POSSE Magazine - September 2012

At Byford, we believe in priorities—and you’re on the top of that list. We want every customer who comes through our door to have the best possible experience with us. And when you think about that,

it’s not surprising that we sell terrific cars and trucks at great prices. After all, what better way to make sure our customers are happy? Come visit Byford Buick GMC and see for yourself.

COMe iN a ND See OUr F UL L L iNe OF BUICK a ND GMC TrUCKS, SUVS a ND COMMerCia L VeHiCL eS

University Architect and Heritage Society member NIGEL JONES has dedicated more than two decades of his life to shaping and building OSU’s future. Jones’ passion led him to make an ultimate gift to the university. In addition to supporting his loved ones, his estate, through an estimated $500,000 bequest, will enrich the OSU campus with art.

His gift demonstrates his loyalty to OSU and devotion to his profession, while inspiring others to consider estate gifts as a way to invest in the university’s future.

If you have chosen to support OSU through your will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan or other estate provision, we invite you to join the Heritage Society. By sharing the good news of your generosity with us, we can help ensure your wishes for its use are met.

To discover how easily you can establish a planned gift, contact the OSU Foundation at 405-385-5148 or email giftplanning@OSUgiving.com or visit OSUgiving.giftlegacy.com.

“ IT IS COMFORTING TO SAY THAT MY ESTATE WILL BE DOING SOMETHING IN THE FUTURE THAT I WOULD APPRECIATE.” - NIGEL JONES

4

and Cowgirl sports.

First, I’d like to thank you for helping us set another record for football season ticket sales. At press time, sales have topped the 44,000 mark , with the potential for more records due to fall with student sales. Your support has made the current era of OSU athletics one of the most successful in the history of the university.

Your contributions to facilities have made a profound and immediate impact on recruiting. Your willingness to endow scholarship funds has allowed us to better support some of our Olympic sports, like track and field and tennis .

This year looks to be as exciting as the last. Our football team is ranked in the preseason top 25 poll , and the soccer team , which was ranked 5th in the country before the season began, is already off to another good start. Our men’s basketball team fared well in an exhibition tour in Spain, giving them valuable preseason experience.

We talk about it a lot, but season ticket sales are the lifeblood of the athletic department. Season tickets pay for the future of our student-athletes, which makes you directly responsible for the opportunities they receive. Without you, much of what we do would not be possible.

We hit a record this year in football. Let’s break records in soccer, basketball, baseball, softball and all our other sports as well.

As always, thank you for your continued support of OSU athletics. I hope to see you at the games.

MIKE HOLDER Director of intercollegiate athletics Former OSU Men’s Golf Coach OSU Class of 1973

It’s time for another exciting year of Cowboy

40 THE ISLANDERS

No man is an island ... unless you’re a cornerback ...

BY PHIL SHOCKLEY

Brodrick

PHOTO / PHil sHOckley

SEPTEMBER

posse pokes

POSSE

C e d irector of d e V elo P ment / athletics m att g rantham

Project m anager Sha W n t aylor

OS u POSSE

102 athletics c enter s tillW ater, ok 74078-5070

P 405-744-3322

F 405-744-9084

WWW .o KS tate P o SS e. C om o KS tate P o SS e

P o SS e@o KS tate.edu @ o S u P o SS e

ADVERTISING 405.744.7301

EDITORIAL 405.744.7192

Donations received may be transferred to Cowboy Athletics, Inc. in accordance with the Joint Resolution among Oklahoma State University, the Oklahoma State University Foundation, and Cowboy Athletics, Inc.

POSSE magazine is published four times a year by Oklahoma State University Athletic Department and the POSSE, and is mailed to current members of the POSSE. Magazine subscriptions available by membership in the POSSE only. Membership is $150 annually. Postage paid at Stillwater, OK, and additional mailing offices. Oklahoma State University, in compliance with Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Executive Order 11246 as amended, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and other federal laws and regulations, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, disability, or status as a veteran in any of its policies, practices or procedures. This includes but is not limited to admissions, employment, financial aid, and educational services. Title IX of the Education Amendments and Oklahoma State University policy prohibit discrimination in the provision of services or benefits offered by the University based on gender. Any person (student, faculty or staff) who believes that discriminatory practices have been engaged in based upon gender may discuss their concerns and file informal or formal complaints of possible violations of Title IX with the OSU Title IX Coordinator, Mackenzie Wilfong, J.D., Director of Affirmative Action, 408 Whitehurst, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, (405) 744-5371 or (405) 744-5576 (fax). This publication, issued by Oklahoma State University as authorized by the Assistant Athletic Director, POSSE, was printed by Southwestern Stationers at a cost of $0.9577 per issue. 10M/Aug 2012/#4433.

Tw O OF O u R Sta FF P hotogra P her S , Phil ShOcklEy AND gary lawSOn w ON A w ARDS AT T h IS y EAR ’ S oK lahoma College Pu B li C r elation S aSS o C iation (OCPRA).

The golf cover image won Fir S t Pla C e in the Traditional Photography category at this year’s OCPRA. The helmet cover won Se C ond Pla C e for Cover Design . The football image, featuring Josh Cooper, won the e x C ellen C e aWard in the Traditional Photography — Sports category.

Phil shockley Phil shockley Gary lawson

Once again, i would like to take this opportunity to thank yOu

Your commitment to the POSS e provides critical support for more than 450 studentathletes from each of our 18 sports and greatly enhances our ability to achieve excellence in all areas. Our student-athletes, coaches and staff realize we have a great responsibility to continue to build upon the outstanding tradition at OSU. Your partnership through your POSSE membership and ticket sales helps make our efforts possible.

with the 2012-13 sports season now upon us, I would like to take this opportunity to highlight a new area where we have invested resources to help offer the best possible customer service experience for you as a POSSE Member and Season Ticket Holder — our sales and Customer s ervice department.

This department is more than just a call center. This isn’t telemarketing. There is no hard sell, no pressure. The Sales and Customer Service department is here to give you the best possible fan experience. If you need to get in touch with someone in the Media Relations office, for instance, call us and we’ll connect you directly. If you want to buy a single-game ticket for any sport, or better still, season tickets, we can take care of that, too. If you’d like to donate to OSU athletics through the POSSE, we’re here to assist you with your donation. Even if you just want to know what time kick-off is, we can help.

for all that you do to support oklahoma s tate University and our athletics program.

A common theme with OSU is that of family. When you contact our Sales and Customer Service department, you can reasonably expect to be able to talk to the same person you talked to the last time you called. We want you to feel like family when you call us.

When we started the program five years ago, we put a focus on hiring students who want to make a career in sports, and partnered with the Sports Management program on campus, as well as the Sports Marketing Club. Our students are motivated because this is hands-on training for their careers.

We now employ 12 students and seven full-time employees. “ Fan services” are open year around, so you should be able to call and ask for whoever helped you before by their first name — just another way of adding a personal touch. For instance, this year, we’ve assigned our fan services reps (Ste P heny FrederiKS en 405-744-4982; Chri S t ho B urn

405-744-4871; and Samantha d e r u SS o 405744-9197 ) to different seating sections in football. They should be calling you to introduce themselves very soon, if they haven’t already. If you need anything, feel free to call them.

In recent years, we’ve added technologies to help make your OSU ticket buying experience easier, such as the Virtual Venue and OSU Athletics Account Manager. But we understand that sometimes, you don’t want to click around on a web page, sometimes, you want to talk to a real person. When you do, call us, you’ll get to talk to someone who’ll care and understand your needs.

We hope that with the addition of these efforts we will continue to make your experience as a POSSE member and season ticket holder more enjoyable and convenient.

If you know someone who would like purchase season tickets or join the posse , please call us at 877-all -4-OSu (877-255-4678) or visit www.okstate.com . Annual donations to Athletics totaling $150 or more qualify for membership in the POSSE and included an annual subscription to the award winning POSSE magazine, the POSSE star decal for your automobile and an educational tax deduction. Get your friends and family involved today!

We are very appreciative of your consideration and support of OSU Athletics!

PhotograPhy by phil shockley

a Lasting Legacy

S tory By clay BillMan

The Bartlesville native passed away in May from a pulmonary embolism (blood clot) while being treated for a collapsed lung. He left behind a grieving family, friends as close as brothers, a dog named Pistol and one orange tuxedo.

The church was decked-out more like a pep-rally than a funeral.

“It was the orangest service I’ve ever been to,” says Larry Reece, OSU public address announcer and associate athletic director for development. “It had a bigtime OSU feel. At the cemetery, dozens of orange, black and white balloons were released. It was touching.

“And then the tailgate party started after that.”

“It is not length of life, but depth of life.” RALPH WALdO emeRSON

For all of his 27 years, Michae L grisMOre lived deeply. For one-third of his life, he lived Orange.

In true Grismore style, friends and family celebrated “Mo’s” love of attending Cowboy games.

“His buddies really honored him well that day,” Reece says. “A lot of people went and put on their OSU gear. I put on my Big 12 Championship hat.”

“Michael would have had everything orange if he could,” says his wife Heather. “He wanted our wedding orange, but with bridesmaids’ dresses it didn’t work out at the time. He wanted our front door to be painted orange. He ordered custom-made Nike shoes online, Oklahoma State Oakley sunglasses …

“That whole saying, ‘Live Orange’ — he lived it. He bled it. Everything.”

The couple met while sophomores at OSU, introduced in a trap set by mutual friends.

“Kevin Bell and Brad Jordan lived in the apartment above me. When Michael was over there one day, Brad carried me up the stairs, plopped me in front of the door, knocked and ran around the corner.

I was forced to stand there and come up for some excuse for why I was at the door, so I asked for index cards. Kevin walked me into his room said, ‘Oh, hey, this is Mo.’ He was just lying on the bed, exhausted because he was going through his pledgeship for Sigma Nu. I didn’t look at him. I was completely embarrassed. Michael didn’t really look at me either. So I grabbed the index cards and left.”

A week later Michael called Heather to ask her out on a date.

The courtship lasted four years, and in that time, Heather got to see his passion for Cowboy athletics first-hand.

“That first winter when we started dating, Michael came over to my apartment after we lost to UT at Gallagher-Iba Arena. His eyes started welling up because he was so heartbroken by that loss. He told me then, ‘You know I have to really care about you if I’m coming here, because otherwise I’d be going home.’

“He got me to be more of a sports fan,” she admits. “I enjoyed it, but he definitely added fuel to the fire. He was an all-around sports fan, but Cowboy Basketball was probably his favorite.”

“I’ve never met anyone so proud of their alma mater like Mo was,” Bell says. “He was orange to the bone. He was kind of a cult hero around campus for dressing up in his orange tuxedo for basketball games — even exhibition games!

The friends were part of the self-proclaimed “Northside Nasties,” a rowdy throng of students on the north courtside bleachers. (On the opposite end of the court were the “Southside Savages.”) Bell wore a referee’s jersey. Mo and Travis Phelps were dapper in their tangerine tuxes.

“You couldn’t miss our group of guys,” says Phelps. “During our sophomore and junior years, Mo and I wore Blues Brothers outfits (black suit, orange shirt, white shoes, black and orange tie, orange afro wig and sunglasses). At the start of our senior year, my dad brought back a custom-made orange suit for me from China. Once Mo got a look at it, there was no way he wasn’t getting one. He was the most competitive person I know. Sure enough, he had one at the start of conference play. We had a lot of fun dressing up, and hopefully we made basketball games more fun for the fans and players alike.”

“We spent countless hours camping out for football and basketball games,” says Tommy Christian. “Our crew set up a tent just outside GIA and camped for five days to get the best seats possible for the Final Four. I will never forget that evening before the ticket windows opened, just the excitement we all had to share in this together as a life-long dream for a group of friends who grew up OSU fans. We were there so early we were able to get on the 4th row.”

The circle of friends, old and new, continued to grow after graduation.

“Our group of friends always enjoyed sitting next to each other, even making sure our tickets were by each other when we were out of school and married,” Bell says. “We certainly witnessed the highs and lows of OSU athletics through the past number of years as a collective family.”

“He was truly a special man that would do anything for his friends,” Christian adds. “In the days after his death, I think someone said it best when they noted how many people considered Mo a best friend. ‘Michael was not someone who had a best friend — he had 50!’”

“Always have faith in God, yourself and the Cowboys.”

EddiE Sutton

“He had tons of friends,” Heather confirms, “starting in elementary school in Bartlesville, high school, and several others came from the accounting program at OSU. He made friends wherever he went. Once he had a friend, he kept that friend. He was good about calling, staying in touch, making sure he spent time with people. He always tried to make people comfortable, whether it was talking sports or other things. He just had an uncanny ability to get along with people …

“If he did something, whether it was OSU or friends or family, he would do it 100 percent. He would go all out.”

Football tailgates were no exception.

“Before every football game, he’d be the first person to send out e-mails to everybody with a list of what we were doing for the tailgate. He would completely organize this huge event, down to the last detail. It was a full-day event. They’d have the tents out there early to mark the spot. We were always the first ones out there in the parking lot getting set up.”

