend in front of a record-setting crowd.

He had his pre-OSU press conference Monday, and here are three things he said.

On Oklahoma State

Gilbert talked extensively about his team focusing inward this week despite the higher profile opponent.

With that said, Gilbert spokes highly about Mike Gundy’s longevity and what he has turned the OSU program into.

“We started (Sunday) night watching Okie State,” Gilbert said. “Really good football team, Coach Gundy’s done a great job there. I glanced over some stuff just to look, and he’s been there 15 years. His record there speaks for itself, very successful program.”

As of Monday, Gilbert said the McNeese staff hadn’t jumped too far into analyzing the OSU offense, but Gilbert seemed impressed with Spencer Sanders’ stat line from the Oregon State game.

“With Spencer Sanders, their quarterback, he’s kind of a dual-threat guy,” Gilbert said. “He rushed for over 100 and threw for over 200. I’m not real sure how they’re doing it right now with him pulling the trigger.”

FBS vs. FCS

FBS and FCS matchups can be hit or miss in terms of how competitive they actually are.

For every 3OT Iowa State vs. Northern Iowa thrillers, there are a handful of games like UCF drilling Florida A&M 62-0. It’s long been debated whether these games should be played, but Gilbert seemed good with it Monday.

“I think there’s positives on both sides of it,” Gilbert said. “Obviously from a financial standpoint, I think it helps FCS schools. It helps their athletic departments. I think there’s positives in it, getting the opportunity to play in an environment that you’re gonna play in. Then you get an opportunity to provide some financial aid for the athletic department.”

Gilbert said he can draw a bit on the ISU/UNI game from last week. McNeese has made some games against FBS foes interesting in the not-so-distant past, beating South Florida 53-21 in 2013 and losing only 31-24 against Nebraska the next year.

“We need to control the things that we can control,” Gilbert said. “We know they’re a good football team. … Every Saturday, you never know what can happen. We gotta go out and play it and do those things and put yourself in a situation to be successful. That’s we’re planning to do this Saturday.”

Impact Corner Out for Season

McNeese will be without star corner Colby Burton after a leg injury he suffered in the Cowboys’ Week 1 game against Southern.

Burton was a first-team All-Southland Conference defender last season and came in as a preseason all-conference player this year. He started all 11 of McNeese’s games a year ago and finished the season with two interceptions and eight pass breakups. Burton is a senior who will now redshirt and return to McNeese for a fifth year.

“When you lose Colby like that, you not only lose him as a player, you lose him as a person,” Gilbert said. “His leadership, he carries a lot of intangibles about him.”

Gilbert was also asked about his other starting corner, Darion Dunn, who went down with injury late in the game against Southern, but Gilbert said he wouldn’t answer any other injury questions apart from Burton’s status.