USA TODAY International Edition
‘ Bedlam’ flipped rivals’ routes
With eight months’ distance — and given the way it ended — David Glidden can be honest. In the final minutes of Bedlam last December, he didn’t have much hope.
“I thought it was over,” the Oklahoma State wide receiver said.
He meant the game, after an Oklahoma interception a few moments earlier. But also the season — the Cowboys appeared headed to their seventh loss, which meant no bowl. And, just maybe, the coaching tenure of Mike Gundy, whose public demeanor had degenerated through the season, from frustrated heading toward surly.
But then Oklahoma punted — not once, but twice. The second time, Tyreek Hill scooted 92 yards into the end zone, tying the score. Oklahoma State won in overtime. And for the second time in as many seasons, a rivalry lived up to its nickname — and the trajectories of the football programs shifted radically.
“It’s unbelievable, the uplift it gives,” Glidden said Tuesday at Big 12 Media Days, “The mood that it took into our offseason, I don’t know if it could have been better for us.”
Behind quarterback Mason Rudolph — a freshman who had been taken out of redshirt status with two games left in the season — Oklahoma State defeated Washington in the Cactus Bowl. Gundy, who had done a 180 turn in media relations after the win against Oklahoma, patched things up with super- booster Boone Pickens. And the Cowboys are still riding high toward the kickoff of 2015.
But the mood on the opposite side of the ballroom at the Omni Dallas Hotel reflects ample reason for caution. That’s where Oklahoma center Ty Darlington explained the other end of Bedlam.
“Devastating,” he said, adding: “When you look back on that game, that one hurt. It hurt bad.”
Things likely weren’t going to be great for Oklahoma this offseason, anyway. Even before the Bedlam loss, the Sooners had tumbled a long way from lofty preseason expectations.
But after losing to Oklahoma State, they were blown out by Clemson in the Russell Athletic Bowl, completing a fade from preseason top five to five losses — and beginning an offseason that has included a shakeup in the coaching staff and questions about whether Bob Stoops’ program is in decline.
And those expectations a year ago? The top- five ranking? Thoughts of the College Football Playoff? Those were all fueled by a Sugar Bowl victory against Alabama to end the 2013 season. And that game came as a result of a last- minute Bedlam win against Oklahoma State that was almost as unlikely as what the Cowboys pulled off last December. An interception that wasn’t — Justin Gilbert had Blake Bell’s pass but couldn’t hold on — led to an Oklahoma touchdown a couple of plays later.
Oklahoma rode that win throughout the 2014 offseason, but then didn’t live up to the preseason hype. And the Bedlam loss — and the way it happened — might have encapsulated the Sooners’ season.
Though banged up, they appeared in control throughout the game. But with 61 seconds left, Oklahoma State was flagged for running into the punter. Rather than give the Cowboys possession deep in their own territory — a pretty tough situation for a freshman quarterback in his second game — Stoops chose to punt again. Hill returned it all the way. And the rival programs’ trajecto- ries seemed, at least for now, to switch.
Tuesday, Stoops again took the blame for losing Bedlam, saying: “You don’t punt the ball one more time. … Poor decision.” But he said the worst part was the loss rather than the resulting mood.
“That other stuff, none of that matters,” he said. “The other part of it, come on. We’ve been going at each other for a long time. I’ve got 17 years of it, so one game doesn’t change that.”
But for now at least, it has. For both programs. While Stoops and his players were fending off questions about the direction of the program Tuesday, Gundy was continuing his public relations pivot, which began moments after the Bedlam victory was final.
After several weeks of speculation over his future at Oklahoma State — Was he unhappy? Did he even want to be there? — he opened the postgame news con- ference by reiterating his loyalty to his alma mater. Then he made up with the news media, going from churlish to something approaching charming. During the run- up to the Cactus Bowl, he even instigated a selfie with reporters.
“During the season, I got frustrated,” Gundy said Tuesday. “Not at anybody, but just because when you’re a parent, you’re a teacher, you’re a coach, you want to be able to help the kids. I couldn’t do anything else. We were young up front. We weren’t very good. … Then, once we worked our way out, I thought, ‘ Now is the time to kind of make ends meet and put things together and make it better and kind of revitalize.’ ”
No one is projecting Oklahoma State into the playoff. The Cowboys were picked fourth in the Big 12’ s preseason poll of league media, behind TCU, Baylor and Oklahoma. But while Gundy is optimistic, saying he thought Oklahoma State could contend for the conference title, he’s also cautious. Among other things, he has the lesson from last offseason, when the Sooners were the ones riding all that Bedlam momentum.
It’s why Gundy was quick to note that, despite all of the attention that has been centered on Rudolph — a star in the making, according to the preseason hype — the quarterback has only played in three games. Yeah, the 15 extra bowl practices were important for the Cowboys. Beating Washington to finish things was a big deal. The offseason optimism has been fun. The program is in a very different place.
“Things have been really good for us over the last six or seven months,” he said. “We’re very proud to be where we are, and we’ve made some great strides. We’re excited about the future, and we’re all pulling together again.”
But he also knows this: With the season comes Bedlam.