Oklahoma State Opens as 3.5-Point Underdogs Against West Virginia
Oddsmakers aren’t behind Oklahoma State this week as the Cowboys come in as 3.5-point underdogs on Saturday against West Virginia.
OSU has been an underdog the previous two weeks, and it has come away with two straight victories.
Mike Gundy and his squad came in as 11.5-point underdogs against Kansas State. The Cowboys covered that and took down the Wildcats 29-21.
Kansas came in on Saturday as 3.5-point underdogs against Oklahoma State. OSU prevailed in that one as well, winning 39-32 against the Jayhawks.
Being an underdog doesn’t faze Oklahoma State. In its last 10 games as a home underdog, Gundy and the Cowboys have won nine of those.
One of the keys to the Cowboys' recent success as underdogs is the stability on offense. In the previous two games, OSU is averaging 78 plays per game, including averaging 39 rushing plays and 38 passing plays per game.
"We have to identify that (and) say, 'Okay, we were bad.' Then tell the players 'We were bad. We apologize. Let's start over. Give us a chance, and then we'll start to migrate in the direction we need to be on both sides of the ball, scheme-wise.' And that's what we've done,” Gundy said. “You guys have seen us. I thought we felt pretty good about what we're doing rushing the ball. Now we're going to stick with it and continue to do it. We think that's who we are, and that's what we've done the last month at practice and in these games."
A player that has come alive in the recent success on offense is running back Ollie Gordon. He said the team never faltered after its 2-2 start and realized how special they could be when everything clicked.
"We have come a long way,” Gordon said. “We never panicked. We knew that, when we handled business, this would be how things would go.
Kickoff at West Virginia is at 2:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
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Nick is a sports media student at Oklahoma State University, where he also minors Sports Managment. He has covered OSU softball for 107.7 The Franchise and also covers Oklahoma high school football for Enid News & Eagle.