Transcript 0:00 [upbeat music] Welcome to another episode of Bedlam Buds. Of course, I'm Ryan, and I'm joined by Mr. Loyal and True, Dr. Jeremy Cook. 0:16 You know, it's been a couple days we've had to digest the loss, uh, on the road to Iowa State. Uh, oh, but it's also basketball season. We... 0:25 This is the part of the year where we start to, uh, branch out into all the different sports, and we won't even talk about OU's loss to Southland Conference bottom-dweller East Texas A&M. 0:38 I think we formerly knew them as Texas A&M Commerce, and the Sooners lost to one of the worst teams in the entire nation, East Texas A&M. But hey, let's give Porter Mosher another year. Anyway. 0:51 [laughs] Give him an extension. Give him an ex- Roger Denny, you know what the jo- you know the assignment. Uh, man, what a mess that is. 1:00 But we're here to talk about Oklahoma State, and we're specifically here to talk about, uh, Kansas State coming up. 1:06 [clears throat] It's gonna be on the road, but I should note, Jeremy, right off the bat I see that their quarterback is again out this week, Avery Johnson, for the third straight week. 1:15 So they're gonna be going with Blake Barnett. Before we get into the details, what does your gut tell you about how the Cowboys bounce back after last week? I think they're gonna ba- bounce back pretty well. 1:26 I think that that kinda leveled them off. You know, Houston was a, a, a tussle, and it wasn't necessarily unexpected that we lost, you know. We played them close, et cetera, et cetera. 1:37 Uh, this one really caught them off guard because, um, everybody had predicted Oklahoma State to win, and Oklahoma State was, you know, an eight or nine-point favorite, I don't remember exactly. But- Mm... 1:48 and everybody, including us, was saying that Oklahoma State was gonna win this game, and then Flora went off, as warned by, by us. We, we warned about Flora. You specifically, yeah. Um, and so it did not work out well. 2:01 So the team has kind of had a reset, they've stepped back, and I think they're gonna be a little bit more fundamentally sound. 2:08 I think they, that's what they're working on this week is basic fundamentals again of wrapping up when you tackle, of actually tackling, of making sure you secure the ball all the way through the catch. Mm-hmm. 2:21 Those type of things. And, uh, I expect to see a pretty good performance by the Cowboys this weekend. 2:27 Will it be, you know, like how we responded after Tulsa and beat a great Oregon team, or how we responded and beat a, a, a Colorado team and just, you know, throttled them? I don't know it'll be quite that dramatic. 2:40 K State is a pretty salty team, uh, but I expect a good bounce back by the Cowboys. I was just looking up the, uh, the odds. The Cowboys are a four and a half point favorite. Yeah, but at least it's not a night game. 2:56 That's right. In fact, by the way, for our s- for my schedule, if I'm being perfectly selfish, it's kind of the perfect Saturday. 3:02 You get one game in the 11, noon hour, this one being at noon, and then you got the Sooners at night. 3:08 So, um, that, it's perfect for you also, because you get this one early in the day, and then we can record our post-game, which I hope will be a post-game victory. 3:17 By the way, I'm sorry, I was gonna look through Oklahoma State's schedule. I don't have the best memory in the world. I was just gonna look to see if they've had a, uh, significant, um... 3:26 They do have a significant road win. They beat West Virginia. Uh, they, they, yeah. I, yeah, just wa- wanted to see [clears throat] what the road situation was like. 3:35 So, um, when you're breaking down this game, uh, it does look like this is the opportunity for the Oklahoma State defense to sort of take the lead- Right... in our conversation. 3:45 Because, uh, if they're gonna win and win big, they need to make life hell for Blake Barnett, the guy who's expected to start. 3:52 I'll just give you just a couple of start, uh, ex- excuse me, I'll give you a couple of stats. Um, against, uh, I forgot who. Oh, against Colorado. Yeah, he completed 18 of 28 passes for 224 yards and three touchdowns. 4:06 It doesn't, it doesn't sound like Blake Barnett's a spare. No, he's actually a very athletic, a very talented kid. He was a four or five star, you know, one of those types coming out. 4:16 Avery Johnson just was that much better. Uh, off and on Avery Johnson is so inconsistent that I don't think this really affects K State at all, if, if I'm being honest. 