“Tailgating allowed Mo to enjoy his two favorite things in the world: friends and OSU sports,” Christian says. “No one would be a stranger at our tailgate. He loved to make an event out of the day and really took it to the next level. Michael created the menu and made sure everything had a purpose, such as grilled ‘Dawgs’ for the Georgia game.”

Michael and Heather also enjoyed annual postseason parties with friends and family. The more the merrier.

“My parents and brother would go with us to all the bowl games,” Heather says. “It was a huge group. It kind of became a tradition. His brother David just graduated this year. They were extremely close, too. He was really close to his family.”

It was that family connection that brought Michael back to Bartlesville after he completed his master’s in accounting.

“He wanted to be close to his family, and it worked out,” Heather says. “He got a job with the accounting firm Ernst & Young, auditing ConocoPhillips, so that took us back to Bartlesville. We’ve grown a pretty good network of friends and got connected to a church there. Once he got involved in the church, it was just full speed ahead with Bible study groups and our Sunday school class. Anything he got involved with, he put his mind to it and really gave it his all.

“He knew how to plan ahead,” she says. “He had goals for the future and he knew how to strive for those. He was very goal-oriented.”

During the 2010 Cowboy Caravan stop in Bartlesville, the couple approached Reece with a plan to give back to their alma mater and accomplish one of those goals.

“I got up and spoke as we do at every caravan about our ‘Leave a Legacy’ program,” Reece recalls. “Michael and Heather wanted to visit further on endowing a scholarship. It was a little bit shocking to me, just because of how young they were at the time, because most people when they talk about leaving a legacy they’re at a much older age. To have a couple in their mid-twenties thinking about that was pretty extraordinary.”

With a matching offer from t . Boone Pickens, the Grismores signed a pledge to endow a quarter-scholarship ($125,000) for men’s basketball.

“It took a little bit of talking, but it was a pretty quick decision,” Heather says. “Michael was a CPA, so he was very much a planner. He was able to map out how it would work and what we could do. We felt confident enough in our situation and we wanted to help out to give back somehow.”

“They’ve already paid two years of it,” Reece says. “We’re talking about some ways to continue that scholarship. He’s got a lot of great friends that want to see that scholarship fulfilled and maybe even increased, so we’re in some talks about ways to do that in his honor.

“I’ve always thought that we should do a story on this young couple as great supporters of Oklahoma State, I just didn’t know there was going to be a tragic part to the story,” Reece adds. “They’re a great example of how you can be young and be thinking about these types of things. It’s just tragic that we’ve lost Michael, because he was such a great person and a great fan, but the fact that he was thinking about leaving his legacy at such a young age is remarkable.”

Heather says her faith (and Michael’s) has sustained her in this difficult time.

“I really feel like there was a reason for it,” she says. “I feel very strong. My faith has really come in and has been tested, but I will tell anybody now that I know God comes through. I will use this as a witnessing testimony. We’ve had several friends contact us, asking about the faith Michael had and how they could have it. As hard as it is, it’s becoming a very marvelous event to see how he is having that impact now.”

An elementary special education teacher, Heather has endured a long summer break trying to cope with the immense void in her life.

“I’m still going,” she says. “From the moment the summer started, that has been my goal: make it through each day. Just make it to the fall. Make it through the summer. Fall brings back school and work and all of the patterns and routines.”

And football.

“It’s my intention to keep it up and go to the games,” she says. “And we’ll have someone there in his seat every time.”

1, 2012

Osu athLetics PriOrity POint systeM

The Pri O ri T y P O in T Sy ST em provides a fair, consistent and transparent method of providing benefits to donors in exchange for their financial investments in OSU athletics.

dO n O r S gain PO in TS T hree way S :

C O n T ri Bu T iO n S: All current and lifetime contributions (cash or stock) are worth 3 points per $100 donation. Planned (deferred) gifts in the new Leave a Legacy Endowment Campaign will receive 1 point per $100.

C O mmi T men T: Donors will earn one point each year for purchasing season tickets (one point per sport annually), as well as one point for each year of POSSE donations.

C O nne CT i O n wi T h T he u niver S i T y: Donors (or their spouses) who are OSU Alumni receive a one-time 10 point bonus, as do OSU faculty/staff and letterwinners.

Points never diminish and will carry over to subsequent years. Donors retain all previously earned Priority Points in their giving history. For questions about the POSSE Priority Point System, email posse@okstate.edu or call us at 405.744.7301

swinging hitting the ground

You have to immediately get to know your new players, make sure they’re comfortable with you and your system, and you’re comfortable with them. You have to hire your staff, maybe get rid of some staff. You have to find a place to live.

There’s a lot to do when you’ re a new coach on campus.

J AY UdWA diA

PHOTOGRAPHY bY gary lawSOn

n e W men’ S tenni S Coa

Ch Jay Udwadia

was an hour and a half away from closing on his house the Friday before the fall semester started, and had just nabbed the no. 13 ranked tennis recruit — Richard Del Nunzio — a few days earlier. His office phone rang about every 30 seconds, with questions coming in about scheduling and travel plans, and he sat in his chair with the sort of tension of someone who’d rather be on his feet doing something, certainly anything other than talking to POSSE Magazine. And yet, there he was, like so many other OSU coaches, being generous with his time.

While busy, his transition to OSU has not been entirely upending.

“In coaching and athletics, you can wind up anywhere. I’m fortunate in that I’ve been in this part of the country before for four years at Arkansas. I kind of know the area. I’ve traveled to Tulsa quite a bit for tennis tournaments. Stillwater is definitely not a huge city, but it’s a sports town. There are a lot of benefits to being in a community that really reaches out to support your team.

Udwadia grew up in Williamsville, NY, which is basically Buffalo. He thinks there are similarities between buffalo and Stillwater.

“It’s a sports town,” he says. “Buffalo Bills. Sabers. Kind of a blue collar kind of town. in a sense that it’s a sports town, it’s similar to Stillwater. buffalo is sort of the Stillwater of New York.”

Udwadia’s sport is tennis. Every coach gets into the profession because they have a passion for the game itself, and Udwadia is no exception. In his case, tennis was in the family. His mother influenced him and his two older brothers to start playing. His brothers both went on to play Division I tennis. He followed in their footsteps, playing at the University of Arkansas where he was team captain his senior season.

After finishing his four years of eligibility at Arkansas, Udwadia spent two years on the ATP tour, and played in France and Australia. Only after giving professional tennis a shot did he turn back to coaching. But that was always the plan.

“I always knew when I was at Arkansas and saw the kind of lifestyle my coach had,” he says. “I always had it in the back of my head that college coaching would be something really exciting to do. My theory was to get my education, play a few tournaments, see the world, then go into college tennis. That was my path.”

Like a lot of young coaches, he still plays.

“I’m not competing the same way I did 10 years ago. I really enjoy competing. But tennis is one of those sports you can play for the rest of your life, like golf. It’s a physical game. It’s a running game, and you need to have your legs, but it’s also a mental game. It challenges you in both respects.”

His first coaching job was at Northwestern, a traditionally strong tennis program. The transition from player to coach was swift, though not without challenges.

“All those years you’re focused on developing yourself, and that first year, I had to change that to looking across the net and focusing on the players,” he says. “But I love to compete, and coaching is a vehicle for me to keep competing. I love that feeling of developing players and coaching successful teams. I love getting into battle and watching them improve. It keeps you stimulated. That’s what you have as a player, and it’s similar as a coach.”

Udwadia’s first head coaching job was at Drake in 2004. He was quickly recruited to Fresno State, where he spent eight years building the Bulldogs from a middle of the road program into a perennial top-25 presence. Last year, the Bulldogs climbed to as high as 14th and played in the NCAA tournament. Udwadia captured his second consecutive Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year award.

While coaching at Fresno State, he also coached the New York Buzz, a professional tennis team in the World Team Tennis league, which was founded by tennis legend Billie Jean King more than 37 years ago.

“It’s a league with former grand slam champions and current professional players on tour,” he says. “It’s very exciting, fast-paced series tennis. Going from city

to city and playing night matches against the best players in the world … it was tremendously exciting.”

Udwadia’s team won the league championship in 2008, which was a first for the franchise.

“We had a lot of talent, but we weren’t the best team in the league. We came together at the right time.”

With the Buzz and Fresno St. behind him, the coach is excited about moving to the Big 12, which he says is one of the top tennis conferences in the country.

“Traditionally, a lot of the teams are top 10 in the nation. If you’re doing well in this conference, you’re one of the best teams in the country, hands down.

“ i see a lot of potential in OS u They’ve been doing well in other sports. The facilities are great, and so is the leadership at the top. It’s a place that can grow and develop into one of the best programs in the country. I’m excited about the opportunity to get in here and start developing the team to see what we can accomplish.”

Right now, Udwadia wants to get the roster filled out, and recruit a solid foundation for the future of OSU tennis. Del Nunzio is a big first step, and a good example of the kind of player Udwadia likes to recruit.

“You need the good players,” he says. “You definitely need some talent, but the team is built around a blue collar type of work ethic. We’re a very hard working group. Our players will claw our way through matches. They’ll grind it out. They’re hard-nosed competitors. We like our athletes to be well conditioned and to have the mentality of being a worker. You can have the talent, but if you don’t have the mentality, you’re not going to go very far. I like to combine the two. I think the physical feeds the mental.

“We’re a working group and the guys will be proud to be a part of a group like that. There’s a very fine line between winning and losing at the top level, if you have a little edge to you, it might be enough to pull you through those special occasions.”

Udwadia believes collegiate tennis is on an upswing right now, in part because the professional game is becoming more and more physical.

“It’s more beneficial to play college tennis now,” he says. “When kids are 17 or 18, it’s tougher to go pro. They’re not as physically ready for the grind of playing on the pro circuit. I think we’re going to have more of an influx of players going to top college programs, which will develop more players like you see on the tour now, guys like John Isner, Todd Martin and James Blake, just to name a few.”

More exciting players means a more exciting sport, which in turn means more opportunities to get fans onboard. These days, it’s easier than ever to follow tennis … if you know where to look, and whom to watch.

“It’s the best kept secret,” Udwadia says. “But that’s part of our job … to get it out into the community. It’s an extremely exciting sport. I’ve had people not know anything about tennis come out to one of our matches and get hooked. The product is a winning one.”

And so too will be the Cowboys. While historically it’s been sometimes challenging to catch the Cowboy tennis team live, that’s being remedied by the new tennis facilities currently under construction in the Athletic Village.

“It’s a must for our program, to have suitable outdoor courts where fans can attend, and also indoor courts. It’s an arms race with facilities, and if you don’t have up-to-par facilities, it doesn’t help your recruiting. We’re very fortunate to have the funding to build what’ll be one of the best facilities in the country. It’ll help the players be able to practice an adequate amount of time. It will help with scheduling. It allows you to have more home matches, and gives you options when the weather is colder or rainy. More home matches also help our budget so we don’t have to travel quite as much.”

Udwadia’s team takes to the court for the individual and doubles tournament portion of the year-long schedule beginning in September.

“These tournaments are not team tournaments, but they can affect the team ranks when they come out in Jaunary,” he says. “January is the start of the main season, and that is team vs. team. The championships are all in May. They train year-around, and it can be a long season.”

Of course, a longer season just means more opportunities for Cowboy fans to get out and see Udwadia and the OSU tennis team.

“i love that feeling of developing players and coaching successful teams. i love getting into battle and watching them improve.”

PhotograPhy by phil shockley

ADDITIONAL POSSE PARKING

The POSSE has acquired additional donor parking spaces at the OSU Library Annex and Stillwater High School football stadium.

These Silver Star lots are located just north of the intersection of Duck and Boomer Road. Round-trip shuttle service to the stadium will be provided, beginning three hours before kickoff.

A healthier you, a healthier Oklahoma

Education isn’t the only important part of college. Health is, too.

That’s why OSU encourages the health of its students by offering exciting ways for students to be physically active, easy-to-find healthy foods in eateries and a tobacco-free campus.

These programs are just a few ways OSU is committed to making healthier students and a healthier Oklahoma.

For more information go to:

Dining Services union.okstate.edu/uds/chooseorange.htm

Campus Recreation campusrec.okstate.edu

Tobacco Stops Here tobaccostopshere.okstate.edu

Catch the Spirit ... Join the Club.

Take

Meet the receivers 32

Few positions lost more starts than the wide and inside receivers.

Gone are Hubert Anyiam, Justin Blackmon, Colton Chelf, Josh Cooper and Michael Harrison. Those guys combined for more than 3,100 yards and 27 touchdowns last season.

Nevertheless, “We’re still going to throw to win,” says Kasey Dunn, the team’s wide receivers coach. “That’s what we do.”

Dunn expects no drop off from last year, although there may not be someone who catches 120 passes last year like Blackmon, the two-time winner of the top award to wide receivers in college football — the Biletnikoff Award — and the holder of single-season receptions and yardage records at OSU.

He’s a rare breed. Blackmon grabbed 40 touchdowns in two years, too, good for second all-time to Rashaun Woods’ 42 (and Woods had an extra year to do it in). His former teammates were no slouches either. Cooper was a dependable inside receiver who could be counted on for tough catches and runs that kept drives alive. Chelf, a former walk on, caught the 24-yard reception from former Cowboy quarterback Brandon Weeden that set up the winning field goal in the Fiesta Bowl.

