Oklahoma State Football: 10 Questions for Mike Gundy and the Cowboys in 2018

The dark part of the year without college football is officially here. Well, after tonight’s 6-4 shootout between Georgia and Alabama, it will be. The longest offseason in sports is about to begin, and even though it will be broken up by spring ball and new coaching announcements and recruiting, the real deal won’t take place again until September 1 against Missouri State.

I’m sure along the way everyone (present company included) will be completely and totally rational about Justice Hill, Spencer Sanders, Tyron Johnson and Mike Gundy as we ride the spring and summertime roller coaster. In the meantime, I have some questions for Oklahoma State football. A year that OSU has already begun preparing for.

“We enjoy the win tonight,” said Gundy after the Camping World Bowl. “And we have to get started on next year.”

Such is life in FBS football.

Following the known — what in college sports is more of a known commodity than Mason Rudolph throwing deep passes to James Washington? — OSU’s 2018 will be fraught with the unknown. In some ways, that’s what makes it more exciting than 2017. I don’t know if it will be better, but the unknown can be anything you want it to be, while the known sort of is what it is (as we all found out last fall).

With that, 10 questions OSU and Mike Gundy need to answer.

1. Does Spencer Sanders Have “It”?

Alternatively I could have just listed 10 variations of this question. The only question around which Oklahoma State will revolve for the next eight months. The question is not necessarily whether he has the physical skills — I think everyone involved believes he does — but does he have the indistinguishable thing that makes great high school players even better in college?

Can he galvanize 100 teenagers over the summer? Can he win Gundy’s trust in such a short time? Nobody actually knows the answers to any of these questions. Not Mike Yurcich. Not Mike Gundy. Maybe not even Spencer Sanders. That’s what makes his appeal, for now, so intoxicating.

Stay tuned.

2. Philosophical Change on Defense?

Glenn Spencer’s defense is not working. Is it underrated? Sure. Is it better than most people think nationally? Yeah. Does he have some players? Yes. And that’s sort of the point. OSU has guys. A legit defensive line. Studs at linebacker. Talent in the secondary, and yet Spencer’s last four (!) defenses have all been worse than every one of Bill Young’s defenses. All four!

To me, that’s more of a philosophical issue than anything. Scheming and play-calling. There are three pieces to the defensive puzzle. Players, philosophy and desire. OSU is getting players that are good enough (TCU’s players aren’t any better, for example), and Spencer is certainly squeezing every ounce of effort from their bodies. So that leaves one part of the equation. One that needs to be fixed immediately.

3. How Do You Use Tyron?

There are multiple ways to figure this out. One is to bring Carson Cunningham in for a pricey weekend consulting session over the summer. Another is to just pull up Percy Harvin clips on YouTube and draw those plays up. Johnson is (or could be) an X-factor for 2018. He’s one player that most national media won’t figure in to their calculations when they’re crunching numbers and thoughts on the Pokes in 2018.

He is (by OSU’s own choice!) the best-kept secret in the Big 12. Mike & Mike have to figure out how to use him in creative ways next season, or face the ire of Carson his career will be remembered like Tyreek Hill’s — great talent but ultimately unproductive.

4. How Do You Use Chuba?

Chuba Hubbard is a bigger question mark than Tyron — I’ve seen Tyron do NSFW things against a CFB Playoff team — but he’s just as much of a X-factor. I legitimately think about this clip of Gundy talking Chuba in the preseason like once a week. My fear, though, is that Gundy talking about No. 30 will be more exciting than Gundy actually using him.

Mike Gundy on freshman Chuba Hubbard. ?? pic.twitter.com/KTNGEIuqQd

— Pistols Firing (@pistolsguys) August 25, 2017

5. Is Stoner the Punt Returning Answer?

No. 17 had 9 returns for an average of 6 yards per return. Good not great. And another sign that Gundy is not interested in being good on punt returns, only on not turning the ball over. But the rub this year is that OSU has a little freedom to take some chances, and actually might have to take some chances to contend in the Big 12. There’s no shortage of weaponry with Tylan Wallace, Jalen McCleskey Tyron, Chuba and Justice Hill (?!) all on the bus. It would be fun for OSU to be dangerous on special teams again.

6. What is the Best OL Combination?

With Zach Crabtree, Aaron Cochran and Brad Lundblade likely going pro in something other than sports, Josh Henson will have his hands full this spring to find the right combination. He’ll have some pieces to work with, which actually might make the permutations more complicated, not less.

7. Where do You Find Depth For Green and Williams?

When A.J. Green and Rodarius Williams went down in the Camping World Bowl, OSU put two guys at corner who are listed at safety in the media guide. Not good! You have to figure out a depth chart behind your two starting corners for Big 12 play, not only in case they get injured but also because it’s kind of crazy to roll the same two guys out for most of your 966 plays on defense in this league. Corners should be more like defensive ends in the Big 12 — you can have your starters but have plenty of guys to rotate in as well.

8. How Can You Maximize 1?

Calvin Bundage is Oklahoma State’s biggest problem on defense. Let him be a problem. Allow him to be a problem. Force him into being a bigger problem. Just as you would cater an offense to the James Washingtons and Justice Hills of the world, it would be prudent to do so on defense with the Calvin Bundages of the world.

9. Lean Run or Stay the same?

One of the markers of Gundy as a great coach in the early part of his career was his willingness to lay his ego down and morph his offenses to fit his personnel. He doesn’t have to do that as much now, but with a lineup of elite backs chomping at the bit to get the rock in 2018 and potentially a true freshman handing it off to them, he has an opportunity next season to go more run heavy (think 2008 and 2009).

I don’t think they will completely change the playbook, but I do think Gundy and Co. will rely more on Hill, Hubbard, LD Brown and J.D. King than they will on Sanders (or the Oil Baron or Keondre Wudtee).

10. What Year Are You Playing For?

It’s a question not all coaches have the luxury of asking. Even if Sanders doesn’t have it, you can still start him as long as you concede (at least internally) that you’re not playing for 2018. Mason Rudolph was good in Year 2 specifically because he played in Year 1. I think OSU can get away with that again, but if Sanders doesn’t have the goods and you want to eke out 8-9 wins in 2018, it might be best to call upon the Oil Baron to see what’s in the well.