The Top 5 Quotes from Mike Gundy’s Monday News Conference

STILLWATER — Mike Gundy’s Cowboys are 1-0 and ready to host an SEC foe.

Oklahoma State’s coach met with the media on Monday to preview the Cowboys’ upcoming game against Arkansas and put a bow on the Cowboys’ 44-20 win against South Dakota State. Here are five things he said. There is a video of his full news conference below.

1. Razorbacks ‘As Talented as Anybody’ OSU Will Play This Year

The Razorbacks might’ve gone 4-8 last season, but five of those losses were one-score games — that included a two-week stretch that saw Arkansas lose 27-20 at Ole Miss and 24-21 at Alabama.

Arkansas handled business in Week 1 — blowing out Arkansas-Pine Bluff 70-0. Pine Bluff was just a 2-9 FCS team last season, but the Razorbacks can only play who is on their schedule. Being an SEC team means Arkansas isn’t short on talent, something Gundy pointed out Monday.

“I’ve scanned through them over the summer, and they had four or five games last year that they could’ve won,” Gundy said. “I don’t know what their record was last year, but it looked to me they could’ve won eight games pretty easy in obviously a very difficult conference. They played against good teams and lost (by) single-digit points late in the fourth quarter.

“So, this team that we’re playing Saturday – regardless of what anybody in the country may think – will be as talented as anybody we play this year, in my opinion.”

2. Bowman After Watching Film

Alan Bowman on Saturday had the highest completion percentage in his time as a Cowboy, and after finishing last season with 15 touchdowns to 14 interceptions, he starts his seventh year of college football with two touchdowns and no interceptions (he had three touchdowns at the end of the game, but his touchdown pass to Ollie Gordon was later ruled a Gordon rush).

Bowman had a higher yardage total in eight games last season, but given his control of things against South Dakota State, that might’ve been his best game at OSU thus far. At the very least, it was a solid starting point for his seventh year of college football.

“I thought he played very well for what we ask our quarterbacks to do in this system,” Gundy said. “And the improvement that you guys see, which I’m guessing from what he did in this game compared to the majority of the games he did last year, was good, and he distributed the ball in a manner that we asked him to in our system. And he did a nice job sitting in the pocket and relaxing and making some throws after he had really good protection.”

3. Sideline Tablets, In-Helmet Communication Smooth in Week 1

There’s new technology on college sidelines this season, as teams are now allowed to use tablets to get a bird’s-eye view of what they’re seeing between series. And certain players have in-helmet earpieces so they can hear coaches talking over their headsets until there is 15 seconds left on the play clock.

With it being so new, teams will probably adjust throughout these first few weeks as how to best utilize it, but Gundy said he was pleased with how smooth everything went for Game 1.

“We had that discussion yesterday and it was all pretty smooth,” Gundy said. “I’ll be honest with you, much smoother than what I thought it would be with all the new technology during the game with so many other things going on. The newness of it was a real concern of mine, and it actually still is now, but we didn’t have many glitches. And I was pleased with the way that it came through. …

“Now a days, these kids will probably try to pull YouTube up to watch some goofy video. Smart players will go back and continue to watch the game. It’s like taking a cheat sheet into the test, so you can go and look and see what all the answers are and then go back out and play.”

4. The OSU-Arkansas Game’s Effect on Recruiting

Stillwater is closer to Fayetteville than Stillwater is to any school in the Big 12 now that OU is gone. Despite that, the Cowboys and Razorbacks haven’t played on the gridiron since 1980.

But though the teams haven’t met on the field in 44 years, they have had a few good recruiting battles. Proximity will do that to you. Arkansas has four players on its roster from Oklahoma, and OSU has four players from Arkansas. There are recent and historic examples of the state sharing football players. Leslie O’Neal (OSU’s leader in career sacks) is from Arkansas. Meanwhile, OSU has grabbed two Oklahomans out of the portal in recent seasons from Arkansas in Collin Clay and AJ Green.

At one time, the result of this game (after so many years the series was dormant) might’ve meant something in the recruiting landscape. But given the NIL world we live in, Gundy said he isn’t so sure that’s the case anymore.

“With the business side of what we’re getting into, I don’t know anymore,” Gundy said. “I think the business side — based on the same thing we talk about over and over — if (judge Claudia Wilken) signs off on what we think she’s gonna sign off on, recruiting will be limited. Negotiating will be prominent.”

5. On O’Neal’s Ring of Honor Nod

Leslie O’Neal will go into the Cowboys’ Ring of Honor on Saturday, becoming the first defensive player to earn such a recognition.

He’s the program’s all-time leader in sacks (though that might change this season) with 34. His career spanned from 1982 to 1985, where O’Neal was a two-time All-American. The San Diego Chargers took O’Neal in the first round of the 1986 NFL Draft, and he stuck in the NFL through his retirement in 1999, having made six Pro Bowls and recorded 132.5 sacks.

“It’s really interesting – our former players, we talk so much about Barry (Sanders) and Thurman (Thomas) because of the offensive position, but as far as former players that were dominant here, he was as dominant defensively as Barry and Thurman were offensively,” Gundy said. “It’s just a position that people talk about a lot. But great player. Very moderately recruited, is what I was told, from Arkansas. Just a great player. And he had how many years in the NFL? Playing in the position he played, multiple years in the NFL is tough. Just a great player.”