In Blackmon and the others’ stead is a host of talented players who lack only playing time. The preseason depth chart shows the experienced Isaiah Anderson and Tracy Moore starting at wide receiver, and less experienced players Josh Stewart and Blake Jackson starting on the inside — the positions between the wide receivers and the offensive line. Justin Horton is starting at tight end and will play inside, as well.

“There’s not a guy I have that’s played or started a game other than Justin Horton,” says Doug Meacham, inside receivers and tight ends coach. “Josh Stewart has played some but he didn’t start. Blake Jackson wasn’t here. David Glidden was redshirted. We’re not thinner, we just don’t have a lot of experience … It’s going to be interesting.”

One plus, Dunn notes, is OSU will have greater depth at wide and inside receiver than last year.

“Last year we were challenged in just getting enough guys on the bus to go to a game,” he says. “We didn’t have four deep like we do now. A lot of these guys are young, but they’re talented, and we don’t have a lot of junior college transfers, so OSU fans are going to see them for a long time.”

story by Matt ElliOtt photography by grEg bUllard

THE RECEIVERS 33

Looking down the roster for 2012, several trends emerge. OSU’s wide receivers, inside receivers and tight ends are all athletic and fast.

The spring game introduced fans to a few of those guys, including Charlie Moore, a 6-foot 2-inches tall wide receiver from Bullard, Texas, who racked up 243 yards and three touchdowns in that contest.

Although Moore played in every game last season, he never started. Headed into August practices, he was the secondstring receiver behind speedster Isaiah Anderson, who many believe will have a big senior year in 2012.

Big changes also include moving Tracy Moore from his inside receiver position to Blackmon’s spot on the outside. Tracy had his best season as a Cowboy in 2011 when he grabbed 45 balls for 672 yards and four touchdowns, including a big score against Texas A&M in the Cowboys’ come-frombehind win over the Aggies.

Moving Tracy to the outside “is a good move,” Meacham says.

“He’s a body guy. He’s real strong through the ball. He ran a high 4.5 40-yard dash this spring. I’m not saying he’s Blackmon, but in terms of straight-ahead speed, there’s no difference between he and Blackmon. He’ll be good for us out there. He’s got a lot of reps. He’s been in a lot of big games and made plays.”

Read on for a breakdown of each player and his potential to contribute in 2012.

TRACY MOORE

Dunn: Tracy last year was an inside receiver. We’re moving him outside this year. He’s going to be the “Z” for us. He’s trying to fill Blackmon’s shoes. Those are some pretty big shoes to fill. But he’s handled it really well so far.

He did a great job this spring. The transition from inside to outside receiver is a big one. He did a great job handling all the new plays and the nuances of the position. There’s a lot more of a running load in his new position. He was bigger for a while. So he needed to increase his cardio and probably lose a few pounds to go all game like we need him to do. He has done all of those things.

Wow. So he’s been working hard.

KD: It’s a lot of hard work. It’s a lot of training. It’s a lot of staying on track and not getting too heavy. He was probably 225 and now he’s maybe 212 or 213.

Does losing that weight make him quicker off the line?

KD: I don’t know that he’ll be faster. Generally, it doesn’t really equate that way – losing weight to gain speed. He might be a touch quicker. He’ll certainly be able to play longer. He should be just as fast in the fourth quarter now as he is in the first. So, that will help tremendously.

He’s got a great attitude. He’s playing good football right now. He has done a great job of leadership with the kids out there over the summer right now because we can’t be involved with them at all.

I know he goes out there, does a great job orchestrating our workouts. So, good stuff. I think he’s due for a big season because he has great ball skills. He sees that this is his last year. Generally, when guys see it’s their last year, they try and squeeze a little more out of the season.

PHOTO / PHil sHOckley

c.J. curry

KD: Behind Tracy, we have a C.J. Curry, a true freshman in from Georgia last year. He’s just done a great job from what I understand of picking up the offense and making plays.

He has done a great job coming in and adapting. He catches the ball well. He’s certainly physically ready to play. He looks like a veteran. He’s big. He’s thick. He can run. He just has that presence about him.

That’s rare for a freshman.

KD: Very. He’s a 6-foot 2-inch, 210-pound kid who can run. We’re fortunate to have him in the situation that we’re in because losing some of the guys from last season left us short. We need some guys to be able to come in and play right away.

We didn’t necessarily want to wholesale go down the junior college route, either. We did that a little bit, but if we could, we wanted to have guys in here for four and five years. And he fits all that. He’s big, fast, strong and ready to play. Plus, he’s got four years of eligibility with us.

We’re excited about him. But, until you put pads on all these guys you don’t know. Until you get the kids out of pajamas and put them in pads, it’s really hard to project.

BrandOn shePerd

KD: Another young kid. He’s another one of those guys that’s physically talented. He’s another true freshman with a big, big body that can run. He catches the ball real well. I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw him try to challenge for a job out there.

nick rOckweLL

KD: Nick is a walk-on who has been real steady for us. He played last year at times and did a nice job of jumping in there behind Blackmon. He’s a good sharp kid.

isaiah andersOn

KD: On the other side for us is the X position. Isaiah has got unbelievable speed. He’s about 5-feet 10-inches and 175 pounds. He is fast. I mean he can really run. I go out there and run 40s with him every once in a while –trying to give him a little rabbit (laughs). He’s a good kid, and he works his tail off. He’s done great job catching the ball.

He’s one of the few kids last year that didn’t finish the season with a dropped pass. That’s a pretty good deal. He has worked hard on improving his hands. He spent a lot of time catching balls and tennis balls and going to jugs machines by himself and putting in all of that extra time and effort.

It’s great to see a guy like that work on it all summer long and have it work out for him during the season.

charLie MOOre

KD: Behind Anderson is Charlie Moore. He did great in the spring game, and we’ve got to a find a place for him to play this year. He did a nice job all the way through spring. People asked if he was playing like that during the first 14 practices in the spring, and the answer is yes. People just didn’t see him until the spring game.

He’s a big kid. He’s got good speed, and he’s going to make plays for us. No question. He’s working his tail off over the summer from what I understand and will be ready to go come August, too.

JhaJuan seaLes

KD: Jhajuan is a true freshman, a kid from Port Arthur, Texas. He’s got very good track speed. He’s fast, a kid with a very high ceiling. He has got a lot of potential. All these kids that we brought in this year, they’re all over six feet. They’re all tall. They’re all big and ready to go. They’re all 6’ 1” and 6’ 2.” They can all run. And Jhajuan’s probably the fastest one of the bunch.

austin hays

KD: Another true freshman – a kid from San Antonio. Austin is, at this point, a polished receiver, and he’s got size and the range.

He is also a very sharp kid. He’s got more a veteran feel to him. He doesn’t act like a rookie, and that is a good thing with the situation we’re in. We’re pretty excited about what we’ve got going on outside.

Justin hOrtOn

DoUG Me ACHAM: Justin is a really big, powerful guy. He’s really super fast. He actually ran a 10.75 hundred meters in high school So, he’s a guy when we get into his kind of formations who can actually stretch the coverage and maybe run by some people because he’s so fast.

That’s impressive at 6’ 3,” 250-ish pounds. I bet he surprises a lot of people with his speed.

DM: His uncle played in the NFL for a long time. His name was Dudley I think (Editor’s note: Ricky Dudley played for the Raiders from 1996-2000, a year with the Browns and three years with the Buccaneers.) That’s his last name. Played for Raiders. He played like 10 years in the NFL. So he’s got some good bloodlines.

Oh, you mean Ricky Dudley. I remember him. He was a really good tight end.

DM: Justin started out as a tight end, and then we moved him to inside receiver. He’s back in the 260s now, so we’ve moved him back to tight end. He’ll block a little. But he’s a guy that can take off up a seam and get mismatched maybe with a linebacker – that kind of guy. If we’re in a throwing mode, he’ll be a definite target. A guy like that can take off and hit the end zone.

I imagine he presents a lot of match up problems for a defense. Most linebackers and safeties are too slow to keep up with him. And he’s too big for a corner or nickelback to cover.

DM: When he’s in the game, the defense probably won’t nickel out. They’ll have their bigger guys in when he’s in. He’ll most likely have a linebacker covering him.

I think he’ll win that battle most of the time.

DM : Yeah.

JereMy seatOn

DM: He was a high school quarterback and linebacker from Cashion. He’s one of those cats who brings his lunch pail and gets after it. He’s a real tough, physical, ultra-smart guy. You’ve got to have guys like him that make it all work.

He can be in the backfield and in our three-backs formation. He can also be a tight end. He can be in a lot of special teams stuff. He’s a real physical kid. And he’s pretty athletic because, like I said, he played QB in high school.

He’s a good guy to have because he lets you tweak a thing or two. He’s a versatile guy. During a short yardage situation, you can sneak him out in to the flat, or you can put him out wide. You can put him on the line and motion him into the backfield. You can move him around a lot because of all the things he can do.

david gLidden

DM: He had a great spring. He’s a guy who’s always in the right spots.

He’s a little gym rat. He makes a lot of plays. He’s not going to wow you in pregame warm-up because of his size, but he does everything right and he’s reliable.

He’s real smart. He’s instinctive – those kinds of things. He’s a good player. He’s been nicked up just a little bit. He’ll be OK, though. He’ll be ready.

He sounds like another OSU ball catcher with uncommon knowledge for a freshman.

DM: He just gets it. You’ve got instinctive players and guys that are non-instinctive players. You’ve got guys who require a lot of reps, and you’ve got guys that just know.

I would classify him as an instinctive player, which is good, because, like I said, he’s not the fastest or the biggest, but he’s always in the right spots. He’s reliable. He always catches the ball.

He does a lot of things you want guys to do, but sometimes it takes them a little longer to figure it out. It doesn’t take him very long.

DM: I think he caught 18 balls and had two touchdowns last year. As a true freshman, he plays our “H,” which is the inside receiver to the left in our base formation.

He has tremendous body quickness. We call it “twitch.” He has really above-average ball skills. He’s really good at catching the ball with his hands. He attacks the ball well. And he’s a really tough kid. For a little guy, he’s really tough.

JOsh stewart

He’s got a lot of upside. He’s kind of what we’re looking for inside. Our outside guys are the taller, faster guys, and the inside guys are, most of the time, twitchy punt returner types who match up well against some of the linebackers and guys like that.

He’s also a hard and shifty runner. I remember he made his cousin miss on a tackle against A&M and got a nice gain out of it.

DM : Yeah, he kind of got our comeback started. He hit a little flat route, took off and got about 30 yards out of it. We ignited after that play early in the third quarter. He runs well. I think his dominant trait is his ability to make you miss.

I remember Josh Cooper had a lot of catches and runs like that during his career. He’s very similar to Josh.

DM: Yeah. Josh Cooper was a little bigger, but he did a lot of the same stuff. Josh Cooper was probably about 5’ 11,” and Josh “Stew” is probably 5’ 9.”

Size is really not an issue inside. It’s just about catching the little stuff and making big stuff out of it.

tOrrance carr

DM: He’s another big guy. He’s about 6’ 3” and 220 pounds. Really, really athletic. Really good ball skills. He was a high school quarterback, and he played a little bit of receiver. He’s still learning the position, but he’s going to be a good player. I just think that he needs every rep he can get and every opportunity to watch film and try to absorb things.

When you get redshirted like he did as a freshman, you may play receiver, but you’re just over there running the scout team cards. It’s not like you’re running our offense. You’re running somebody else’s offense. So, he’s really just had this spring at that position. He needs a ton of work. But he has a lot of upside and he’s a bigger target, too.

BLake JacksOn

DM: Blake is a bigger kid, a tight end guy, but he’s got more of a receiver’s body. He’s about 225, 230 pounds. He’s a little bigger than a lot of the other receivers. He can body up on guys. He’s real long and he can outmuscle some guys for the ball, use his length and things like that. Also, he’s a good, solid blocker on the perimeter when we’re throwing little screens and stuff out there. He’s a good player

JOhn gOOdLett

BLake weBB

DM: He’s an incoming freshman who ran a 4.47 in the 40-yard dash. That’s an electronic 4.47. That is like running a 3.43 if someone’s clocking you by hand because of the delay - because you’re 40 yards away from them. They pick their hand up off the ground and you’re always a little late pushing the button on the stopwatch. Whereas, if someone is clocked electronically, it’s dead spot on. He was the fastest kid out of our new crew. We really like him, his instinctiveness and his ball skills.

DM: On the other side, we have John Goodlett who’s a walk-on transfer, a kid from Indiana State who went to Owasso High School. We really like him, too. He does a lot of good stuff.

