Cowboys draw Virginia Tech in Camping World Bowl
Oklahoma State accepted an invitation to the Camping World Bowl, scheduled Dec. 28 in Orlando, Fla. The Cowboys will play Virginia Tech, which is coached by former Oklahoma and Tulsa Union quarterback Justin Fuente.
STILLWATER — Mike Gundy can’t recall crossing paths with Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente very many times during their coaching careers, but one prior encounter sticks out to Gundy.
“I actually recruited him when he was coming out of high school,” the Oklahoma State coach said of Fuente, a Tulsa native who starred at Union High School and ultimately picked Oklahoma over an OSU team that had Gundy as its offensive coordinator.
Gundy’s Cowboys and Fuente’s Hokies are set to meet in the Camping World Bowl in Orlando, a 4:15 p.m. kickoff Dec. 28 on ESPN. Growing up as a passing quarterback in Oklahoma, Fuente looked up to Gundy and his younger brother, Cale.
“Coach Gundy is a legend in Oklahoma, both as a high school player, on to his playing career at Oklahoma State and then, obviously, what he’s done coachingwise,” Fuente said. “I just remember, when I was a kid growing up, both he and his brother being the first quarterbacks that I ever remember in Oklahoma that threw the ball and went on to play in college.”
When Gundy started recruiting Fuente, it reached another level.
“When I got to high school and got a chance to meet him and be recruited by him, I was a little bit in awe of him,” Fuente said. “I had seen him play so many times on television. It was a pretty neat experience for a guy like me that, as a kid growing up, was a huge fan of football in the state of Oklahoma. To get to know, just a little bit, one of those people I had seen on TV all those times was pretty neat.”
Of course, college football in Oklahoma was a bit of a mess during Fuente’s senior season at Union in 1994. It was the last season for Pat Jones at OSU and Gary Gibbs at OU.
“He was a good player, and when he came out, there weren’t very many throwing quarterbacks in the state at that time,” Gundy said. “My brother was a thrower, and Fuente was the next guy that showed up who was really a thrower. We really wanted him, but it didn’t work out for us.”
Fuente instead was sold on the pitch Howard Schnellenberger was making in Norman.
“It was an odd time in the history of both of those two schools,” Fuente said. “(Schnellenberger) was gonna throw the ball at the University of Oklahoma, really for the first time ever, which obviously didn’t work out too well. But that was the route I chose to go.”
For as highly regarded as he is as an offensive mind, Fuente’s team is anchored by a defense that ranks fourth nationally in scoring defense, giving up 13.5 points per game behind the guidance of defensive coordinator Bud Foster.
“He’s one of the most well-thought-of guys in the country,” Gundy said of Foster. “He’s going very well, like always, so we’ll have our hands full offensively, trying to score some points.”