Oklahoma State Cowboys Coach Mike Gundy Predicts Texas Longhorns Steve Sarkisian Will 'Stay in His Box' in Big 12 Championship
The No. 7 Texas Longhorns and No. 18 Oklahoma State Cowboys will meet for possibly the final time on Saturday in the Big 12 Championship in Arlington. It'll be a fitting end to Texas' time in the conference, as the Longhorns will play OSU for the 28th straight year after not having a scheduled meeting during this regular season.
With nearly 20 years of experience playing against the Longhorns, Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy knows a thing or two about the Burnt Orange. He also knows how to beat the Steve Sarkisian-led Longhorns, winning both matchups since Sark arrived in 2021.
Gundy has also never been short on confidence. Whether it's your classic game-week coach speak or not, he seems to have a good idea of what Sarkisian's offense is going to do on Saturday, predicting that Sark will "stay in his box" with what he knows as a play-caller.
"(Coach Sarkisian) wants to run the football, he's always wanted to run the football," Gundy said. "He's going to max protect. He's going to throw the ball down the field eight to 10 times a game. He's going to max protect and run those guys down the field and try to throw the ball over your head and get big plays. He's going to run his zone play, he's going to run his counter and he's going to stay in his box. That's what he does. He's going to use his tight ends, he's going to move them. He's going to block down. He's going to drag them across the field. That's what he does and he pretty much stays in his box.”
Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian, left, and Oklahoma State Cowboys head coach Mike Gundy talk before a college football game between the Oklahoma State Cowboys (OSU) and the University of Texas at Austin Longhorns.
© Bryan Terry, USA TODAY
Gundy also said the Longhorns "don't play fast," and could reach 50 points per game if they did.
“They're (scoring) 35 per game," Gundy said. "They don't play fast. If they played fast, they'd be (scoring) 50-ish per game, in my opinion, over the more numbers and snaps they would get."
Saying a team doesn't "play fast" isn't necessarily an insult and more of an observation. But when it comes to Sark's "All Gas, No Brakes" mantra, Texas fans might be rubbed the wrong way by Gundy's comments regardless of their intention.
Maybe the players will be, too. Any sort of extra motivation for the Longhorns will be key if they have their eyes set on a convincing conference title win for the CFP selection committee to see, so taking Gundy's comments as an "insult" could be in their best interest, even though it's a stretch to call it that.
Regardless, it goes without saying that the Longhorns and Sarkisian shouldn't overlook what a Gundy-coached OSU team can do despite their inconsistencies this season. Gundy has found a way to pull out one-score wins over Texas the past two years and will look to do it one more time on Saturday at 11 a.m. CT.