PHOTO / GARY LAWSON

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When OSU starting cornerbacks Brodrick Brown or Justin Gilbert line up across from a wide receiver, if they turn around and look back, there is no one there. No safeties. No linebackers. Only the endzone. They are the last line of defense against an opposing offense’s push for points.

it’s a lonely, vital position, and one that requires a unique kind of athlete.

the isLanders 40

“They have to be the most disciplined players on the field,” says OSU cornerbacks coach Jason Jones. “You have a job to do, and you have to do your job. You can’t be selfish and try to do too much. The one time you try to do too much, it could be the one play that they end up capitalizing on and scoring a touchdown.”

no man is an is L an D ... U n L ess yoU ’re a C ornerbaC k.

P hotogra P hy By Phil ShOcklEy

anders 41

In addition to discipline, Jones says cornerbacks need two more important characteristics. First, they have to be extraordinarily competitive.

“ they play on an island,” says Jones. “The passer is going to force those guys into one-onone matchups all the time. They have to be willing to compete.”

Second, they have to have what he calls a “short-term memory.”

“Every play is not going to be a good play. You may give up a touchdown. You may give up an explosive play or big gain. You have to put it behind you and go onto the next down.

“That’s what you have to have to be a cornerback.”

In a battle between the cornerback and the wide receiver, the receiver has the advantage. He’s running forward instead of backward. He knows which route he’s running, and at what depth he’s running it. He knows if the play is a run or pass.

The corner knows none of this. He has to read the offensive formation, take what he knows from film study and assess the situation. As soon as the ball is hiked, he has to react and make a decision.

Take the slant route. The receiver typically takes two steps off the line, then cuts for the middle of the field. The quarterback, upon taking the ball from center, reads the defense then fires the ball. All of this takes less than two seconds.

“if they have the opportunity to intercept the pass, we expect them to catch it.”

“The cornerback backpedals. He’s taking two steps back then he has to drive that foot in the ground and close on the slant,” say Jones. “We always tell them to drive to the collision point. Slants are always thrown slightly ahead of the receiver, so we break and drive to a point in front of them. We’re going to meet where we think the ball is going to be thrown. We’re either going to break it up or catch it, or if he catches it, make the tackle.”

OSU’s takeaway philosophy adds another level of complication to the position, inserting a bit of well-rehearsed risk taking. If there’s an opportunity for an interception, defensive backs (along with the rest of the defense) are not just encouraged to go get it — it’s expected.

“We put a big emphasis on, ‘If you have the opportunity to intercept the pass, intercept the pass,’” says Jones. “I try not to over-coach them. We recruited them because they’re athletic, and most athletes have confidence and believe in their ability. If they have the opportunity to intercept the pass, we expect them to catch it.”

OSU cornerbacks are held accountable for possible interceptions in practice. There’s someone counting, usually a graduate assistant. At the end of the practice, for every dropped or missed interception, the entire position unit does up-downs (an exercise where starting from a standing position, you drop to a push-up, and then pop back to your feet). For each drop, they do five up-downs.

“we do it as a unit, as a team,” says Jones. “In a game, that dropped interception could make the difference between winning and losing. So we hold them accountable.

“They put a lot of peer pressure on each other. A guy like Brodrick, he’s going to catch it and if Justin drops one (not that Justin’s going to drop one), Brodrick would be mad and say, ‘Hey, you shoulda caught that. I’m doing up-downs because of you.’

So they put a lot of peer pressure on each other. It works.”

Because cornerback is such a difficult position to play, the Cowboy coaching staff scours the country looking for prospects every year, and the search is not limited to players already playing the position.

“Everyone wants to play offense,” says Jones. “People fill the seats to see touchdowns, so a lot of your best players are playing on the offensive side of the ball.”

Jones typically watches both the defensive backs and the wide receivers when he scouts a practice or camp. If there’s an athletic wideout who may not have great hands, he becomes a candidate for defensive back. Sometimes, they’ll look at athletic quarterbacks.

“That’s what happened with Justin Gilbert and Jonovan Griffin,” says Jones.

In those cases, it takes convincing.

“They are so used to playing offense. t hey like to score touchdowns and get the attention. It took me awhile to convince Justin. He had offers from people telling him he could be a wide-out. Some were telling him he could play offense and defense. I had to convince him. I had to convince his high school coach. I had to convince mom. ‘Just trust me. He has the ability where if he focuses and plays corner, athletic-wise, if he plays as well as I think he will, he has the chance to play on Sundays.

“I had to convince Jonovan Griffin. He had offers as a wide receiver from several schools, so trying to convince him to play defensive back was a challenge.

It’s a comfort zone for them. That’s what they’ve always done. It’s easy. This spring he was going through a slight learning curve because he’s never backpedaled before. Now, if you watch him backpedal, you can’t tell.

“If they are willing to continue to learn and fight through that learning curve, it usually works out for the best.”

Jones joined the Cowboys prior to the 2008 season, the same year Brown showed up as a freshman. In that time, he’s coached Perrish Cox, Andrew McGee (both first-team All- b ig 12 cornerbacks ), as well as Jacob Lacey (who’s playing for the Indianapolis Colts). Jones coached corners at Alabama (as a graduate assistant), Tulsa and Rice prior to arriving at OSU, and he started at defensive back for Alabama.

Brown and Gilbert, his latest protégés, were just picked by KC Joyner of ESPN.com as part of the second-best secondary in the country. Joyner even listed Gilbert as the no. 1 cornerback in the country last season (though Brown might have something to say about that particular assessment).

The Big 12 is a pass-happy conference, and if a team is going to be successful, it needs strong play from its cornerbacks. Gilbert and Brown were instrumental in OSU leading the Big 12 in scoring defense. They were good. Great, even. This year, they could be even better.

“I’m expecting great things from them,” says Jones. “From what I’ve heard from my strength and conditioning coaches, they’ve had great off-seasons. They’ve worked hard. i ’m expecting them to have a better year than they had last year. I think both of those guys, they sort of push each other. When they get out there on the field, they compete against the wideouts, but they also compete against each other. If Brodrick breaks up a pass, Justin will intercept one.

“I’m expecting them to have a great year. I think they’re good enough they can play with anybody in the conference and anybody in the country.”

story C ontin U es

The last two years, his job was Justin Blackmon. Guarding a first-round, top-5 n FL draft pick is bound to make you a better defensive back. The great ones do more than just refuse to back down. They seek out the challenge. Prior to the Texas A&M game last season, Brown dropped by Jones’ office to talk about A&M wide-out Jeff Fuller.

“Everyone knew last year the A&M game was a big game for us,” says Jones. “We felt as a staff that winning that game could give us a lot of momentum and give our players a lot of confidence to finish out the season. They had a lot of good players. One of them in particular was Fuller.

BrOdrick BrOwn

The economics major from Houston will enter his senior season with 28 straight starts. He finished 2012 with nine tackles in the Fiesta Bowl, and was a secondteam a ll-a merican, first-team a llBig 12 (coaches and a P), a Thorpe award semifinalist and a Lott im PaCT Trophy semifinalist. He had five interceptions and 15 pass breakups. Unlike some of his teammates, he has always played cornerback. On the field, he must be accounted for.

“Quarterbacks watch films just like we do,” says Brown. “They watch what I like to do. They’ll still throw my way. I have to be on my toes so they don’t dump one over my head. I always have to be ready. I don’t know that I’ve ever gotten into any quarterback’s head, but I’m pretty sure they are aware of me out there.”

The one knock anyone could make on Brown is his height. For a corner, he’s short.

“He’s only about 5’8”, 5’9” with high heels on,” says Jones. “i think his entire life, all he’s heard is that he’s too small, so he uses that. He plays with a chip on his shoulder to prove everybody wrong. He’s from westville high School in houston. That’s a good school, always has college scouts in and out. A lot of people passed on him. He goes out every week to prove those who said he was too small wrong. He has a lot of fight and a lot of toughness. He loves to compete. He doesn’t care who you are, or how big you are. That’s what you want in a player.”

When Brown was a redshirt freshman, he played on the scout team, and in every practice, he lined up on Dez Bryant. Jones says Dez would call him out.

“Dez would say, ‘You’re too short. You’re just a rookie,’” says Jones. “Brodrick would get right up in Dez’s face. Some days, Dez would get him, and some days, Brodrick would get Dez. He was just a freshman right out of high school, but even then, he wouldn’t back down.”

“Brodrick came into my office Tuesday before practice, and said, ‘Coach, do you want to win this game?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I want to win this game.’ He said, ‘We need to stop Fuller.’ I said, ‘No kidding.’ He said, ‘Well, if you want to win, then you put me on him.’

“I said, ‘He’s 6’3”, 230 pounds. Are you ready for that?’ He said, ‘Coach, if you want to win, you’ll put me on him.’ So that’s what I did. We started watching tape, and our whole game plan was to match Brodrick up on him.

“And that tells you the type of person he is, and the competitiveness he has within. He’s an outstanding young man,” says Jones. “He’s what you want in a player. You don’t have to worry about him having off-the-field issues. He’s not going to put himself or the team in a tough situation where he’d embarrass himself or his family. He’s a good student in the classroom.”

Gilbert’s assessment of his teammate echoes that of his coach.

“He knows he has to play with a chip on his shoulder because of his height,” says the junior. “I think that’s what motivates him to be the cornerback that he is. he’s ferocious. He’s not afraid to come down and make a tackle. He plays like a linebacker.”

PHOTO / bROdY ScHmidT / WWW.OSTATePHOTO.cOm

Gilbert does have one knock on Brown, however.

“I don’t like the fact that he always tells people he’s faster than me,” he says. “He won’t race me.”

Brown, like any good corner, likes being out “on the island,” and he loves playing in the Big 12.

“It’s a pass-happy conference,” says Brown. “Teams like to throw the ball 67 percent of the time. Passes are going to come your way. Just knowing that every game you’re going to have plays coming your way, and you can really showcase your cover skills and knowledge of the game. The game is on your shoulders, the secondary’s shoulders. You can’t give up the deep play.”

Brown spent his summer training hard, and expects that his teammates have done so as well.

“We have a lot of tenacity,” he says. “We want to be the best. We want to get to the next level. It’s been three years of offense this and offense that. We had a pretty good defense last year. We led the country in turnovers. We don’t want to be a defense that just gets turnovers. We want to be a defense that forces teams to have fewer than 100 yards rushing and less than 100 yards passing.

“Everyone is going to be good. Calvin Barnett is a force to be reckoned with. I think when he gets an opportunity he’s going to be out there manhandling those offensive linemen. You have to look out for him. Then you have D-Lowe (Daytawion Lowe ) back there at safety. All the linebackers are excellent at what they do. You have Cooper Bassett and Ryan Robinson on the defensive front, so look out for them, too.

“I’m ready for this upcoming season. I’m ready to get this underway.”

Justin Gilbert

Gilbert has the ideal build for a cornerback.

“If you could make a corner, you’d want him the size of Justin Gilbert,” says Jones. “About 6-foot, 195. He’s a 4.3 (second) 40 guy, so he can run. So if you could go out and just pick what you want, that’s what you want. He’s big enough where he can play with big receivers who’re 6’3”, 6’4”. He’s fast enough where he can run with them, and he still possesses that quickness where he can change direction and move from side to side and transition smoothly. That’s what you want in a defensive back.”

Unlike Brown, Gilbert was not a corner while attending high school in Huntsville, Texas. In fact, he had not played a down as cornerback until setting foot on the OSU campus. To be mentioned as the best corner in the country two years later by an ESPN analyst is no mean feat.

“I watched him play on a Friday night,” says Jones. “He was a quarterback, but if they needed to throw the ball, they brought in another guy and lined Gilbert up at wide receiver. If they had to punt, he punted it. He returned kicks. He returned punts. The water boy would run out onto the field to give him water. He never left the field.”

He’s come a long way in two seasons.

“He’s an unbelievable athlete,” says Brown. “He’s only been doing this for two years? He’s still developing. He’s starting to get a good feel for being a corner, and still has a lot of room for improvement. But he has his mind made up that he’s a pure corner now, instead of a guy who returns kicks. He’s committed.”

“With it being one of the hardest positions to play, I feel fortunate to get to play it at this level,” says Gilbert. “The transition from quarterback to cornerback has been a long, bumpy road, but I think I’m catching on pretty well.”

In addition to coaching from Jones and his current and former teammates, Gilbert has studied some of the positions greats, such as Charles Woodson and Deion Sanders.

phoTo / GARY LAWSoN

couldn’t ask for a better group.”

photos / GaRY LaWson

“Coach Jones has taught me everything I know about playing cornerback,” says Gilbert. “I don’t think there’s anyone who could’ve done it better. He made it very easy. He and (former Cowboy and graduate assistant) Andrew McGee worked with me step by step.”

“The light has come on for him,” says Jones. “You saw it start to happen halfway through his freshman year. I could see in practice that he was starting to understand the position, to get the defense down. He

had a really great spring. Now he’s starting to understand the defense. He’s only been playing the position for two years. He has a lot of talent. He hasn’t hit his peak yet. Once he really gets it, he’ll be able to play for a long time.”

Gilbert’s freshman year, Jones assigned Brown to mentor him, and so perhaps a few of Brown’s traits have rubbed off. Like Brown, Gilbert prefers taking on the offense’s best player in practice. This year, he’s always looking to line up against either Tracy Moore or Charlie Moore.

