MORGANTOWN — While Oklahoma State hasn’t quite lived up to the expectations Mike Gundy has set with the Cowboys this season, Bedlam is still critical to the Big 12 Championship game could shape up on Dec. 1.
Oklahoma sits atop the Big 12 standings and is in the driver’s seat to make the title game in Arlington, Texas, but Bedlam has its name for a reason.
There hasn’t been much for Oklahoma State to be excited about in the rivalry lately, either. Gundy is 2-11 in his 13 games against the Sooners, the only two wins coming 2011 and 2014. However, the Cowboys’ 2014 win was an upset, though minor, with an overtime field goal in Norman against the No. 22 Sooners.
Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley doesn’t know what it’s like to lose to Oklahoma State since arriving in 2015.
“They’ve been battles, I know that,” Riley, who will coach in his fourth Bedlam, said. “They’ve been absolutely battles. The first couple, we had a chance to separate a little bit in those games, but they’ve always been battles. You can feel the intensity of the rivalry. It’s been a game that’s been very relevant on the national stage here for the last several years.”
Oklahoma (8-1, 5-1) is in the thick of the College Football Playoff hunt, coming in at No. 6 this week, two off the pace. Oklahoma State (5-4, 2-4), after beating Texas on Oct. 27, was upset by Baylor last week in Waco.
Penalties have been an issue over the last few weeks for the Cowboys. In the loss to the Bears, they had 12 penalties for 133 yards, including thee 15-yarders on Baylor’s two scoring drives in the fourth quarter.
OSU is averaging 90 penalties yards per game and said that he’s going to start looking into different disciplinary tactics to solve the problem if needed.
“We have to be a more disciplined football team,” Gundy said. “And the decisions that we have to make from here on out have to be so that, if I don’t come in on a curfew, that’s I’m not losing my truck for two weeks, I’m losing my truck for two months. Do I want to lose my truck for two months and stay out after curfew? Well, that’s your choice. That’s what has to happen.”
Last week was the Sooners’ worst defensive performance since firing defensive coordinator Mike Stoops in early October.
Riley isn’t too concerned, consider Texas Tech has one of the best offenses in the nation, and he knows the effort was there.
“We weren’t great, we weren’t terrible, we were somewhere in between,” Riley said. “We were tough. We played really, really hard.”
Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. on ABC.
Big 12 schedule
TCU at West Virginia, noon (FS1)
Kansas State at Kansas, noon
Oklahoma State at Oklahoma, 3:30 p.m. (ABC)
Baylor at Iowa State, 3:30 p.m. (FS1)
Texas at Texas Tech, 7:30 p.m. (FOX)
Twitter @SeanManning_DP
