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Final Notes and Thoughts on Oklahoma’s 62-52 Bedlam Win in Stillwater

Published

6 years ago

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My first game to cover inside BPS did not disappoint. The highest-scoring Bedlam game in history between two of the best QBs to ever lace ’em up for their respective schools. And we got an all-time crowd to boot. I wrote my 10 thoughts on Saturday, but here are the rest of my notes and musings from a wild evening in Stillwater, USA.

• Baker went up to Zach Crabtree before the game and gave him a bro hug. No such greeting for Mason Rudolph.

• The student section was nearly full an hour before the game. I got coffee at Aspen on Sunday morning (sorry, Hoboken — come to Stillwater!) and the girl who took my order couldn’t talk. I asked her if she went to the game, she gasped, “Yes.” I told her I was impressed by how long everybody stayed. Full to the top until the final whistle.

• I was told Oklahoma State had to put a few scouts and NFL folks in the stands because the press box was so full. They had to call Alabama to ask what to do with 25+ NFL scouts. Alabama didn’t know.

• Orlando Brown jumping on Jordan Brailford on the first play was insane. I thought he was going to punch him in the face mask!

• Shades of 2013 with the Washington hold that got the Justice TD brought back.

• This was interesting. They used it a lot for blocking, it seemed. And it also seemed like it worked.

• At one point Rudolph was 11/31 through the air in games spanning from 2015-2017 against OU. Hide your kids. Hide your wives.

• What a uni matchup! That’s one of my favorite combos Oklahoma State has worn in the last few years. I’m always a sucker for the tri-colored matchups. But black on black on black with the chrome brand helmet against OU’s all whites was as good as it gets!

• I loved this photo.

• Flowers on Flowers crime was committed. Many times.

• Tyron’s swag per catch ratio is the highest in the history of organized football. He was phenomenal all night. The two TDs he had were works of art, and Carson and I will break them down for 25 minutes in our podcast next week.

• I wrote this in the first quarter: You felt early like it would be wild. Little did I know just how wild.

• The stadium looked amazing, and FOX’s drone made it look majestic. The weather was absolutely perfect. It was loud as hell. It’s as good of an environment as I’ve ever seen inside that stadium. An all-time night (minus the outcome).

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• Oklahoma State came into the game having given up seven passing plays of 30+ yards on the year. On Saturday, they gave up eight.

• Calvin Bundage is a problem. At times, for both teams.

• Rudolph and Mayfield had 412 yards in the first 16 minutes. For a while, it looked as if the combined passing yardage record set in the Texas Tech-OU game last year (1,279) was in jeopardy. The QBs combined for more passing yards (1,046) than six different FBS teams have on the season. Reminder: It’s November.

• A legit Heisman moment. Kill me.

• I love Thurman Thomas. The beard, the OSU golf gear, the uninhibited love for Stillwater and Oklahoma State. He’s the man.

• I legitimately wanted to see Baker and Bundage get into it. Oh baby.

• This is unfortunately true.

• Moss-ell is a freak show. Jordan Thomas had no chance. Zero chances. He could do nothing. OSU went to him at the goal line over and over and on third and fourth down over and over, and he could not have been better. With so many moments in the game and bigger-picture narratives on the line, they turned to 3. He was unbelievable.

• Marquise Brown is a baller. Big baller brand. And he’s not even OU’s best receiver.

• OU didn’t really play OSU the way I thought they would in forcing OSU to run the ball. I asked Mike Yurcich about it after the game, and he said they mixed it up which is what OSU expected coming in. But they clearly were begging for Rudolph to beat them deep if he could. And he did many times.

• Justice runs down steep hills. I can’t get enough of him. All the jukes. All the running lanes. The truck stick. The tirelessness. The new Bedlam rushing record. He’s an all-timer at a school that knows what all-time running backs look like.

• I laughed.

• Chad Whitener had a goal line stand in the first half that was about 70 percent Whitener and 30 percent Rob Glass. Good heavens, it was a hit.

• I noticed the crowd really got back into it when OSU scored to make it 35-31. They got woozy with the myriad scores in the second quarter, but after that they locked in on six and made it hell for him. Didn’t work out in the end, but the progression of the game from a fan perspective was fascinating to see.

• This game is why it’s hard to cite season-long stats when talking about teams. Look at how wide the variance is between this game and the Texas game for both the Oklahoma State offense and defense. I don’t know what I’m getting from game to game.

• Would subscribe.

• No J.D?? No J.D.?!?! Dude looked like the second coming of Vernand Morency against WVU, and Oklahoma State didn’t give it to him one time against OU. I mean, I get it given how Justice was playing, but at least take a glance at him inside the 10!

• Was Obo faking injuries again? And if he was, why is he the guy to do that? Why not somebody else who’s, uh, less talented. Speaking of Obo, he got his numbers (sort of), but I thought Oklahoma State did a great job of planning away from him and neutralizing what he does.

• Yep, he let it ride. And they crashed the car. That’s OK, though.

• OU ran 76 plays. Eight of those were tackles for loss for Oklahoma State totaling 38 yards. That means their other 68 plays went for 823 yards or 12.1 yards per play. A comfortable first down per play. Goodness.

• Is Jordan Thomas good? I am legitimately asking.

• I went all caps in my text messages to friends really early in the game. I went not looking at the Twitter mentions even earlier.

• Mrs. Pistols’ favorite subplot from the game: The scribe who followed the head referee around writing down yard lines and downs when a call was overturned. She loved it.

• My favorite GIF from Saturday.

 

• I thought Bundage was unbelievable in the second half and Brailford was awesome all game. Two studs.

• Speaking of Bundage, here’s what Spencer said about him after the game.

“He plays very hard, and I hurt for him. I gave him a big hug in there, and I know it means a lot to him. It was hard, as a coach, to be upset with that. I know he had some mistakes in the game. I have to coach him better, so he can play a more perfect game.”

• We went down to the field with six minutes left. Baker threw the pick right down my line of sight, and the noise that ensued was incredible. Three minutes, the ball and history 60 yards away. It was too good to be true.

• Which is how it turned out.

• Coming off the field, I saw some dudes who were spent. Whitener, Andrews, Baker, Flowers — none of them had anything left. A Bedlam war. It was everything you wanted and more from this game, unlike the last two years.

• The only guy who sprinted off the field? Brad Lundblade after leading both teams in prayer around the logo. Pretty cool stuff.

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