“Tracy, he’s a big power guy, so he helps me when I’m preparing for games against bigger receivers. Charlie, he’s a speedy guy, so he ensures that I have my technique down and do all the right things to stay with him.”

Also like Brown, Gilbert is not a man who enjoys being told he can’t do something.

“If you tell him he can’t do something, he’s going to do everything in his power to prove you wrong,” says Jones. “We’ll be in practice and doing a PAT field goal block. Offense is working on field goals,

“I

Jason Jones

defense is working on blocks. The offensive coaches will mess with him and say, ‘Don’t worry about blocking him. Justin can’t block it.’ And he’ll just look up, then come off the edge and ‘boom!’ He blocks it.”

Like most of the Cowboy nation, Gilbert is ready for the season to start. He’s ready to hear the roar of the crowd and see just how good the D can be.

“We’re going to be as good as we were last year. We lost a couple of key players, but we have some guys who’re going to step up and fill the gap.”

the rest Of the crew

Past Brown and Gilbert, it gets a little thin. Coach Young says the position group has the least depth of any on the defensive side of the ball. After those two, there is little experience, but that doesn’t mean there’s a shortage of talent.

Andrae May, a senior, returns from a spring knee injury. Devin Hedgepeth, a junior, comes back after tearing his Achilles during the A&M game last season. Jonovan Griffin and Miketavius Jones are ready to contribute after serving their redshirt seasons. And then there are incoming freshmen Ashton Lampkin and Kevin Peterson.

“Griffin will be a guy who has to grow up and get ready,” says Jones. “He has the talent and the athletic ability. He just has to learn the defense and understand what we’re doing, then he’ll be fine. Jones, if he has a good fall camp, can add some depth. Peterson and Lampkin, both incoming freshman, are bigger guys. We think they can help us this year.

“They all have ball skills. Griffin, he probably has the best hands in my room. If has the opportunity to get an interception, it helps. I tell those guys, ‘If you were once a wide receiver, use the knowledge you gained from the offensive side of the ball to help you become a better defensive player.’”

Jones says the cornerbacks are a tightknit group, hanging out off the field and helping each other where they can. “They get along like brothers. If one of them needs something, they go to each other. If one of them is going through something tough at home, they have each other to talk to. But at the same time, if we’re out of practice and something happens, they’ll clown each other. And if a guy had a bad practice, they say, ‘Hey, you’re better than that. Tomorrow, come out here and have a better day.’

“I couldn’t ask for a better group. By no means are they perfect, but they try to help each other. They are not selfish. They understand that our offense scores at a fast pace, and in order for us to win we have to be able to play a lot of people. All those guys have to know what’s going on.”

Otherwise, the island will be a very lonely place to be.

HedgepetH

We’ve

P hotogra P h y By grEg BullarD

a L itt L edefensive 51

POSSe caught up with defensive coordinator biLL yoUnG the day before players reported for fall practice, and like most of us, he seemed excited to get the season started.

we Got him FireD Up

almost immediately by bringing up the buzz about the ‘improvement’ of the defense this season, the implication being that the defense wasn’t good a year ago.

“The problem I have with that is we’ve been maligned so much about how bad we are on defense, and let me ask you is question … If you look at the top 13 teams in the country offensively, we played seven of them.

“It’s bad for your stats, but the problem with our stats is that in the third quarter, we’re putting in our fours. They haven’t been lined up with us. They’re just on the scout team. They don’t know our defensive calls. They don’t know our game plan. They don’t really know much of anything. A bunch of them are just walk-ons who’re just trying to get on the field and play some football.

“some guy on esPn who doesn’t know football from a pumpkin makes a comment that we’re not very good on defense, and then all of a sudden, all anyone can say is ‘oh, they’re not very good on defense.’”

ALL PHOTOS / GARY LAWSON

“We played Oklahoma, which is one of the top five teams offensively in the country. They scored a touchdown with a minute or something to go in the ballgame. We played Texas Tech, which was like fifth in the country in offense and we shut them out. They got a touchdown on defense, but we blocked the extra point. We played Baylor, they had the Heisman winner, and there are three minutes to go in the third quarter, and we had them down 43–3. We put in a bunch of downthe-liners, and they threw a couple three touchdowns on us.

“Are we a bad defense? That’s three of the top offenses in the country. Some guy on ESPN who doesn’t know football from a pumpkin makes a comment that we’re not very good on defense, and then all of a sudden, all anyone can say is ‘Oh, they’re not very good on defense.’

“I’m saying this more for the players than the coaches. We’ve got thick skins, it’s our job. As players, they just get maligned all the time about how bad they are. Well, shoot, that’s not the case.”

While the Pokes’ D did give up plenty of yards last season, they didn’t give up a lot of points, which is the more important number in the equation. The Cowboys were first in the Big 12 last year in scoring defense and red zone defense, and led the country in turnovers with 44.

You can even use stats to make the case that the Pokes D in 2011 was not just good, but very good. If you look at the Fremeau Efficiency Index (FEI), which factors in almost 20,000 possessions, and filters out things like “first-half clock-kills and end-of-game garbage drives and scores,” the Cowboys were great.

According to the site (footballoutsiders. com/stats/feidef2011), “A scoring rate analysis of the remaining possessions then determines the baseline possession efficiency expectations against which each team is measured. A team is rewarded for playing well against good teams, win or lose, and is punished more severely for playing poorly against bad teams than it is rewarded for playing well against bad teams.”

OSU’s FEI rank at the end of last season: 3

photo / phil shockley

photo / phil shockley

But the number that really explains just how good OSU’s defense was last year was the team’s final record: 12–1. You don’t win 12 games with a bad defense, and wins are more coveted than gaudy stats.

“Now, could we be better? Heck yes, we could be a whole lot better,” says Young. “We have a lot of ways to improve. We gave up a ton of yardage, but sometimes that was the first-teamers, sometimes that was the fourth-teamers. We just shrug it off if it’s the fourth-teamers. Those young guys, they deserve a shot to play some football. They are out there working their tails off simulating our opponent. They have a responsibility to get in the game and get lined up right and give us a chance.

“You can’t survive in college athletics without these guys. Coach Gundy has said it a thousand times, but he’s proud of these guys. They are truly collegiate athletes. They’re not getting paid. They don’t get dining room privileges. They don’t get the scholarships. They’re playing for the love of the game.”

So we’ve established the fact that OSU’s defense was, in fact, pretty good last year. This year, it could be even better. The Pokes graduated four defensive ends (Joey Blatnick and Richetti Jones, in particular) NFL draft pick Markel Martin, and turnover machine James Thomas. But that’s about it. t he rest of the D returns.

“We have a lot of depth at linebacker, which is important in the Big 12,” says Young.” And we’re five deep at defensive end. We’re really solid in those two positions. And then all of our tackles are back. Anthony Rogers and Chris Littlehead will alternate every four plays at nose guard. At tackle, we’ve recruited a Junior College all-american in Calvin Barnett. He gave us the flexibility to move Nigel to the end, which is originally where we recruited him. Then we have Davidell L. Collins and James Castleman.

“We have some depth. We have more quality depth at defensive line than we’ve had here since I’ve been back. We don’t have a bunch of number one draft choices. What we have is a tremendously solid college football team. The big deal is staying healthy.”

The only area Young feels the Pokes are lacking significant depth is at cornerback.

“We have two of the best corners in college football, but after that, we have some young guys who’ve hardly stepped on the field. So what they can do and what they can’t do, that’ll be huge for us to try to correct and strengthen during two-a-days.”

Young says there’s no substitute for experience at cornerback.

“Not that or ability. It takes a phenomenal athlete in this day and time to play defensive back because all the receivers are six-foot three and four and five and run faster than the wind.”

The odds say the Pokes probably won’t have another 44 takeaways this year, either. The unit’s production surprised Young. But it wasn’t an accident.

“It’ll be difficult (to improve),” he says. “I’ve never been around a team that was able to get that many turnovers. Obviously, it’s a point of emphasis for us. We do everything we can as a defensive staff. Our head coach does a great job of being down there with us on defense. He blows the whistle to stop the play. He waits until the last instant until we’ve exhausted every effort to get the ball before he blows the whistle.

“The more you practice something, the more it becomes automatic. That’s kind of where we are. We don’t have a magic wand. It’s just been hard work. Some of it is luck. Sometimes, the ball pops out and bounces off someone. You have to be realistic with it. We count the number of turnovers in each practice and put it in the window of our meeting room, so when they walk in, they see it. After practice, if we haven’t had a minimum of five in team situations, then we run. It’s not a punishment, it’s just a reminder: you didn’t do as well as you needed to.

“it’s just hard work and a little bit of luck. t he harder i work, the luckier i get.”

How “lucky” the Pokes can get depends on a number of factors, but none more important than staying healthy. Young expressed hope that the team can make it through fall practice with no significant injuries. Gundy’s policy of lighter, shorter, faster practices increases the odds of that happening. Young praises the head coach’s risky, against-conventional-wisdom decision.

“Having lighter practices has helped our whole football team immensely. We don’t scrimmage in the spring, and we don’t scrimmage in the fall. You run the risk of not being great tacklers, but we need our players for the ball game. We need to protect them as much as we can. I’m fired up about that.

“It’s a risky decision, but I’m all for it. We practice really, really fast, and in turn we play the game really, really fast. It carries over. You don’t have to spend 10,000 hours on the field. Get out there, get your work done and get off. That’s his philosophy, and I think he’s done a tremendous job.”

Young thinks the pieces are all in place for the Cowboys to have another good season.

“We have the potential, but we have a lot of work in front of us. We have to get it done, and stay healthy.”

“we don’t have a magic wand. it’s just been hard work.”

ALL PHOTOS / GARY LAWSON

A. Nike Elite Force Coaches Polo (2280113)

Look sharp while keeping cool in this Dri-FIT polo featuring a three button placket, a finished collar, contrasting striping along the side and the OSU brand. Also available in orange and white. Sizes S-XXXL/$65.00

B. Nike Legacy91 Coaches Cap (2280266)

Cheer on the Cowboys in this structured six panel cap with a 3D embroidered OSU brand in center front and an adjustable back closure to fit most sizes. Also available in black. Made of 100% polyester. $22.00

C. Nike Gridiron Team Issue Tee (2280186)

Go for a look that says, “I am a die-hard OSU fan” with this 100% cotton T-shirt featuring elaborately designed screen print graphics. Also available in black. Sizes S-XXL/$25.00

D. Nike Athletics Legends Tee (2288968)

Get geared up in this Nike Dri-FIT technology shirt featuring “Cowboys” in block letters printed above Pistol Pete. Also available in gray. Sizes S-XXL/$28.00

E. OSU Tartan Plaid Umbrella (2288164)

Show your OSU pride during the next rain shower with the official OSU tartan plaid umbrella. The large, 40-inch umbrella includes a matching sleeve cover and one button easy open technology. $25.00

F. Nike Vault Women’s Deep V Tee (2300334)

Turn heads when you look good on game day in this 50% polyester/25% cotton/25% rayon slim fit tee featuring distressed screenprinted graphics. XSXL/$30.00

G. Nike Season Logo Tee (2300227)

Go for comfort and style in this seasonal tri-blend logo tee featuring flocked “Cowboys” lettering. Made of 50% polyester/25% cotton/25% rayon. Also available in orange and black. Sizes XS-XL/$28.00

H. iFanatic 3D Luxe iPhone 4/4S Case (2273994)

Protect your phone and show some OSU spirit with this 3D soft-touch hard case. The one piece, snap-on case features dual-molded rubber interior lining and access to all buttons and connections. $39.99

I. Nike College Tempo Short (2098759)

Feel good and run for miles in these OSU-inspired NikeFIT woven microfiber shorts with contrast curving lines, mesh sides, elastic waistband with drawstring and crepe liner. Also available in black and white. Sizes XS-XL/$34.00

* Don’t forget, OSU Alumni Association members receive a 10% discount! You must have your OSU Alumni Association membership number (located on your membership card) at the time you place your order to receive the member discount.

teaM PLayer

Leadership Earns Senior a Scholarship

in her entire Collegiate C areer, S enior Keely KiPP en B erger ha S only heard her name in the oK lahoma State SoCCer S tarting lineu P onCe. a nd S he’ S P er F e C tly Fine W ith that.

Now entering her fifth year at OSU, the walk-on goalkeeper from Kingfisher, Okla., has seen limited action for the Cowgirls. When you’re behind a rare talent like AllEverything AD Franch on the depth chart, as well as Rosa Medina (a member of the Mexican Under-23 National Team), playing time is understandably sparse.

k ippenberger has been an asset to the program in other ways.

“It’s a leadership mentality that not a lot of people have,” Franch says. “Sitting on the bench and still being there and supporting your team is huge. Not a lot of people are capable of doing that, but she does. And she continues to lead by example through her work ethic. She’s always been a leader just because of her effort.

“Keely buys into this program. She loves this team. The girls love her. I tell her I appreciate her all the time.”

