2011 Oklahoma State Cowboys Football Preview

Much like their counterparts from Missouri, the Oklahoma State Cowboys could very well be on the precipice of breaking into elite status as a program. Like the Tigers in the Show Me State, OSU stands to benefit from the departure of Nebraska and the resulting creation of a 10-team Big 12 Conference that no longer features divisional competition. Oklahoma State is one of several teams in the Big 12 that could produce a big season, but until potential is finally fulfilled, the word “if” is going to loom large in and around Stillwater, not to mention the other college towns in the conference.

Head coach Mike Gundy has won at least nine games in three consecutive seasons for the Cowboys. Moreover, he’s done so while finishing two of those years in the top 20. An 11-win 2010 and the return of two prime players - All-Big 12 First Team quarterback Brandon Weeden and All-American wide receiver Justin Blackmon - have the locals excited. Through-the-roof expectations might not be in order for this team, but one couldn’t blame OSU fans for being giddy about their team’s prospects. The opening exists for a breakout year; it’s just that the margin for error is small in such a competitive league defined by many teams that are in Oklahoma State’s position.

The Cowboys return 10 total starters from an offense which finished second in the nation in passing and 29th in rushing last year. There is, however, a large question mark: Offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen, the mastermind of the Cowboys’ spread attack, is no longer on staff after taking the head coaching job at West Virginia. Will the Cowboys see a drop in production under new coordinator Todd Monken? Of all the changes that have occurred in this program over the course of the offseason, that’s the most prominent and influential one. Holgorsen delivered lights-out results at Houston and then Oklahoma State. He rose quickly in the coaching profession for a reason, so his absence is likely to matter even though Gundy, the head coach, is an appreciably solid play-caller in his own right.

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The Cowboys defense brings back six starters from a year ago. This new group will have a little leeway to grow when one considers the dominant returning talent on the offensive side of the ball. Make no mistake, though: one should place a considerable amount of emphasis on the word “little.” Even when the Pokes rang up 41 points last year – against Nebraska and Oklahoma – they lost at home because their defense gave up 51 (to the Huskers) and 47 points (to the Sooners). Oklahoma State must play better defense if it wants that breakout season. In a strange twist of coincidence, the Cowboys’ first test of the season will be in week two when they play Arizona in Stillwater. That’s the same Arizona squad which was torched by Oklahoma State in the Alamo Bowl. Road trips to Texas A&M, Texas, and Missouri will be difficult tasks as well. The Big 12 title may very well come down to the final week of the season when the Cowboys take on heated rival Oklahoma. If things go as planned for Oklahoma State, there would be no better way to put the program on a higher plane than by defeating Oklahoma on its way there. Beating the Sooners in Norman, though, will be a monstrously difficult task. To be candid, the OU game might obviously receive more publicity than any other contest on Oklahoma State’s schedule, but the ability to win every other Big 12 game is what will actually define the successfulness of this season. A strong second-place showing behind Oklahoma with an 11-1 record is the target OSU fans should have in mind. A 10-2 mark would be nothing to complain about as well, but 9-3 would certainly rate as a missed opportunity on the South Central Plains.