What The Heck Was Gundy Thinking?
11/20/2009 11:16:00 AM

Just when you think Mike Gundy's finally become "a man," as he claims, he hauls off and pulls a rookie-like stunt that could have cost his Oklahoma State football team a BCS bowl bid.

Riddle me this: How can a football coach have no clue 11 games into a season who's the best back-up quarterback on his team?

Yet that's what happened Thursday night at Boone Pickens Stadium. It was apparently obvious to everyone but Gundy and his offensive assistants that Alex Cate wasn't going to get it done against Colorado and Gundy needed to pull Cate and give Brandon Weeden a shot.

Cate had one pass intercepted by the Buffs, and would have had three more if the CU secondary could hold onto the ball. That pick was the only Cate pass that anyone caught all night, although one of his receivers did drop one he should have caught.

Yet, Gundy stubbornly stuck with Cate the entire first half. I don't blame Cate for struggling; the redshirt junior has seen very little action in his OSU career. He had no body of work that suggested Gundy should start him over Weeden.

But I certainly blame Gundy for embarrassing his player and putting his team in serious danger of losing a game to one of the Big 12's worst teams. I wonder if ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews hadn't asked Gundy at halftime if he was considering a quarterback change that it would have even dawned on him that something had to be done?

In the little time that Weeden had played this season, he showed a command for the Cowboys' offense. The 26-year-old former pro baseball player tossed two touchdown passes against Grambling earlier in the year.

As late as Thursday morning on his weekly radio show, Bill Haisten, the Tulsa World's excellent OSU beat writer, was insisting that Gundy was making a mistake with Cate because Weeden had clearly demonstrated he was the better of the two.

After having his butt stuck on the Pokes' bench during a frustrating first half, Weeden finally got his chance in the third quarter and saved Gundy's butt from what would have been a deserved chewing and kicking by OSU supporters who were screaming and kicking at their TV screens as Gundy steadfastly stuck with Cate.

I'm not even going to get into Gundy's highly questionable play-calling and decision-making performance against the hopeless Buffs. Gundy can be grateful that CU helped him with several clueless personal-foul penalties and Weeden being ignored the first half by coming out and playing brilliantly in the 31-28 win.

Hopefully, Gundy apologized after the game to his team and thanked the Cowboys for having the fortitude to overcome both the inspired Buffaloes and their own stubborn head coach.


Previous Blog Entries:
OU, OSU, Big 12 Bowl Update
OU-Nebraska in 2012 could have a different look
A road trip tip for OU fans headed to Lincoln
A little bit about a lot......
State's football fans need some love

Main Menu