Mike Gundy Criticizes Offensive Adjustments After Texas Win, Says They ‘Stunk’ in Passing Game

Oklahoma State got the win on Saturday … barely. But the 13-10 final score was about as pretty as it sounds on paper.

The Texas defense installed a similar look that TCU threw the Pokes in Week 1 of conference play: A two-deep safety look that all but dared OSU to run it and shelf its gameplan of throwing deep in the process.

While Rudolph did finish the day 25-of-38 passing, he had a pedestrian 282 yards through the air— a stark contrast from his NCAA-leading average of 394.7, and against a Texas defense prone to giving up big plays through the air.

Watching the game unfold, there didn’t appear to be any major adjustments made along the way. OSU adjusted to the deep safety looks by hammering the gavel of Justice Hill 33 times. Head coach Mike Gundy was not pleased about the lack of adjustments.

“The offensive guys know that I like them, but we stunk in the adjustments we made in the throwing game, period,” Gundy said. “We’ve got to be better than that. We didn’t panic, we were fine, we were drawing stuff up, and we were talking.

“There were holes in that defense, okay? It’s two robber, three down, two four I’s, nose guard, essentially one backer, two alley players, and a robber guy back there about 8 yards. You see in high school football all the time.

“There’s holes in it,” he continued. “We just didn’t get to it. We had a few issues with new guys, some things we could and couldn’t do, so I’m not saying that wasn’t a factor, but I thought our adjustments, they were not good.”

People were quick to point to Rudolph, who has an off day from time-to-time, as the reasons for OSU’s struggles on offense. But Gundy came to the defense of QB1, again criticizing the offensive staff for not finding a solution to Texas’ defensive looks.

“I don’t think Mason was really off. I think the other team was on,” said Gundy. “You know I would tell you, sometimes Mason doesn’t play good, that didn’t have anything to do with him. It had something to do with the other team, and we didn’t adjust very good, period.

“Our coaching on offense has got to be better than that. I’ve done that, too, I’m not throwing Yurcich under the bus, or all those cats. I’ve done it. I’ve made mistakes. We’ve got to make better adjustments. Our players are too good on offense. We gotta find a way to move the ball.”

Saturday could have gone a lot worse, mind you, but it could have (and should have, probably) gone a lot better than it did. It’s good to see Gundy acknowledge as much in the face of some heat he faced after the game.

“We fumbled on the 6-yard line. That was no fun. We got on the 1-yard line and couldn’t score. That was no fun, and then we missed the field goal. So that makes you feel a lot worse. But, you know, I mean, there’s 30 people in here, 35 people. If I took a ‘yay’ or a ‘nay,’ like they do in the House when they’re voting for a tax law, you guys would say, ‘Yay, wasn’t any good.’ Most of you would.”

Candid as ever, Gundy was blunt about the offensive struggles and made it a point to say he wasn’t throwing his staff under the bus. But the flames coming off those quotes are unmistakably a not-so-subtle jab at his staff to do better.