Mike Gundy Takes Blame, Says Gameplan for Oregon Was ‘Too Complicated’

Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy didn’t waste any time identifying the root cause of Saturday’s struggles in a 69-3 loss at No. 6 Oregon.

“We were too complicated in all three phases,” Gundy said. “Tried to do too much on defense, tried to do too much on offense, and we ended up not being able to execute being good at anything. That’s my fault.”

It sounds like the Cowboys’ head coach got an idea that the plan for the Ducks might have some cracks in it on Thursday.

“I should have just said, ‘Guys, be simple, simple, simple, simple,’” Gundy said. “And I didn’t do that. And I kind of had a feeling on Thursday, I thought we might be doing too much trying to essentially find ways to maneuver and get good football plays instead of just executing. And that’s like I said, that’s as much as my fault as anybody’s.”

Of course, staring down a borderline all-time deficit put even more pressure on everyone to find an answer during Saturday’s game, which might have resulted in at least one of quarterback Zane Flores’ pick-sixes.

“At that point, we probably should just run the ball. …  We probably should have just run the ball and just tried to work on some base stuff,” Gundy said. “We’re just trying to get something going.”

Gundy said the Cowboys would use the upcoming bye week to get back to the basics and “reprogram the players.”

He also said he would have to ensure the coaches kept things simpler moving forward, given the Cowboys’ youth.

“I shared with the team (after the loss), I said, look, guys, the good news is it’s one game, but I’m going to take the blame with them,” Gundy said. “But they’ve all got to come back and train tomorrow, and we’ll evaluate the tape, grade the tape, look at it, and then the coaches have to take responsibility. And then we move forward. You know, we’ve got an open week, so we get a chance to get four good days of practice in next week. Then we got to, you know, get back into a game routine and get ready to play Tulsa.”