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Storyline Countdown No. 5: Can OSU Keeps Its Streak of 10-Win Seasons Alive?

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PFB’s countdown to football season by counting down the 15 most intriguing storylines continues today with a look at the No. 5 storyline we’re tracking going into 2018.

Storyline rank: No. 5
Storyline: Can OSU keep its streak of 10-win seasons alive?

Why this matters: Since the catastrophe that was 2014, the Cowboys have won 10 games the past three seasons. The only Power Five schools to win at least 10 games a season the past three years are Alabama, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Clemson. With that being said, times have changed in Stillwater. The Mason Rudolph era is over, and the team is in the hands of fifth-year senior and former walk-on Taylor Cornelius.

How it could play out: To road map it, the Cowboys would likely need to unequivocally beat Missouri State, South Alabama, Texas Tech, Kansas, Iowa State, and Baylor (amounting to six wins). That leaves the Cowboys needing to win four (at least) more in games against Boise State, Kansas State, Texas, Oklahoma, West Virginia and TCU.

The good news in that for OSU fans is that the games against Boise State, Texas and West Virginia are home. But, the Cowboys haven’t gone unbeaten at home since 2011 (I’ll give you an asterisk for 2016). So, let’s say the Cowboys, perhaps generously, lose one home game this season (putting this map at eight wins).

The Cowboys would then have to win two of four against Kansas State, Oklahoma, TCU and whatever bowl game they’re in.

Mike Gundy’s thoughts: Gundy hasn’t talked too much about getting to a benchmark number of wins, which why would he need to? Something I found interesting, though, is Gundy’s philosophy on getting the ball to his playmakers, and that harboring results.

“From a basketball standpoint, if you have a fantastic shooter, we’ve got to make sure that he shoots the ball 25 times, so he could shoot 50 percent maybe and give us a chance to win,” Gundy said. “What we have done for a number of years is list from one to eight, if you are that lucky, skill guys. If you had to say, ‘This is the guy I need to touch the ball the most that help us score touchdowns, who would that be? And then who is second, who is third, who is fourth, who is fifth and all the way down.’ We’ve been lucky around here. Last year we had 10 of those guys. That was a long list. We felt pretty good about seven and eight touching the ball, but it’s really the first four or five guys. That’s the only things I’ve asked the staff to do is just important to know the guys that can actually make a play, needs to touch the ball during the game.

“We used to have those issues with Dez (Bryant) the way people played Dez. So we used to have schemes that sometimes we had to run him and hand the ball to him or flip the ball to him so he could touch the ball. So that’s kind of the concept that I would like these guys to use in the offensive room, with the maturity and the talent we have at that position.”

My thoughts: This is tough. One thing I’ve learned about OSU in my near 23 years of life is that you can almost always count on the Cowboys to lose a game they should’ve won.

I go back and forth on how I think the season will go by the hour, but for now, mark me down for 9-4. If I had to say right now, I think the Cowboys would lose to Boise State (the game they should’ve won), Oklahoma, West Virginia and TCU. Then, after the three straight losses, they’ll slaughter someone in a bowl game. If you’d like to be a little more hopeful for the Cowboys’ having another 10-win season, Kyle Boone wrote about how OSU will win 10 games a few days ago.

Previous Countdowns

No. 15: How will OSU use all its running backs in 2018?
No. 14: Will Rodarius Williams and A.J. Green have to play as much as they did in 2017?
No. 13: Is Tyron Johnson the X-Factor for OSU?
No. 12: Which Cowboy Back Will Emerge for OSU?
No. 11: How does a reloading year shape expectations?
No. 10: Why is Mike Yurcich not more beloved in Stillwater?
No. 9: How much better will the offensive line be in 2018?
No. 8: Who will be “the guy” on defense?
No. 7: Which Wide Reciever Will Emerge as the No. 1 Option?
No. 6: Is OSU’s special teams fixed?

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