4:27 I think that this kid might actually settle them down, this Barnett, uh, settle them down and give them a better shot against a team like Oklahoma State. Right. 4:36 Um, and uh, you know, I don't know in terms of like game planning for the Cowboys, but it seems to me, uh, I mean, Oklahoma State, it's, they lost, I get it, but they weren't just one half team. 4:51 They, I mean, they played offensively well the entire game. It's just the defense went south. Don't they need to make a statement early against Kansas State? Well, yeah, that's, that's preferable. 5:03 And, and that will, you know, set up the rest of the game to go the way that we want it to go. If, if Oklahoma State ever gets a two-score lead on somebody, I think it's over. 5:13 Uh, 'cause the offense is that good and that consistent, the defense can't get enough, get enough, you know, stops. 5:19 Um, but yeah, you, you want to establish that early, and you don't wanna at least fall behind like Oklahoma State did against Houston, cost them the game. Uh, Iowa State, cost them the game. 5:33 And so, you know, while Oklahoma State did play better both halves, there was still one half that lagged behind the other. And so again, K- uh, you know, Colorado, it was almost tied at halftime. 5:44 We were still behind, but then came out and just throttled them in the second half. 5:49 And so again, even though it was close at halftime, that was still an improvement because Oklahoma State was still within one or two points at that time. Right. 5:57 So that's what you have to hope and have to hope happens This weekend. 6:02 And, you know, as, and we can get into it, but some of the better players for K State played for Oklahoma State last year, so there is even some familiarity on both sides of the ball right now. Right. 6:13 Let's, let's talk about that, because I don't know that a... I mean, I see Rodney Fields is starting at running back, or he's playing- Yeah... running back for Kansas State. 6:19 Yeah, and, and- Uh, Windell Gregory on defense. Yeah, uh, Rodney started for Oklahoma State last year, uh, quite a bit as running back and was a terrific running back. You know, uh- I remember... 6:30 this coach, this coach wanted to keep him, uh, but, you know, that doesn't always work out in today's college football world. 6:36 Knowing that we had Caleb Hawkins coming in, um, you know, um, Katie Jones and some, some players like that coming in, he decided he wanted to try elsewhere. And, and, and that's great. He's a great kid. 6:48 He was, uh, good for Oklahoma State. His cousin is La'Dainian Fields, who still plays for Oklahoma State, who is one of our- Mm-hmm... our leading, one of our better defensive backs. And, and Rodney can get some yards. 7:00 Now Rod-... And Rodney will have motivation to play hard because it's his former school, but he won't know a lot of the players overall because we had such a big turnover. 7:09 But clearly he's gonna know his cousin, uh, he's gonna know, you know, family, um, and, and those that, that stuck around. So, you know, you have that. 7:18 So Oklahoma State's gotta stop that run, force them to throw, and then again, hope those linebackers can go side to side and, and make the types of tackles. 7:27 But, uh, uh, Windell Gregory is an- another former Cowboy playing for K State. He's a, a defensive lineman, and he is one of their top tacklers. 7:37 I think he's like five or sixth on the K State, you know, tackling depth chart for how many he's been able to get. He was another big loss. He was the f- defensive freshman of the year for Oklahoma State- Mm... 7:48 last year conference-wide, and now, you know, now he's a, he's a Wildcat. So there is, again, there's some, some familiarity. Now, they won't have, again, quite as much of the... 7:59 I- if I transfer from a school and it's the same coach and the same team that I'm playing against, there's a little bit extra motivation for that. 8:08 So they will have that extra motivation of playing against Oklahoma State, but it won't be the same players, the same coaching staff. There won't be that level. Right. 8:18 It's like, it's, it's a new house, but a different family has moved in. Yeah, I think that's fair. Yeah. So, so, uh, 8:26 Oklahoma State's turnaround offensively, I mean, Rodney Fields, I mean, imagine the one-two punch that it could have been between Caleb Hawkins and Rodney Fields. 8:36 I liken it to, and I'll just segue to this real quick, uh, the wide receiver situation for the Cowboys is now a one-one situation, Wyatt Young and Justin Bowen. 