“I’ve been on teams my whole life, whether it’s swimming or basketball — whatever — and that’s how I’ve always acted,” Kippenberger says. “It’s what the team needs first, rather than individual things. I always try to help everybody else out, because if you’re helping your teammates out, then your team gets better. I really want my team to be successful, no matter if I play or not.”

Kippenberger had not been on the OSU coaches’ recruiting radar when she arrived in Stillwater.

“She approached us at our summer camp and said, ‘I’d like to come out for the team. I’m a goalkeeper,’” recalls head coach Colin Carmichael.

“Coming in, I really didn’t have that much experience,” Kippenberger says. “I started soccer when I was a freshman in high school so I didn’t think I was even going to play here. I wasn’t planning on playing college sports. I decided to try out because I wanted to stay in shape, and I thought that it would be great to be on a team.”

S tory By clay BillMan

Her first day was a rude awakening to the rigors of Division I athletics, she says.

“It was really intense. I got to this level and was like, ‘Oh my goodness. This is crazy.’ We did these really intense fitness tests, and I was not ready for that at all. It was really scary. Scariest time ever.

“I almost gave up the first day,” she admits. “Then I thought, ‘I can’t give up, because I don’t like to give up on anything, so I just kept going.”

h er perseverance has paid off. l iterally.

Women’s soccer is allotted 14 total scholarships by the NCAA, and that number must be divided among nearly twice as many student-athletes. Out of 29 players currently on the OSU roster, 22 receive some level of financial aid. The rest are considered walk-ons.

Kippenberger had been receiving assistance to pay for her textbooks since her junior year, but at the start of the 2012 season, the coaches told her she would be getting significantly more help toward tuition.

“We put her on books last year to say thank you for her hard work,” Carmichael says. “This year we were able to give her a little bit more. She was excited.”

“ k eeLY ’ S d Rive AN d WOR k eTH ic AR e UN beLievA b Le.”

“I almost started crying. I was so happy,” Kippenberger says. “I was really appreciative to be on books, but I had no idea … When the coaches told me they were thinking about giving me more money, I was expecting something really little, but what I got was a lot more than I expected. It was so awesome, I just couldn’t believe it.

“This will really help me get through my last year,” she adds. “I pay for my schooling myself with a lot of student loans, grants and money I earn during the summer. I’ve been able to get by, but this is going to really cut back on my loans. It’s going to be a lot less stressful for me.”

m ore important than the money itself is what a scholarship symbolizes, she says.

“I’ve worked so hard, and I was able to accomplish something,” she says. “It really means a lot to me. It means that the coaches see how hard I’m working and how much I want to be a part of this team and just be part of this family.”

“There’s no secret to it,” says associate head coach Justin Elkington. “She’s earned it. It’s not only about having scholarships available, you give scholarships out to the players who deserve it. She is definitely deserving — no question.”

Despite being listed as a backup on the roster, Kippenberger prepares like she’s a starter.

“Since goalkeeping is such a physical part of soccer there are a lot of injuries,” she says. “Hopefully something won’t happen to any of my teammates, but I have to make sure I’m ready in case they need me.”

The physical side is only part of what makes a good goalkeeper, Kippenberger says.

“You have to be mentally tough in the goal. If you get scored on, you have to just brush it off and keep playing. That’s a problem for a lot of goalkeepers. The mental part is crucial, because you can be physical all you want, but if you miss a goal then just shut down mentally, that’s it. It doesn’t matter how in shape you are.”

A team can never be too deep in goal, Carmichael says, and Kippenberger has developed into much more than a practice body.

“There have been several years where we’ve gone at least three goalkeepers deep due to injury,” he says. “So she has a shot to play.”

If and when Kippenberger is called upon, the coaching staff is confident in her abilities.

“Her freshman year, she was just a raw kid not really knowing what was going on. But now if Keely plays, we have a chance to win. She’s proven what she can do during the spring season. We know we can win games with Keely in goal.”

Elkington, who works specifically with the goalkeepers, agrees.

“She is a legitimate keeper,” he says. “She could handle a b ig 12 game. i don’t have any doubts about that. She wouldn’t be fazed about going in and doing the job if needed. I think she’s ready whenever called upon. That’s all due to her preparation and how much time and effort she puts into it.

“Keely definitely has earned our respect for how much commitment and effort she shows. She’s never one of those kids you have to tell to train hard. She always wants to better herself. Especially this summer, she came back in even better shape because she just wants to get better all the time. Constantly wanting to improve, constantly asking questions. As a coach, you like to hear that.”

“I get chills just thinking about how far she’s come,” Franch says. “The first time I saw Keely I was a high school senior on my official visit. At that time she was the fourth goalkeeper. She’s a true backup now and not fourth down the ranks. If Rosa or I go down, she’s in. She can step up and take care of business when she has to.”

Franch, a Hermann Trophy candidate, has helped Kippenberger hone her skills in goal.

“Keely is a sponge for information,” Elkington says. “AD picks up a lot of information from her experiences with the U.S. National Team and training camps throughout the summer. Keely’s kind of her little sister in terms of goalkeeper pecking order, and she’s always got an ear for AD.”

“Our goalkeeping environment is give and take,” says Franch. “Keely’s drive and work ethic are unbelievable. I try to help her any time I can, like set positions, small steps, reading the game … I’ll tell her anything that I know, and any kind of situation she goes through, we discuss it. It’s just always good communication back and forth. We learn from each other.”

“AD has helped me out so much,” Kippenberger says. “She really, really wants me to do well. It’s like she took me under her wing. She always sets up stuff for me to do just because she wants me to do that extra, and I love it. I’ve gotten so much better because of that. I can’t thank her enough.”

Her play in preseason camp has turned some heads this season.

“She’s been flying,” Elkington says. “The first day she pulled out two or three saves that drew a few gasps from not only myself, but the other goalkeepers and field players.”

Redshirted her first fall in Stillwater, Kippenberger has a chance to do something unprecedented in Cowgirl history: win a fifth-consecutive Big 12 championship. OSU has earned either the regularseason or conference tournament crown each season since 2008. Kippenberger is the only active player who has seen them all.

“She’s been flying,”

Elkington says. “The first day she pulled out two or three saves that drew a few gasps from not only myself, but the other goalkeepers and field players.”

“It’s been incredible,” she says. “In high school I didn’t really get that far in state tournaments with my different teams, but this is so awesome. I’m still in awe of what we’ve accomplished. I have four rings, and I would love to get a fifth.”

The Cowgirls, coming off back-to-back Elite Eight seasons and top five final rankings, were picked No. 5 nationally in preseason polls. Despite losing a number of starters to graduation, OSU is the oddson favorite to win another Big 12 title.

“I think we will be really good,” she says. “All of our returners are really strong, and I feel like these freshmen coming in are very good. I’ve seen them play. They’re really fit. I think we’ll have a pretty good team stacked up this year.”

Kippenberger wasn’t highly recruited out of high school, but had the potential for more playing time at smaller programs in state. Her heart was always in Stillwater, however.

“I was approached by a couple schools because I played for Edmond Soccer Club for a year, but that was after I had already decided to go to Oklahoma State for academic reasons. I’ve been an OSU fan since I was little.”

“She could’ve played somewhere else,” Franch says. “I think that’s the most amazing part. She could’ve played somewhere else if she wanted to, but she decided to be here at OSU behind us and just experience everything we do here. She loves this environment, and she just wants to get better — not just for herself, but for the team. She loves this team.”

“I love being a part of something that’s this great,” Kippenberger says. “We are such a good program that I know there are going to be people who have more experience and everything, but I really appreciate what I’ve had and what I’ve been able to do. I still get in games every once in a while. I’ll get some playing time, and whatever I get, I love it. Coming in, I didn’t think I was going to play at all. I’m just excited for how far I’ve come.”

The Kingfisher contingent back home couldn’t be happier.

“My family just loves it, too,” Kippenberger says. “They think it’s the coolest thing. They love Cowgirl Soccer. My mom, dad, my grandparents, cousins — everybody — they always love to come to the games. It’s pretty cool.”

Set to graduate with a degree in history, Kippenberger plans to attend nursing school after her time is Stillwater is up. She’d probably stick around another year if NCAA rules would allow it.

“I’m going to miss it a lot after I graduate,” she says. “Just being on campus. i really love osU.”

She’s a keeper, all right.

Saving Green By Going Green

Oklahoma State University has saved more than $20 million through its energy conservation efforts since July 2007 — savings that can be focused on academics and the student experience.

“OSU has been a model of energy efficiency,” said Gov. Mary Fallin upon signing a new Oklahoma law directing all state agencies to improve energy efficiency and conservation by 20 percent by 2020.

OSU is focused on bright minds, building brighter futures and the brightest world for all.

Party with America’s Favorite Mascot!

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Sox Draft V Entura again Back in Black

S tory By clay BillMan

First, congratulations! You and the Sox have been on quite a ride so far, competing at the top of the division in your first year as manager despite a lot of preseason predictions that had you in the cellar. Could you have envisioned this sort of a season right out of the gate?

rv: “Early in the year, even in spring training, there was never talk of a losing feeling going into the season. We played some tough teams our first few games — Texas and Detroit — teams we were supposed to get beat up by, and we held our own. I think that was a sign right there that it wasn’t necessarily going to be what people were predicting. Once you get that out of your head and you’re just playing the game, I think a lot of positive things can happen. The guys are playing great.”

Has the negative press been a motivating factor to try and prove the doubters wrong?

rv: “I think that goes for anything, not just baseball. When people doubt you, it’s always nice to be able to band together. It is a motivating factor. It’s been an underlying thing that our guys are proud of, you know. People write you off and say that you’re going to have a horrible year, and you play as a team and you’re able to stay in the hunt. And I think that’s an enjoyable part of what this season’s all about.”

What has been the most rewarding thing so far?

rv: “It’s been fun just seeing guys have bounceback seasons. Guys like Adam Dunn, Jake Peavy and Alex Rios are really a big part of everything that’s happened, because I think when people write you off and you’re able to kind of rebound a little bit, there’s a motivating factor there. People don’t always give you credit for having that fortitude to be able to bounce back.”

“I have one rule: never give an example. never demonstrate. So I make sure I keep everything out of my hands.”

It seems like your team has been pretty balanced this year, winning games with offense and on the mound …

rv: “You’ve got to have pitching, and our pitching coach, Don Cooper, has done a great job. Peavy and Chris Sale both made the All-Star team. We’ve played a lot of close games, and that’s because of our pitching. Hitting is going to come and go, but you’re going to have to have pitching to really survive and compete at this level, and our guys are doing a great job.”

Are you guys scanning the standings to see where you’re at in the divisional or wild card race?

rv: “I don’t think you get into that until really the middle of September. Guys will start looking at the scoreboard to see kind of where you’re at. Right now, we’re just worried about what we’re doing and trying to win our games. That’s really all you can control. You can see what happens … one week you’re up three games, and then you’re down two games. There’s no sense worrying about it now when you still have a lot of the season left. We’re going to end up wherever we end up, but how we play is important to me.”

The Sox were in first place at the AllStar break, then hit a bit of a slump. The team has now rebounded and is back in front by a couple games on Detroit. How were you able to respond to that adversity?

rv: “That happens in baseball every year. If you’re in a tight race, it can swing back and forth weekly. It’s one of those things that you really have to put out of your mind and just play your game. That’s one of the things that I really like about this team. They put yesterday behind them and just play for today. That’s really the only way you can play this game, because there’s just so much that wears on you negatively day to day. The only thing you can do is remain positive and try and win that game that day. It’s been a lot of fun to be around guys that can do that.”

As a player, you were always known as a “clubhouse” guy — someone who got along well with teammates and maybe was a calming influence in the dugout. How has that approach carried over to your first season as manager?

rv: “You come in with your idea of how you want to play the game. I think the team concept, what you envision as the right way to play, is really the foundation you start from … what the expectations are for guys, not necessarily in the wins and losses, but the style of play that you like to see and what guys are accountable for in their job. From there it’s really up to them. For me, I like to have the guys basically go out and play. I don’t want them to feel like I am controlling anything. It’s more of what the expectations are. They’re the ones that play. We’re all in it together, but they have to have the freedom to play and hopefully not have to think about what I’m doing.

“I ReMeMBeR MoRe oF My DIFFICULT TIMeS AS A PLAyeR … I CeRTAInLy ReMeMBeR My STRUGGLeS MoRe THAn My SUCCeSSeS.”

“A lot of people look at outcomes, but the only thing I can really ask a guy for is effort. If the work and the effort are there, it doesn’t always go your way and the guy doesn’t always make the play. But if the intent and the effort is all there, that’s really all I can ask of them.”

It doesn’t seem like that long ago (2004) when you hung up the spikes? Does that make it easier to relate to your players?

rv: “I remember more of my difficult times as a player. I think that helps a lot more than thinking how easy the game is. I look at it how difficult the game can be, because I did struggle. I certainly remember my struggles more than my successes.”

How often do you pick up a bat or a glove and do some instruction … or are you mostly focused on your players’ mindset?

rv: “I have one rule: never give an example. Never demonstrate. So I make sure I keep everything out of my hands.”

