The Top 5 Quotes from Mike Gundy’s Post-BYU News Conference

PROVO, Utah — The Cowboys came up short in a wild Big 12 game.

Oklahoma State fell to BYU 38-35 on Friday at LaVell Edwards Stadium after BYU scored a go-ahead touchdown with 10 seconds to play. Mike Gundy met with reporters after the game. Here are five things he said. A video of Gundy’s full news conference is below.

1. On Rangel: ‘He’s Out’

The Garret Rangel era had only just started and then it was gone — at least for “a while.”

After making his first start of the season, Rangel ripped off a 54-yard run in the second quarter, but he suffered an apparent collarbone injury on the play and didn’t return. He reemerged from OSU’s locker room with a sling on his left arm. In just about a half of action, Rangel was 6-for-9 with 51 passing yards, a touchdown and an interception. He also had 77 rushing yards on five carries.

When asked about how Rangel was doing after the game, Gundy said, “He’s out.”

“I don’t know, but he’ll be out a while,” said Gundy on whether Rangel would miss the remainder of the season. “It’s hard for me to predict.”

It’s a shame to see anyone get hurt, but OSU fans will be particularly sad about this one, as Rangel seemed to unlock the Cowboys’ running game. The Cowboys had a season-high 269 rushing yards on Friday.

“Quarterback run game allows Ollie (Gordon) to free up a little more because now they have to play everybody involved,” Gundy said. “So, I thought the plan was good, and I thought he was good rushing the ball. It is just an unfortunate incident.”

2. Enter, Rodney Fields Jr.

It wasn’t just a good rushing day for Gordon and Rangel — true freshman Rodney Fields Jr. made his college debut.

A 5-foot-9, 185-pound tailback from Del City, Fields carried eight times in his first game, running for 38 yards.

“He’s practiced well through two months, and so we got a few guys banged up a little bit,” Gundy said. “So, put him out there because he’s shown signs in practice that he has the ability to make some plays. So, I thought he performed really well for a freshman.”

3. What Happened on BYU’s Last Possession?

It looked as if the Cowboys had pulled off the upset and secured their first Big 12 win of the season … but Jake Retzlaff had other ideas.

OSU capped off a 17-play drive that burned 8:22 off the clock, giving BYU the ball back with 1:13 to play and in need of a touchdown. Well, a little more than a minute later, Retzlaff provided that touchdown with a 35-yard pass to Darius Lassiter, who made three Cowboys miss before scoring with 10 seconds to play. Brutal.

“Well the quarterback broke out on a 30-yard scramble and then they hit a guy down there, and we missed three or four tackles and they scored a touchdown,” Gundy said. “I couldn’t see a lot from across the field, but I kind of wish we’d got him down at that point. The quarterback made a couple plays. Good player.”

4. Culture Still Working

Through four Big 12 games, the Cowboys are winless. That’s certainly below expectation coming into the year, but Friday’s game was a much better performance than those the Cowboys had been putting up.

The Cowboys put up a season-best in rushing yards, and after three-straight blowouts (the Utah score was closer than the game), the Cowboys went to the wire with an unbeaten team. Gundy said with how the Cowboys have practiced the past two weeks going into this game, it showed him the culture is still in a good spot.

“If you would’ve come and watched us the last two weeks, you would’ve thought we were 6-0,” Gundy said. “That’s what’s exciting. That tells me that the culture side of it is working. And when you get a number of guys beat up, it can wear on you a little bit mentally as a team, and they’ve overcome all that.

“So what I was sharing with you was the same thing I told them. I said I was very proud of them. I wish I was in here celebrating with you, but we have to look and see where we came up short, if we get in that situation again, to try to finish the game. And win it. I’m not gonna take anything away from BYU and what they accomplished. But I’m also not gonna take anything away from our team and what we were able to accomplish.

5. ‘College Football’s a One-Week, Pass-Fail Grade’

Although the Cowboys played better Friday, that’s still a tough way to lose a game.

Victory was right there, but the Pokes couldn’t quite grasp it. Gundy said there was hurting in the locker room after suck a gut punch.

“College football’s a one-week, pass-fail grade, right?” Gundy said. “We prepare, and if you win, you get a pass. If you lose, you get a fail grade. There’s really no in between in college football. Whether we would’ve ended up winning this game and celebrating right now or whether we’re in the situation we are right now, they have to reprogram themselves Sunday and get ready for the next game. That’s just our job. That’s what we do.

“I think they understand that, but those guys in there, they’re hurting right now. But they should be when you put that much time and effort into something. That’s just the way it is. They played a heck of a game, and we just came up a little short.”