Daily Bullets (July 1)

Changing Plans

OSU’s cornerbacks are mostly young and relatively inexperienced…and the result of a new recruiting strategy.

“Those are the kids we’ve been banking on when we changed our thinking in recruiting corners a few years ago,” (safeties coach Dan) Hammerschmidt continued. “We were thinking we needed to play man and we need to be able to play press coverage if we are going to take it the distance and play the kind of people you play in the final four and all that stuff.

We said you are not going to do that with the shorter and shorter armed players. You can have a few, but we went with guys and all those guys have length.” [GoPokes $]

Gone are the days of the smaller corners (Brod Brown, Darrent Williams). Must be six feet or above to ride this ride.

Wind Hazard

Will the game in Lubbock be a trap game for the Pokes in 2017?

Oklahoma State should roll, it seems. But then, we thought the Pokes would race to a big victory at home last November over the Red Raiders before Tech closed a 14-point gap in the second quarter and stayed with the Pokes for the rest of the way.

Oklahoma State escaped with a 45-44 victory as Texas Tech missed an extra point in the final two minutes. [ESPN]

The law of averages tends to hold true in a lot of situations but Gundy continues to defy odds in these types of games (Texas shanking a punt in 2015, Sterns picking off K-State in the end zone in 2016, etc.) When a guy consistently beats teams with comparable talent, you roll out the infinite-five year deal.  Call me when Leach, Jr. takes over in Lubbock.

OSU and NCAA Notes

OSU to offer free tuition to employees’ children this fall (part of Gundy’s new contract? 😉 )….Stereotypical names of football players….NCAA looking at adding a week to the regular season (for bye’s)….Preseason All-Big 12 team with Mason over Baker

Missed ya Markel.

Markel Brown, who's on the Thunder's summer league team, has one of my favorite college dunks ever. It's…absurd: https://t.co/cQCZDnZv2i

— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) June 30, 2017

Happy Fourth of July weekend (sort of) from the Pokes.

From the @OSUAthletics Family to yours – Have a great 4th of July weekend! Thank you to our veterans and service members! #4thOfJuly2017 pic.twitter.com/VEEQWzV0Lb

— Chad Weiberg (@ChadWeiberg) June 30, 2017

The wait for football is more manageable when you break it up for things like fall camp.

It doesn't stop. It is deaf to excuses. It will eat you up if you don't use it. pic.twitter.com/mlDbkNezYZ

— Glenn Spencer (@Glenn_Spencer) June 30, 2017

What You Missed on PFB

• Brandon Weeden thinks pretty highly of this wide receiver group
• Pokes add some fillers to the non-conference schedule
• Kyle C. on Kendall Smith, Boynton’s grad transfer point guard

Other Stuff I’m Reading

Peak-Bill Simmons on fixing the L.A. Clippers….Paul George Trade: impact on wins, Tram’s thoughts, trade grades