What has been your biggest adjustment to being a manager on this level?

rv: “It’s not necessarily the baseball part of it, but you’re doing different things that you never did as a player. Sending guys down. Releasing guys. Maybe sitting a guy down that’s tired. Those are things that you really don’t have to concern yourself with as a player. Sometimes there can be delicate situations that you have to be able to handle and still keep everybody on the same page.”

Your hiring sort of came out of the blue. Are you the first to make the leap from volunteer youth coach to MLB manager?

rv: “I would think so … but people forget I actually played 16 years. So I was around it enough that I think I have a pretty good feel for what’s going on and what needs to be done. It’s not like I was taken out of coaching tennis in high school and now doing this.”

What was your reaction when White Sox management came calling last fall about the job?

rv: “At that time I was coaching in the minor leagues with them on occasion. I was what you would call a roving instructor. I had a pretty good thing going, as far as basically doing what I wanted to do at any time. This is a full-time, 24/7 job, so it was more about if it fit in family-wise. I was very interested in the job once they asked me to do it, but everybody has to be in for it to work. My wife and kids were all for it, and it’s been a pretty exciting run so far.”

You played for a number of wellrespected managers during your playing career (including Gene Lamont, Bobby Valentine, Joe Torre and Jim Tracy, to name a few) ... Who would you say influenced you the most in your managerial style? Are you conscious of that as you’re developing your own style?

rv: “I’ve been pretty fortunate to be around some great people, so I think I take things I learned from all those guys. In my later years, I played for Jim Tracy and people I have a lot of respect for. I’d ask questions and just listen to their experiences. They have a lot more time doing this, so I don’t at any point think I know it all, but you do draw off of what you’ve learned or who you’ve been around.”

How about playing for Gary Ward at OSU?

rv: “There was always a team concept to what he brought. There was a work ethic that we had. It was about every day. It wasn’t just that we were playing baseball, but who you represented and what was expected. I think sometimes that can be hard to get at this level, but it’s stuff I believe in because it’s stuff I learned under him.”

On a scale from 1 to 10, how much fun are you having this season?

rv: “It’s a 10. It’s fun. I’m at a place I really enjoy being at, and Chicago is a great town. It’s the best summer city in the United States. It’s been great.”

You’ve set the bar pretty high as a rookie manager. Did you peak too soon?

rv: (Laughing) “I hope not.”

“I’m at a place I really enjoy beIng at, and chIcago Is a great town. It’s the best summer

cIty In the unIted states. ”

not out of his League

ventura’s Success no Surprise to this fan

So i doubt he has a shrine to his personal success back home in San luis Obispo county, c alifornia.

Sometime in November, after the infield dirt has settled on the south side of Chicago, Ventura will open that box and place another trophy inside. The inscription reads, “2012 a merican l eague Manager of the year: r obin ventura, c hicago w hite Sox.”

Admittedly, they had reason to doubt. Chicago was a team in transition. Older players with hefty contracts had struggled with injuries and failed to live up to high expectations. Young players were just getting their feet wet in the big leagues. Detroit was a shoe-in to take the top spot. The also-rans would be lucky to stay afloat.

Some questioned Ventura’s lack of managerial experience. (After all, his most recent coaching stint was as a volunteer assistant for Arroyo Grande High School.)

“It’s going to be a long season for the White Sox,” they said during spring training, gleefully overemphasizing the word “long.”

Since Opening Day, Ventura’s squad has silenced the critics and made believers out of the doubters.

I imagine, somewhere in his suburban family dwelling, there’s a dusty cardboard box that contains the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy he won at Oklahoma State, along with the 1988 gold medal from when baseball was still an Olympic endeavor.

There would be clippings chronicling his record 58-game hitting streak in 1987 and plaques honoring the Baseball America’s “Player of the Decade” and charter member of the College Baseball Hall of Fame. I see six Major League Gold Glove awards in that box — I’m envisioning a really big box — along with mementos from 16 seasons in the pros, two of which he was an All-Star third-baseman.

I’m calling it now. The race for MLB’s top skipper is a runaway. Maybe it’s my orange blood talking or the partiality I’ve had for the Chisox since they were “Winnin’ Ugly” in the early ’80s. I admit it — I’m a homer.

But let’s look at the stats to support my not-so-bold prediction …

Ventura took over a team that had finished below .500 and 16 games out of first place in 2011.

The Sox were picked by many Major League prognosticators (among them Sports Illustrated, Baseball America and The Sporting News) to finish dead last in the division in 2012.

At press time, the Sox held a two game lead over the Tigers in the AL Central. The rookie skipper’s calm demeanor in the clubhouse has helped keep the South Siders on an even keel three-fourths of the way through the grueling 162-game slate.

With some key roster moves made by general manager Kenny Williams since the All-Star break, there’s no reason to think the team won’t maintain their position atop the division down the home stretch.

69

Now, I’m not saying that Chicago will win the pennant — don’t count them out, either — but no matter the outcome, it’s already been a banner year for Ventura and Co.

a manager-of-the-year kind of year.

to borrow the homerun call from w hite Sox play-by-play man k en “h awk” h arrelson: “you can put it on the board … yes!”

As legends go, Robin Ventura is as humble as they get.

S tory B y clay BillMan

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On his July 27 trip to the esPn studios in Bristol, conn.,

s A gues T O n The Worldwide Leader in Sports’ “car wash”

But it was what happened before Randle even arrived at the sprawling ESPN campus that generated the most excited response of the day from the Cowboy back.

While Randle was eating breakfast by the front desk at his nearby hotel that morning, ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith stopped in to grab a bite of his own before rushing into the studio for work. Having spotted Smith in the parking lot, Randle sprung out of his chair and intercepted the ESPN analyst before he even made it in the door.

“Stephen A. is my favorite out of all of them,” Randle said. “I agree with a lot of what he says — especially about LeBron James. If I had to pick only one ESPN person who I wanted to see, it would have probably been him.”

Good thing the chance hotel meeting happened, because Randle and Smith never crossed paths again during the course of the day.

Joseph Randle w

“I’m actually glad I saw him first thing when I didn’t expect it because that helped me get some of the nervousness out before we got to the studio,” Randle said.

Randle was one of four Big 12 football players participating in the car wash, joining Texas defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat, West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith and Kansas State linebacker Arthur Brown — who Randle grew up with and ran track alongside as a youth in their shared hometown of Wichita, Kan.

“I loved being there as part of a group because there was always somebody to talk to during the times when we were waiting,” Randle said. “Even better having somebody like Arthur Brown there who I’ve already known for a long time.”

Upon arriving at ESPN’s campus, the Big 12 players were immediately welcomed and checked in by their two guides for the day, talent producer Lisa Stokes and her summer intern — and Notre Dame women’s basketball All-American — Skylar Diggins.

S tory By gavin l ang

P hotogra P hy By gary lawSOn

“oklahoma state inthehouse!”

The players were taken to a waiting room and were rotated in one at a time for college football podcasts with ESPN writer Ivan Maisel. Just minutes after the players got into the room, popular ESPN Radio host Mike Golic came in for a short visit. He saw Randle wearing his bright orange Oklahoma State polo shirt and said “The Big 12 champs. I’m not sure I’m cool enough to be able to pull off wearing that bright of a shirt.”

After posing for a quick picture with Golic, Randle reported for his podcast with Maisel, where he was asked how Oklahoma State plans to defend its Big 12 crown without Brandon Weeden and about Justin Blackmon, freshman quarterback Wes Lunt, and Randle’s childhood bond with Arthur Brown.

After more pictures in the waiting room, the group marched through the labyrinth that is ESPN’s campus — “It was huge. You would never think it was this big, but we got to see where it all happens,” Randle said — to a small studio where the players were paired in twos to participate in an interview for ESPN’s Digital Magazine

All of the questions were personalityrelated instead of being about football. Randle was partnered with Brown for the piece with rave results.

“We’re going to keep those two together for the rest of the day — they have a natural rapport and it looks great on camera,” whispered Stokes out of the side of her mouth to someone behind the cameras.

It was during that interview that one of the recurring themes for the day emerged for Randle. He was asked what his hidden talent is, and he answered that he can salsa dance and does it casually as a hobby. That immediately caught the attention of those on ESPN, and word quickly spread because in every ensuing interview, Randle was either asked about salsa dancing or to get up and show off his moves

The other most common questions throughout the day revolved around salsa dancing, Weeden, Blackmon, Lunt, growing up with K-State’s Brown and being a standout Oklahoma State running back from the same hometown as Barry Sanders.

After the Digital Magazine shoot, Randle and Brown sat in chairs and hosted an ESPn.com live chat with fans. For those wondering what an ESPN.com chat looks like, it’s simply an ESPN staffer with a laptop reading the submitted questions to the players and typing in their answers as they reply.

Up next was lunch in ESPN’s large, modern, high-end cafeteria. The players chose from hot or cold sandwiches, pizza, pasta, salad, burgers, wraps or sushi — which the ESPN staffers said they view as a treat. Randle and the players were told that only on Fridays, ESPN brings in a chef who hand-makes the sushi and that it is a hot commodity among their personnel.

None of the four players chose to eat the sushi.

The scene in the cafeteria was one of ESPN on-camera talent mixed in with behind-the-scenes producers and collegeage interns. Among the recognizable figures in the cafeteria were “SportsCenter” anchors Sage Steele, Linda Cohn and Sara Walsh.

After eating, the players grouped up and headed out of the cafeteria. Stokes and Diggins showed them to the ESP n campus fitness center, where a handful of ESPN employees were getting a lunchhour workout in under the supervision of the campus’s full-time personal trainer. Walking in just at that moment for a workout of his own was ESPN Radio’s popular host Colin Cowherd. He spotted the Big 12 players and shared a pleasant visit, talking about everything from the addition of West Virginia and TCU to the league, to the 2011 season and his quick outlook on the 2012 season.

“Alright, I’ve gotta go and try to get a few miles in,” Cowherd said before shaking everyone’s hand and getting in for his workout.

From there, the players taped interviews with ESPN college football writer Brad Edwards for the ESP n mobile app before being shuttled to the studio of the network’s popular college football live show, where host Steve Weissman had them on the set in pairs. Randle with Brown and Jeffcoat with Smith.

The College Football Live set was the first that was truly impressive from a lighting and visual standpoint. Helmets from several teams adorning the set with Oklahoma State’s placed where it could be seen over Randle’s shoulder as he appeared on camera.

Prior to College Football Live, all of Randle’s interviews took place in smallish rooms with no real distinguishing features.

After “College Football Live”, Stokes and Diggins led the group on a long walk to the next set. As the group entered a stretching hallway adorned with helmets from college football teams all over the country, a figure came sprinting from the opposite end right toward the players. He wasn’t identifiable until he bellowed “Oklahoma State in the house!” upon seeing Randle, and never broke stride as he ran past the Big 12 group.

It was former Cowboy point guard and current ESPN Radio show host Doug Gottlieb — clearly in a hurry to get to his next destination.

Randle and the other players continued on their way to tape a piece for the upcoming ESPN show, “ unit E .” The taping of this segment involved the players playing the popular children’s game Hungry Hungry Hippos , and what started as a simple taping evolved into a full-fledged competition.

Randle led his hippo to victory by collecting the most marbles on the table and immediately sat back and gave a silent, satisfied smile as if to say “Oklahoma State wins again.”

A quick hit for ESPN’s social media platforms was followed by visits to the impressive sets of ESPN’s popular SportsNation and Baseball Tonight shows. Both sets were empty when the Big 12 players arrived, so they took advantage by posing for pictures in the SportsNation host chairs and with the baseball gloves and bats that adorn the Baseball Tonight set.

The last stop of the day was for live hits on SportsCenter — which Randle called the highlight of his car wash experience.

Stokes reminded the players to turn off their cell phones and it was a good thing, because after Randle finished his part on the show, Stokes handed him his phone — flooded with text messages and screen captures sent by friends, teammates and

family celebrating the fact that they saw Randle on ESPN’s flagship show.

“See, THAT’s why we tell you to turn your phones off,” Stokes said to Randle with a knowing glare.

As part of his time on SportsCenter, Randle was asked by host Todd Grisham to watch one of the nearby monitors and analyze NFL wide receiver Victor Cruz as he performed an endzone salsa dance after scoring a touchdown. Not really knowing what to say, Randle just said “He’s doing well. It’s good.”

“It’s all in the hips, isn’t it?” Grisham asked.

“Actually the knees,” Randle said. “If you keep your knees good, then you’ll be alright.”

“But Shakira said `Hips Don’t Lie.’”

“Well, for the girl, yes.” Randle quickly quipped.

And with that, the interview ended on a light note and the players’ responsibilities at ESPN were done.

Stokes and Diggins took the group back to the original welcome spot and the players all signed miniature foam giveaway footballs for each other, wished each other luck and went on their way.

“It was a lot of fun, we did a lot of interviews and met a lot of people who we watch on ESPN every day,” Randle says. “It was also a lot of fun getting to interact with the other players from the other teams.”

If you’re not in the habit of visiting Okstate.com daily, you might be missing out. This story originally ran on the website. Okstate.com is your firsthand source for up-to-the-second information about OSU athletics.

