JimBob
10-27-2008, 07:33 AM
Cowboys must bounce back
By MATT DOYLE World Sports Writer
10/27/2008
Last Modified: 10/27/2008 3:50 AM
Football season can be compared to the recent tumultuous times the stock market has experienced.
Teams have endured wild swings of momentum. There have been stretches of good fortune mixed with drops in performance that are painful.
Oklahoma State's 2006 and 2007 seasons were like that.
Consistency was not always evident those two years. Games viewed as breakthrough victories were sometimes followed by tough, discouraging losses.
Still, time after time, the Cowboys did not wallow in despair. They simply went back to work each week in search of success.
"They understand what it takes each week to prepare for a football game. Our football is like a lot of things you are affected by in real life," OSU coach Mike Gundy said.
"You have some good and some bad. Guys who are going to Wall Street every day aren't having many good days. But they show up each day and hope it gets better."
More often than not, the Cowboys found those better days. Following its 12 losses over that two-year span, OSU responded with a win nine times.
Keep that in mind when analyzing how the Cowboys will bounce back from Saturday's 28-24 loss at top-ranked Texas.
The setback was a missed opportunity to establish OSU football on the national landscape. Learning from missed opportunities in recent years, though, helped establish a consistent pattern of play that allowed OSU to open this season 7-0.
Too much work has been put in to allow a four-point road loss to the nation's No. 1 team to spoil what the Cowboys already have accomplished. It would be surprising if OSU did not respond with a nice effort at home this week against Iowa State.
"This is tough right now," quarterback Zac Robinson said Saturday. "But I know we can do it. We've got a pretty strong team. A confident team. Guys will forget about this loss and move on. That's what we need to do."
By MATT DOYLE World Sports Writer
10/27/2008
Last Modified: 10/27/2008 3:50 AM
Football season can be compared to the recent tumultuous times the stock market has experienced.
Teams have endured wild swings of momentum. There have been stretches of good fortune mixed with drops in performance that are painful.
Oklahoma State's 2006 and 2007 seasons were like that.
Consistency was not always evident those two years. Games viewed as breakthrough victories were sometimes followed by tough, discouraging losses.
Still, time after time, the Cowboys did not wallow in despair. They simply went back to work each week in search of success.
"They understand what it takes each week to prepare for a football game. Our football is like a lot of things you are affected by in real life," OSU coach Mike Gundy said.
"You have some good and some bad. Guys who are going to Wall Street every day aren't having many good days. But they show up each day and hope it gets better."
More often than not, the Cowboys found those better days. Following its 12 losses over that two-year span, OSU responded with a win nine times.
Keep that in mind when analyzing how the Cowboys will bounce back from Saturday's 28-24 loss at top-ranked Texas.
The setback was a missed opportunity to establish OSU football on the national landscape. Learning from missed opportunities in recent years, though, helped establish a consistent pattern of play that allowed OSU to open this season 7-0.
Too much work has been put in to allow a four-point road loss to the nation's No. 1 team to spoil what the Cowboys already have accomplished. It would be surprising if OSU did not respond with a nice effort at home this week against Iowa State.
"This is tough right now," quarterback Zac Robinson said Saturday. "But I know we can do it. We've got a pretty strong team. A confident team. Guys will forget about this loss and move on. That's what we need to do."