It is so Time for the Cowboys to Play Somebody and Special Teams Ready

Oklahoma State held their final scrimmage to prepare for the start of the 2020 pandemic football season on Saturday and it was obvious they need to play somebody soon.

STILLWATER -- Oklahoma State football has not had to wait this long to play a first game since 1968 when former head football coach and athletic director Floyd Gass and his teams had that special treat of playing Arkansas on the road every season. Those Cowboys opened on Sept. 20 and were thrashed by the Razorbacks 39-0. OSU football has come a long way since then. Current head coach Mike Gundy has led the program to 14 straight winning seasons and bowl appearances. He's never had to wait past Sept. 5 to open a season and that seemingly late start in 2009 was a 24-10 win over Georgia at home. 

While much of the Big 12 was opening their football season on Saturday with several wishing they could have delayed the misery, Gundy was sitting high in Boone Pickens Stadium dictating and watching his team go through a situational scrimmage. Yes, just a week away now from a late start with Tulsa the Cowboys were in a full scrimmage. Add that to the unusual circumstances and happenings in a COVID-19 football season. 

After many of the series on Saturday somebody from one side of the field, or the other, or both were making body motions and talking trash to the other side. Defensive end Tyler Lacy was emotional, but so were the Cowboys safeties and corners. Over on the offense everybody from running back Chuba Hubbard to quarterback Spencer Sanders to several of the wide receivers were expressing themselves. Everything was chippy and how could it not be. This team has been practicing off and on, in some form or fashion, since Aug. 1. There have been days off. Gundy started with a format of two days on and one day off. One weekend a couple of weeks ago featured four straight off days. That was impacted by the Thursday and Friday, Aug. 27 and 28 were professional and college sports alike observed social injustice in the aftermath of the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis. 

The Cowboys really did not ramp up practices with hitting until Wednesday, Aug. 12 following the Big 12 Board of Directors voting to go forward with the college football season in the league. That was the first full pads practice. However, since then the Cowboys have scrimmages either part of and most of practice on four times. A normal preseason might have two and a half scrimmages. They have also had at least three practices that were totally devoted to special teams. 

Unlike some teams, Gundy has driven home two issues that tend to get teams beat in an opening game, physicality or lack of and special teams. Oklahoma State has even conducted some live special teams reps. He has been celebrating on his @coachgundy Twitter account the special teams player of the day. Those honors go mostly to young players and back-ups that have showed effort and enthusiasm that it takes to make cover and return units successful.

The extensive work on special teams revealed early that Bixby freshman Brennan Presley, who Gundy saw plenty of the past couple of seasons in Class 6A-II State Championship Games against Stillwater and his middle quarterback son Gunnar, is a real threat on returns. The Cowboys have preseason All-Big 12 punt returner Dillon Stoner, but have been waiting for a big play kickoff return threat and Presley did plenty of that in high school and looks like he can at the college level.

“He’s a young player that’s a little further along than other freshmen because he competes,” Gundy said of the 5-8, 165-pound Presley. “He goes out every day. He’s not concerned with total number of reps. You can get him 200 reps, and he’s going to continue to fight and compete. He likes to play the game of football, and he has a tremendous attitude. Those are really key ingredients in a freshman being able to compete early in their career.”

Gundy feels there are plenty of players eager to run down and cover kicks of block for Stoner, Presley, L.D. Brown, Braydon Johnson, and other returners.

As for the specialists, the major question was who would step in for grduated and three-year starting kicker Matt Ammendola. Alex Hale has not attempted a field goal or even an extra point in a real game. He has kicked off. As long as he stays strong mentally, the Australian has shown he is very talented on PAT and field goals. His camp has been impressive. Now, the Cowboys are two-thirds Aussie with specialists.

"The punters will be the same with the guys that we've had," Gundy said in an August 31 Zoom conference when the opener was still expected to be played Sept. 12. "Our kickers up to this point have practiced really well. I think that Alex Hale has got the nod right now in the PAT, field goal department, but I've been pleased with our teams and punting and kicking up to this point."

Oklahoma State fans were not as overjoyed last season with the punting of now 30-year-old Tom Hutton. Hutton averaged 38.7-yards and opposing teams had a grand total of 18-yards in returns the entire season! He also had just one touchback all season. 

“I’ve been pleased with our teams and our battery and punting and kicking up to this point,” Gundy said.

Now, for the rest of the Cowboys if everything can go smoothly this week and get on the field for the game on Saturday because this team really needs to hit somebody outside of their own family.