“It’sallinthehips,isn’tit?”Grishamasked. “Actuallytheknees,”Randlesaid.“Ifyoukeepyourkneesgood, thenyou’llbeallright.”

“ButShakirasaid‘HipsDon’tLie.’”

“Well,forthegirl,yes.”

WFO I NE,WOMEN&THE TSEW

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Beth Nickel Proprietress, Far Niente Honorary Chair

Ree Drummond The Pioneer Woman Celebrity Chef Hotel and Restaurant Administration

OSU Celebrates Record Freshman Class

This fall, OSU welcomes the most new students in its 122-year history.

About 4,300 future leaders, thinkers, doers and builders are headed to Stillwater in pursuit of their dreams.

OSU is focused on bright minds, building brighter futures and the brightest world for all.

There are a lot of big ifs this year with the Cowboy offense.

Eight starters are gone, including two of the best to ever play at OSU, Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon. This year OSU’s performance depends on development of skill players, a lack of injuries and the play of the guy behind center, freshman quarterback Wes Lunt, the only true freshman leading a team in the Big 12.

“You just don’t know,” Monken says. “Because of injuries. You don’t know until you play a team how they are. OU, when we played them at the end of the year, was not the same team they were at the beginning of the year because they’d lost so many guys to injuries. End of story … Mike (Gundy) has done a great job. We’ve got great talented kids. We’re just a lot thinner than we were last year on offense.”

Offensive cOOrdinat

S tory By Matt ElliOtt

gary l awSOn

In football, each member of the 11-man team on the field has to do his part. No part in the chain is any less important than the other. But in the Big 12, quarterback play separates the winners from the losers, Monken says.

For example, when Weeden was on in 2011, and he was frequently, the Cowboys were an unstoppable juggernaut with the nation’s third-best offense. The Big 12 is a spread league, one in which teams have to spread the ball around to skill players who can zip, dart, spin and duck past defenders.

Contrast that to the SEC, whose teams are more about power football — running the ball behind a lumbering wall of linemen. That’s time of possession play (grinding runs and possession passes to move the chains) and won’t cut it in the Big 12, where teams like to stretch the field with big quick plays.

Headed into summer practices, Monken, in his characteristically frank way, notes the team is still in pretty good shape after a record-setting 12-win season and the Fiesta Bowl victory over Stanford. He adds there are a few backup players who need attitude adjustments.

P hotogra P hy By

Offensive rdinatOr 79

“They probably feel a little bit more entitled than they should,” he says. “They made a few plays when it mattered, but mostly they just wore the jersey and hung out.”

Not so with the quarterback. Lunt, a quiet player like Weeden who prefers to lead by example, seems to be soaking it all in. Gundy doesn’t allow freshmen to give interviews, so it’s hard to tell what’s on his mind.

Weeden was an older player and was more able to voice his dislikes, likes, et cetera. Lunt is still learning, Monken says, but has the tools to be a great quarterback — natural accuracy, arm strength and a mind for the offense. He is also mature for his age, his coach notes, and is a pocket passer (meaning he prefers to stand behind his offensive line and throw rather than run) who fits well with the system in Stillwater.

He’s got his stuff together, and that allows him to function at a higher level than a normal 18-year-old. A lot of our quarterbacks do, and that’s a good thing.”

Lunt, from Rochester, Ill., threw for 3,650 yards and 31 touchdowns his senior year despite a broken foot keeping him out of the first few games of the season. He once threw for 590 yards in one game, setting a state record. He also completed 73 percent of his passes while throwing only four interceptions.

He has come a long way at OSU. An early enroller, Lunt was the strongest performer of OSU’s top three quarterbacks during the April spring game. He went 15-23 for 215 yards and two touchdowns.

During Big 12 Media Days in Dallas in July, his teammates talked about his arm, and their excitement that he’s leading them into 2012. What happens after that remains to be seen.

The big thing is the other guys, his offensive line, receivers and running backs, need to play well, because Lunt can’t do it all himself, Monken says. Another key will be whether the freshman is able to keep his head during big games, treating each opponent the same.

“When we play this team, when we’re on the road at Arizona, does he see the game the same way? Does his heart rate stay the same or does it start beating like a drum and does he start doing things he wouldn’t normally do? You just hope he keeps an even keel.”

o S u Wa S F ortunate in 2011 to haV e P eo P le W ho made P lay S B ut

al S o W ere good teammate S . t hey

al S o had P layer S W ho W ouldn’t quit. t eam S need a little o F B oth to W in.

The nonconference schedule began with a blowout of Louisiana and a victory over 2010’s bowl opponent, Arizona. A game against Tulsa was delayed until just after midnight, finishing around 3:30 a.m. But the win over Texas A&M, a fight between two top-10 teams, showed OSU’s true mettle.

2011“That’s one of the defining moments that come to mind,” Monken says.

Monken started last season a bit “bummed” because there were only six home games on the schedule. OSU was poised on the brink of a historic season, with Blackmon, who won the nation’s top prize for a wide receiver in 2010, and record-setting quarterback Weeden at the helm.

Every game on the schedule looked winnable. And OSU won nearly all of them. “There was anticipation, but when you practice against each other, you really don’t know. A lot of the time you don’t give your own team enough credit. You down grade your own players because you know more about them.”

OSU entered half time down 20-3, looking out of synch and confused when A&M seemed to be the opposite, racking up over 300 yards of offense.

fortunately, games aren’t decided at the half.

OSU coaches made some adjustments, noting the team’s one decent drive came when they tried to move the ball more aggressively. Weeden came out firing, and it paid off.

A&M wilted due to the attack and the heat while OSU seemed to thrive off of it. Weeden finished with 438 yards on the day, completing 31 passes to Hubert Anyiam, Justin Blackmon and Josh Cooper, while the defense forced three turnovers from the frustrated Aggies.

“if you don’t kick the door down now, when? w hen?”

“There wasn’t any panic,” Monken says. “We told the guys we couldn’t trade for anybody. ‘This is who we have. We’re your coaches and you’re our guys. We’re going to get it to the playmakers and we’re going to give it everything we’ve got, but no one is coming to rescue us.’ And a lot of things went our way.”

The Cowboys won 30-29. The rest of the season was the stuff of legend, although not without some real adversity. Linebacker coach Glenn Spencer lost his wife to heart disease. The entire university was stunned by the tragic plane crash in November which killed women’s basketball coaches Kurt Budke and Miranda Serna, as well as two donors, former state senator Olin Branstetter and his wife, Paula.

Then there was Iowa State. In retrospect, it almost seems like a minor slip up, but it was a costly one for which Monken at first blamed himself. The plane crash had occurred the day before the game and the players were told of it the morning of the game.

Oklahoma State was undefeated and heavily favored over the Cyclones. The only other game left on the schedule was Bedlam, and OU was floundering due to injuries and inconsistent play. It looked as if OSU might go undefeated and play for a national title.

But it wasn’t to be. OSU was out-ofsync, committed 10 rare penalties and four costly turnovers, losing in overtime.

“After that game, I was the most miserable 10-1 guy ever. I was involved in the Tulane job (Tulane’s head coach, Bob Toledo, resigned in October). There was a part of me that believed that the reason we didn’t play as well on offense was maybe I was distracted. Maybe not only was the team distracted, but maybe I was distracted. Maybe I didn’t give it everything I had.”

Winning is relief and losing is misery, Monken says. Over time, he started to realize there was plenty of blame to go around.

Due to some schedule changes, Iowa State ended up having more time — a bye week — to prepare for the Cowboys, he notes. OSU won a lot of close games that year, and you can’t win them all.

“When I go to the horse races I only remember the ones that lost by a nose. Those are the only ones I stinkin’ remember. I don’t remember all the ones that won by a nose. I remember all the sonof-a-guns that cost me.”

Thankfully, those low points were few and far between. The season’s culmination in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl win was as good as it gets.

But it didn’t start out that way. During the game, Monken was pulling his hair out in the booth. His offense was playing “like we really enjoyed the week.”

Weeden threw an interception on his first pass play of the game and the Cowboys scored no points in the first quarter for the first time all season. Halfway through the second quarter, the team was down 14-0.

“We made more mental mistakes in that game that stopped us from being able to execute. There’s no way to explain it other than the guys must’ve had a hell of a time.”

Monken blames himself for not getting his players out in space enough.

It didn’t help that the defense was facing the brutally dialed-in quarterback Andrew Luck, who would be the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft three months later. The Cowboys picked up the pace and tacked on three touchdowns in half of a quarter before halftime, tying the game at 21.

The teams traded scores in the second half, but OSU posted two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including a tying run that set up overtime. Surviving two missed field goals by the Cardinal, the Cowboys set up their winning kick in overtime thanks to a tough 24-yard catch by walkon receiver Colton Chelf at the goal line.

Monken complimented the Cardinal on its strong front seven defensive players who kept OSU at 13 yards rushing during the game. But OSU was faster and more athletic, and it showed when his players got in to the open, where defenders had to make plays to get to the ball carrier.

OSU was fortunate in 2011 to have people who made plays but also were good teammates. They also had players who wouldn’t quit. Teams need a little of both to win.

“It was great for our guys. Colton Chelf. All of our guys. Weeden and ‘Black.’ Guys that personified what team is about. And what perseverance is about. That’s Colton Chelf. A guy that comes up with a big play and then lines up for the next guy to do it. We’re a team. It doesn’t matter. Expectations of the team, not the player.”

“winning is relief and losing is misery.”

Despite all the fun his players had, he hopes the bowl system doesn’t go away with this year’s plans for a college football playoff. Bowl games are a springboard into the next year, he says. The players get time off during the week to have fun. There’s no traveling the day before.

Regardless, it’ll be hard to top a 12-1 season and a Big 12 Conference championship. But Monken and the offense will try like hell.

“We told our guys, ‘If you don’t kick the door down now, when? When? It’s now. It’s right now. It’s these years. This won’t define you as a person … but it frickin’ matters.’”

Monken isn’t sure what will happen in 2012, but he knows it’ll be a wild ride. Coaches will keep focusing on the three big things, recruiting, developing and coaching better, and, finally, not relaxing.

smells like …

Yes, it’s election time!

The Democrats and President Obama are convinced a four-year track record of hard work and certain successes are enough to keep them on top for another term. They are the defending champions and must be knocked off if another party is to seize power. The Republicans are represented by two new-comers — Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan — who feel new ideas and a renewed focus on game-plans for the economy is the recipe for victory. Before it’s all over, we will see mudslinging, name-calling, spinning and venom spitting unlike any we have ever witnessed. We will see some strange things, for sure. And we might see some strange things in conference football this year as well.

The Big 12 has a few interesting opportunities all its own. It bears a name that belies its membership, for one. Ten teams will battle it out under the banner of a name that “used to be,” and perhaps hints at what’s to come.

A new power has proven itself by winning a conference championship and threatens to lay claim to a permanent spot among the previously unchallenged league “elite.” Those who used to lie comfortably on top are considering new

strategies and new personnel to reverse their fortunes. Fans, pundits and prognosticators alike have had plenty of time to develop sound theories and justification for previous transgressions. In their eyes, all will be returned to normal as a new season begins.

We’ll see. The new mixture within the conference may create ebbs and flows for a more balanced playing field. Only time will tell. Don’t let anyone tell you different. The variables have forever changed.

We will see some strange new sights. Purple-horned toads (who knew?) from Fort Worth will remind us of Southwest Conference days gone by. These bullies of the Mountain West may recognize some of the school colors in the fall, but the similarities to the teams associated with them in their previous incarnations will end there.

Coon-skin caps and muskets will follow. Old gold and blue Mountaineers traverse from the hills. The beasts of the Big East will arrive on the scene to prove that “Big” is just as powerful among the 12 (or 10 as the case may be ... is this new math?). They, too, may find the new neighborhood tough sledding.

Can John Denver be heard west of the Blue Ridge Mountains? Maybe. The first line to the Mountaineers favorite song begins with: “Almost heaven, West Virginia ...” Their home field may seem like heaven, but the other locales around the Big 12 may more closely resemble the “other” place after a few losses.

One thing is for certain. Regardless of new strategies or old, the best teams will be the ones who perform the fundamentals: blocking, tackling, a good kicking game and ball control.

Perhaps the world of politics should take a page from that particular play-book. It’s all about the fundamentals.

We will see all shades of color and changing momentums this fall. Some in football, others in politics. Just remember, there are red states and blue states ... but the state of Oklahoma is Orange!

POk ES.

ky L e w ray Vice PresiDent enrollment management & marketing

i t’s that ti M e again, when the colors and pageantry of the fall come to life all across the country. Autumn’s armies place peace aside and mount all out fronts on others. The lights and cameras come on and test the mettle of focused participants. Offseason work is called into question as players get down in the mud, dirt and grime. Huge gatherings of people are whipped into frenzies. Historic powers are challenged by non-traditional upstarts. New and age-old strategies are honed and implemented.

Follow your Cowb oys ALL THE WAY!

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Brandon Weeden

B.S., Marketing 2011 Big 12 Champion Fiesta Bowl Champion NFL 1st Round Draft Pick