Gutter Ball: Oklahoma State’s 18-year bowl streak ends with loss to TCU

November 10 — Kanye West and Jamie Foxx top the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 with their song “Gold Digger,” the last time Oklahoma State missed the bowl season.

It has taken this long for some students to be born, since 2005.

The clock reached zero on Saturday night as TCU defeated OSU 38-13 in Fort Worth, officially eliminating the Cowboys from bowl contention for the first time in 19 years.

Coach Mike Gundy did not comment after the game on what the streak meant for the university or the magnitude of its finish.

“I’d rather just talk football,” he said.

It’s hard to blame the man for sparking outrage with non-football-related comments earlier in the week; these comments had an oddly “Gold Digger” tone.

The Cowboys entered Saturday’s game with six straight losses despite being projected as the Big 12’s top contender. If there was an urgency to break the series and keep cup hopes alive, it was hard to tell.

The game was not competitive.

OSU’s four possessions in the first half ended like this: three-and-out, Ollie Gordon turnover, Alan Bowman interception, four-and-out and entered halftime trailing 24-0.

Generally, well-coached teams seem eager to start matches. Obviously this did not apply to OSU.

“We talk a lot about getting off to a fast start, getting the defensive coaches to make the first five to seven to nine calls that we think have a good chance for success,” Gundy said. “Then offensively, our first 12 to 15 plays of the game – same thing, so we can get off to a fast start, especially on the road.”

The Cowboys’ third losing performance: terrible for both sides.

Their yards per rush: Half of TCU’s and it was one of their best plays on the ground.

It’s hard to find answers for a team that can’t stop the run and can’t find its identity on offense. This is true unless a screen pass for a two-yard loss on third-and-10 qualifies as identification.

For the first time in 19 years, the Cowboys have nothing to play for except pride, and they can’t rely on bowl practices to give their young players more reps.

We can credibly argue that true freshman point guard Maealiuaki Smith should be playing anyway, but he definitely needs to move forward. In just five minutes of action, he had a higher completion percentage and yards per attempt than Bowman.

Holding on to the seventh-year quarterback moving forward, while perhaps a nice gesture, does nothing for the future of the program.

That’s assuming this team has a future to look forward to.