The Top 5 Quotes from Mike Gundy’s Texas Bowl News Conference

HOUSTON — It’s become commonplace for Mike Gundy to lead his Cowboys to double-digit wins and bowl success.

Oklahoma State beat Texas A&M 31-23 on Wednesday in the Texas Bowl to advance to 10-4 on the year. Here are five things Gundy said after the game with a video of his full news conference below.

1. ‘You Play to Win the Game’

Gundy has coached a team to double-digit wins for the eighth time.

The Cowboys’ win in the Texas Bowl pushed the Pokes to 10-4 in a year where OSU started 2-2 with a loss to a Sun Belt team. Gundy also moved to 12-6 in bowl games, another impressive stat given how bowl games seem to be going out of style elsewhere.

“There’s been a lot of talk about the bowls and such,” Gundy said. “We stayed with what our philosophy is going to be: we wanted to have spring practice with about 25% of our practice preparing for what we thought we would see from A&M. And it was difficult, I’ll be honest with you because you’re just kinda reaching for what you’re gonna see, but I’ll also say that it’s important that you play to win the game. That’ll always be important to us. If we’re going to compete, whether it’s in a bowl game — no matter who’s coaching or what’s going on — or out here in the parking lot, we’re gonna try to compete and find a way to win. I think that’s very, very important.”

2. On Gunnar’s Score

Wednesday might’ve been the last time Gundy will coach one of his sons, but if it is the last time, it went out on a high note.

Gunnar Gundy, who is in the transfer portal, was in for one play. In that one play, Gunnar scored on a 10-yard run in a special redzone package.

Gunnar was part of the Cowboys’ three-quarterback rotation at the start of the year before Bowman won the job. What set him apart was his running ability, which was evident Wednesday. Gunnar has since entered the portal but stayed with the team for the bowl game.

“We had a package for him because we thought we might need the extra body with using Ollie as a blocker — or whoever is at running back — to give us that number to run the ball in,” Gundy said.

3. Making Adjustments with the Portal

The Cowboys are in a wildly different spot at the end of 2023 compared to the end of 2022.

Sure, OSU has some players in the transfer portal, but it’s nothing like the mass exodus of last season. Portal exits of Jaden Bray, Blaine Green and Jaden Nixon might hurt some, but compared to the likes of Spencer Sanders, Mason Cobb, Jabbar Muhammad, John Paul Richardson and Thomas Harper hopping in the portal last year, the waters are much more calm.

“We have made adjustments as coaches,” Gundy said. “I have made adjustments as a head coach in trying to stay ahead of the volatility of college football. The one thing we can do as coaches is take care of our players, be upfront and honest with them, and continue with discipline, structure and accountability, loyalty. And then they make the decision on what they wanna do. They play the games. We don’t play the games.”

4. On Owens’ Emergence

It was a wonder whether OSU would make a bowl game four weeks into the season, so it seems extra crazy that Rashod Owens of all people would pick up bowl MVP honors en route to notching the Cowboys’ 10th win.

Owens caught 10 passes for 162 yards and two touchdowns against the Aggies. Owens was a depth piece to start the year, but injuries forced him into an increased role starting in the Kansas State game — when OSU started winning. Since that win against the Wildcats, Owens has three games of 100 receiving yards and five touchdowns.

“We’ve had a few guys on our team that started out down on the depth chart, and they worked their way up and then they took over when we needed them,” Gundy said. “And they played at a really, really high level. And he’s one of them — continued to make plays. You guys have seen him make plays over the last two months of the season and we trust him.”

5. On Bowman’s Waiver

The Cowboys are returning their superstar tailback and five starting offensive linemen, but their quarterback’s eligibility is still in the air.

Alan Bowman is in the process of applying for a waiver to be eligible for a seventh year of college football. As of Wednesday, the status of that waiver is still unknown.

“The time line with [the NCAA], we don’t know much,” Gundy said. “Could be three days. Could be three weeks. I couldn’t imagine it would be more than three weeks because you have all the other things going on with college football that are now the timelines. But we don’t know a lot about what’s going on.”