Mike Gundy Let it Hang on Saturday, And Was Rewarded With An All-Time Win

Mike Gundy made one thing clear early on Saturday as his unranked Cowboys, who entered their homecoming tilt against red-hot No. 6 Texas on a two-game skid, battled through their most important game of the season: He’s not going down without a fight.

Turns out, he wasn’t going down at all.

Gundy has shown conservative tendencies over the years in big games from time to time, citing statistics in the aftermath of such instances about playing the numbers and riding the odds as opposed to riding the momentum and playing off the home crowd. Not Saturday, though. Not against Texas. Not in this atmosphere.

“The crowd was fantastic, homecoming was fantastic,” said Gundy, whose coaching edge seemed to be infectious enough that his players responded accordingly. “Obviously, the weather was beautiful. It was a good time to play and win in primetime.”

Knotted at 7-all midway through the first quarter, the oft-criticized conservative head coach let it hang and made a statement that dictated the rest of the game’s flow. On fourth-and-1 from the Texas 16, he not only went for it — but he went for it. The Pokes went I-formation and faked the run to Justice Hill, then rolled Cornelius out for what moments later led to a touchdown pass to 6-foot-7 QB-turned-tight end Jelani Woods.

OH MY! Jelani Woods wide open & Cowboys convert 4th & 1 for a 16-yard touchdown! #OKState pic.twitter.com/14asN2NQfq

— LandGrant Gauntlet (@the_LGG) October 28, 2018

Lining up in a jumbo stack and saying, ‘my 11 are better than your 11′ to get the necessary yardage for a first down would be pretty ballsy. Lining up in a 1988 throwback formation and tossing a TD to your tight end is the equivalent of waving your mullet in the opposing coaches face.

Of OSU’s five scores in its 38-35 victory over sixth-ranked Texas, two — count ’em, two! — came on fourth-down conversions. They didn’t come as a subsequent result of converting on fourth. They were fourth-down conversions-turned touchdowns. The second of such instances was even more gutsy.

In fact, it was a step-on-the-throat-and-try-to-squash-em level call.

On fourth-and-1 from the Texas 36, OSU again aired it out and converted — this time on a Cornelius-to-Wallace connection that went 36 yards for a score. It came three plays after OSU and Gundy, who said they’d practiced it this week, drew Texas offsides on a quazi-fake punt that awarded OSU 5 yards on a fourth-and-1.

Even ESPN’s pundits were confused about the play, or motion, rather, that OSU used to draw Texas over the ball on the play.

“It was just based on how they covered us,” Gundy said of his multiple decisions to go for it on fourth-down. “They are three-prong plays. (Cornelius) made the right read. It was nice that (Cornelius) made the good throw and the kids went up and got the ball.”

Whether OSU had gone for the throat on fourth down based off specific coverages or not is beside the point. Gundy was feeling himself Saturday, from early in the first quarter to the final whistle, and even in between when he threw his hands up to the crowd with an, “Are you not entertained?!” motion after Texas coach Tom Herman came at him. It even trickled into the postgame, where he got on a rant about social media and made fart noises with his mouth.

This is the Mike Gundy that OSU fans have come to love, to appreciate, and more importantly, to expect. With a 2018 team that’s been erratic and QB play that, up to this week, has been the same, OSU needs the Gundy against Texas to be the same against the OUs, West Virginias and TCUs if it is to have a shot at a bowl berth. (Well, maybe not TCU.)

Slam your first on the table, tweet your heart out and beg for more — it won’t make a difference what version of Gundy we see moving forward. But if this version of Gundy — this let it hang, I’m the freaking man Gundy — leads to that version of OSU we saw Saturday, then OSU’s chances to secure bowl eligibility and become a permanent disruptor in the Big 12 title race may be what to expect rather than what to wish for.