OSU to focus on beefing up physical play

November 26, 2007 12:16 am

— OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy didn’t mince any words when talking about how overmatched his interior linemen were in the latest installment of the Bedlam rivalry. He described how the Cowboys were mashed, pummeled and had the ball ran “right down our throat.”
Now he’ll have a chance to do something about it.
With the completion of the regular season, Gundy and his staff can turn their focus toward recruiting more physical linemen and spend their bowl practices beefing up the young players who are already on campus.
The inside of Oklahoma State’s defense was methodically exploited by Oklahoma, which ran the ball on 28 of its 35 first-half snaps on its way to 307 rushing yards, and the Cowboys’ offensive line hit its low point when it couldn’t clear enough space to allow for a conversion from first-and-goal at the 1-yard line in the second quarter.
It was the second straight season a goal-line stand proved to be a turning point in the Bedlam rivalry. The Sooners stuffed Oklahoma State on four plays from the 2-yard line in last year’s Bedlam game, and the Cowboys also came up empty on fourth-and-goal from the 2 earlier this season against Kansas State.
Neither of the problems were a surprise. The Cowboys started the season without any experienced players at defensive tackle after Ryan McBean and Larry Brown finished their careers last season, with McBean getting selected in the NFL draft.
Then Oklahoma State lost experienced center David Washington in the third week of the season, and Gundy frequently referred to the line’s play as average throughout the season.
Gundy said the Cowboys would have seven coaches taking rotating shifts on the recruiting trail while players get the week off awaiting their bowl destination. Gundy said he hoped to sign 27 recruits and have four defensive linemen in the class this year and every year.
“In recruiting, it’s not a perfect science and so you hope that you can hit on two of the four every year and then after a four-year period, you’ve got eight linemen,” Gundy said.