8:46 I mean, I don't, I don't know that we have a better duo of wide receivers in the country. 8:52 And one stat that really jumped out at me is that Oklahoma State has undergone the biggest turnaround in FBS in terms of offense, averaging 17 points last year, and now they're averaging 41 points a game. 9:06 Oklahoma State averaged 17 points a game last year? It must have been the, the one game we played against Murray State or, or whomever. You're thinking it was, should've been lower. Yeah. Yeah. 9:17 [laughs] I'm not even kidding about that. Although- Yeah... although I, I guess we got some, um, trash time [laughs] touchdowns. 9:24 I hate to say it like that, but some, some late touchdowns to make the score look closer than it actually was last year. The offense was terrible. I'm sorry. I'm, I'm sorry. Uh, 14.2 points per game last year. Okay. 9:34 See, now we're getting closer. Wow. Yeah. And, and a vast majority of those were again against the Division II school. 9:40 We racked up, like, 40 points, which allowed that average to spread over [laughs] to almost double digits. Man, it was bad. It was bad. Uh, b- b- Bowen's a star. Bo- Bowen's... Yeah. 9:51 Let me tell you, you talk about an upgrade. Y- and, and not only statistically, but just that, the classic eyeball test. 9:57 When you watch last year's Oklahoma State team play, they look like they had no clue what they were doing, because honestly, uh, a lot of times they didn't, and, and that comes from the coaching staff. This team, oh, my. 10:08 Uh, this, this offensive team, oh, my. 10:11 You talk about a, a, a, a turnaround and, and, uh, Bowen transferred in, Young transferred in, and again, are absolutely eating, as the kids say, you know, uh, playing wide receiver this year. 10:24 And let me tell you, I, I'm here for it. Yeah. I mean, I, I look at all four of these guys, Drew Mestemaker, Caleb Hawkins, uh, Wyatt Young, and Justin Bowen. 10:32 We're gonna watch them all on Sundays, and I don't think it's gonna be in backup roles. And not for long. Right. Um- Yeah, not for long. Okay. So, um, in terms of, like, strategy, it seems pretty simple. 10:46 Oklahoma State get up on them early, um, you know, throttle Blake Barnett. What else do you see as keys to this game and getting a win for OSU? Well, offensively you gotta step on the gas and, and not let up. 10:58 You gotta get that two-score lead. I really believe when Oklahoma State gets a two-score lead, it's over, and they will continue to stretch that out, and the defense just has to get s- you know, the occasional stop. 11:09 But, you know, the, the... then the defense can throw a masterclass like they did against Colorado in the second half, and then Colorado wins the next game, so they're not necessarily a chump, you know, chump team. 11:19 Um, but you gotta start quick on offense. The defense is going to manage as they do. Uh, K State is going to get some points. You have to, uh, limit those early opportunities. 11:30 Again, the Cowboys very much have to establish... I wish we would establish the run game right off the bat. 11:36 The past few weeks Caleb Hawkins has gotten his yards more in passing than running, but the yards he's gotten in rushing has started because of those he's re- gotten in receiving, in the passing yards, because he can roll out and catch, and he's clearly amazing out in, in the open like that. 11:53 So, uh, you know, so we... I wanna get him involved running the ball first, you know, spread the ball out a little bit, make K State not sure what we're going to do. 12:03 And then again, just put the throttle down, uh, hit a couple of deep passes. Their secondary... 12:09 Of course, we've said this several times, but, you know, against Iowa State, the secondary was their weak spot, yet they slowed down the Cowboys early on. 12:17 And so the Cowboys have to take advantage of the secondary of K State, which is their weaker spot as well, and, and rack up some points. The K State D line is really good. Their linebackers are athletic. 12:30 That Mason kid is just terrific. Um, offensively they're going to be very consistent. Collin Klein, I mean, he's a Bill Snyder disciple, so they're gonna be a control team. They're gonna be a run first team. 12:41 They're gonna be a try and grind you under type of team, uh, letting that athletic quarterback, a la Collin Klein, move around out of the pocket and try and hit those corners a little bit, where Oklahoma State has proven to be susceptible. 