Cowboy Football Notebook: Pokes Prepare for Baylor

Here's some tidbits from Mike Gundy's weekly media availability on the upcoming Homecoming game against Baylor

STILLWATER -- It was a great and much-needed week off for Oklahoma State as they're preparing for their conference showdown against Baylor this weekend for Homecoming.

The Cowboys enter this week coming off a loss to Texas Tech and are currently 4-2 on the season and 1-2 in Big 12 play. Baylor enters this game ranked as the No. 18 team in the country in both the AP and the Coaches Poll and are undefeated on the season.

Oklahoma State is also looking to avenge their 35-31 loss to the Bears last year in Waco.

Oklahoma State's depth chart for Homecoming against Baylor

As he usually does the Monday before a game, Mike Gundy met the with media to put a bow on the previous game and to look ahead to the upcoming game.

Opening statement:

"This is a big week for Oklahoma State," said Mike Gundy. "Obviously, with the largest homecoming in the country, we are guesstimating 60,000 to 70,000 people back in town. It is a really exciting time. It has been a great tradition that has carries on here for forever. The most difficult part for me is tickets. Everybody wants tickets: former players, ex-players and pro players, but it is a good problem to have with us having that many people coming back. We will have a full house and it will be a perfect time in the afternoon for some college football."

An update on Spencer Sanders

Spencer is coming off easily one of the worst performances he's ever experienced in his football career. He threw three interceptions, while also committing two fumbles. But from what we've seen from Sanders in his limited time at the helm is that he bounces back well after a tough game.

"The first area for him is to take care of the football," said coach Gundy. "He threw a bad interception, got hit on another one and the other was tipped. We want to limit those, but the issue is fumbling the ball in the pocket. We have worked hard on will continue to work on focusing on that aspect of the game. We can't lose the turnover battle and expect to win games." 

The Pokes need defensive pressure

Last week, Texas Tech quarterback Jett Duffey was able to do just about whatever he was able to do. This week, the Cowboys will be facing one of the better quarterbacks in the league in three-year starter Charlie Brewer. If the Pokes want to come away with the win, they're going to need to create defensive pressure.

"I think that's always an issue as teams transition to a three-down look," said coach Gundy. "It is difficult, at times, to get pressure on the quarterback. The other this is, when you focus too much on pressuring the quarterback, you're creating gaps for quarterbacks to run. You watch games in this league and you can see how many times guys step up in the pocket and run for six, eight, 10 yards. That's the issue you face when you're in more of a three-down look, which is what more people are playing now. I think we have to be creative to find ways to get pressure on the quarterback and also find ways to cut those gaps down because guys in this league are really good at slipping through those gaps and picking up yardage."

Oklahoma State and Baylor face off on FOX this Saturday for Homecoming. The game is scheduled to kick off at 3 p.m. and will feature Tim Brando, Spencer Tillman and Coley Harvey on the call.