Ogbongbemiga: "Something Special Is Coming"
STILLWATER – It’s always difficult when Oklahoma State loses, especially when they have a chance at a historic season. The loss this past weekend to Texas will sting for quite some time as the Pokes were No. 6 in the country and had a legitimate chance at making the College Football Playoffs for the first time in program history.
"Games like that always sting and they hurt because in college you can't really lose if you want to make it all the way,” said Oklahoma State linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga. “You just got to come back to work, because we've still got something to play for. We've still got goals to achieve and you just got to watch the tape and move forward. There was a lot of things that we did well as a team, but there was a lot of things that we got to work on. So, we've got to clean those things up and move on to the next opponent, and don't let a loss beat you twice."
The things the Pokes did well, while were overshadowed by the turnovers and special teams mistakes, were great. They held an athletic Texas offense to under 300 total yards of offense and the Pokes’ offense put up more than 500 for just the second time this season.
The Cowboys have a difficult task ahead of them this weekend against a tough Kansas State team. The Wildcats are averaging 31.00 points per game this season while averaging 116.2 yards on the ground and 229.3 yards through the air. However, the Cats will be without quarterback Skylar Thompson and we’ll see Will Howard.
"They're a well-coached team,” said Ogbongbemiga. “K-State is one of those teams that if you're not on your A-game, they can catch you off guard. Year-in and year-out they can beat anybody, just cause they're disciplined and that culture they build out in Manhattan. We know it's going to be heavy run, so we're prepared for it; use our bigger personnel, got to get after them in different ways and it's just going to be one of those games where it's going to be man-on-man and see who really the bigger man in the situation is. It's a different kind of offense than we usually play in the Big 12, but we kind of got to change our playing style and be aggressive and physical in the trenches."
As a defense, the Pokes are holding opponents to 17.80 points per game while allowing just 125.2 yards on the ground and 174.6 through the air.
While the Cowboys have a really long and difficult road to even get back into CFP talks, they’re still a lot to play for this season, mainly a trip to Arlington and the Big 12 title game.
"This is going to be a long ride,” said Ogbongbemiga. “You've got to stick with us through thick and thin. Obviously, you don't want any losses and you don't want any games like that, but this team is tightly knit and we're still going for something special and it's not over yet. Just stick with us. Something special is coming. Just thug it out, because we're gonna keep grinding for y'all."
