Gundy not worried about ‘what could have been’

STILLWATER — The Cowboys opened this football season amid heavy expectations and hype, even adorning a regional cover of Sports Illustrated touting their season ahead.

A Big 12 championship and a spot in the College Football Playoff seemed like legitimate possibilities.

Now OSU sits at 8-3, hardly terrible, yet also not up to the lofty goals set within the program and co-signed by many in the national media.

So, does this season carry the feel of a missed opportunity?

“I worry about that every year,” said Cowboys coach Mike Gundy. “Here’s what I tell the team: ‘They guarantee you get to play 12 (games). Now in our league, if you play good enough you get the championship game. Then, if you do really good, you could potentially get two more. So the maximum is 15. Let’s just say you have an unbelievable year and play 14 or 15 games. That’s all you get for 365 days.’

“It’s not like basketball or baseball where you get to play a lot of games. There’s a lot of work that goes in with a group of guys, and I always worry about a missed opportunity. That’s in my mind all the time. It’s the one issue I have.”

Now for Gundy, it’s about pressing forward, this week against Kansas and later in a bowl game, with an eye on finishing strong, not lamenting what might have been.

“Yes, this was a special group,” he said. “Does that part eat on me that they couldn’t get to whatever their ultimate goal was? Yes, it does. But life is full of events that make us feel not so good about things, which is why we believe in systems and things that say, ‘Let’s keep rolling.’

“Until you can’t draw another breath, you have a chance.”

THE OKLAHOMAN] [PHOTO BY NATE BILLINGS, Oklahoma State football coach said the Cowboys need to move on instead of wondering “what could have been.” Although OSU is 8-3, media predicted the Cowboys would contend for the Big 12 championship.