12:53 So we gotta lock down on that as well on the defensive side. Yeah. 12:59 It's, um, almost like you want the Oklahoma State defense to sort of mimic m- what Kansas State wants to do, controlled, survive the first quarter, but you want the offense to be, you know, just go, go, go, go, go, go. 13:15 Score as much as you possibly can. So it's almost like the Oklahoma State offense and defense have to have slightly different personalities. All right, let's... We have other sports to talk about this week. 13:24 This is the beauty of what they call the, the sports equinox. They're all coming together now. So let's, let's go ahead and get right to predictions. 13:32 Uh, do you have one in mind for this game, and how big will the Cowboys win? Um, I kinda... Gosh, did you say we're averaging 41 points? 41 points. More than 41 points. I think that means, like, 41.3 or something. 13:47 Point something. Right. Well, I, you know, I, I think I predicted 41 points last week. Um, I'm going to say... Gosh, that is a big number. I'm gonna say 45-31. 45-31. 14:06 Um- But I- Yeah. Maybe 27. Uh, no, let me go 31. Maybe that's thir- well, I, 'cause I was gonna go 41-27. Uh, as, as that, that... 14:16 But, but it underscores two things we talked about, getting a two-score lead on somebody- Mm-hmm... um, because, uh, if you get out to a 14-nothing lead, you can go back and forth the rest of the game. That's right. 14:27 It won't- That's right... won't really matter. And even if, and even if you give up one when, when, you know, the other side doesn't, you're still ahead one. Yeah. And so every time you score, it's back to two. Let's go. 14:36 It's almost like... So of course, Bedlam Buds viewers, if you don't know, I am a graduate of the University of Oklahoma. I grew up with OU football Sooners. 14:44 I'm a Sooner to the core, but I also enjoy watching the Cowboys. I know that I am a unicorn. But wasn't that second half against Colorado, like, the best half of football you've seen from the Cowboys in how long? 15:00 Like, a long time. It was a very long time, and 'cause even in 2023, uh, the team made it to the Big 12 Championship game, but it, I mean, every game was close, every game was tight. They had to come back in all of them. 15:14 That second half of Colorado, I'm not even kidding, when I watched it live, I did not know how dominant it was. 15:23 You, you just felt the Cowboys were just stretching it out and were suffocating, and Colorado was struggling. And then I came back and I did my rewatch of it, and I was like, "Holy smokes." 15:34 Colorado did not have a drive more than five plays in the second half. Oklahoma State shut them out in the second half. Oklahoma State dominated both sides of the ball. 15:42 And you're exactly right, we need that type of performance on the road against a salty K State team that's gonna believe they can beat Oklahoma State because of what happened last week. 15:54 I think, I think that's also part of the current narrative. Now, we're not talking about Big 12 titles. We're not talking about college football playoff. We're talking about finishing strong and, and then 16:04 attacking each half as its own thing. 16:08 But Oklahoma State, the part of the narrative that I'm talking about here, needs to really assert some dominance on the road, and we both think that that's gonna happen with an Oklahoma State victory. We shall see. 16:19 But let's segue to basketball, because Oklahoma State had two impressive victories to start the year. 16:24 It's very, very early, uh, with the women beating Southern 81 to 39 and the cowboy men, uh, putting a, a whooping on Incarnate Word. What can you tell me about, uh, basketball from this week? 16:36 Well, here's the interesting th- thing about Incarnate Word is that both Steve Lutz, OSU's men basketball coach, and Eric Morris, OSU's football coach, have coached at Incarnate Word. Mm-hmm. 16:47 A small Catholic school in Lou- San Antonio... San Antonio. That's right. Yep. San Antonio. Um, so we, you know, so there was some familial connections there. But, now, Oklahoma State just did what they had to. 16:58 Addie Crooks, uh, for the, for the women, was just terrific. I mean, h- had, like, a quadruple double almost. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I mean, just unstoppable. 17:10 Uh, you know, the, the whole team played well around her, feeding her the ball. The men team just did what they had to do. They just came out and suffocated and, uh, played a, a lower level team. 17:22 I apologize to all the Incarnate Word and Notre Dame fans out there. Um- And, and OU, OU, a lower level team. [laughs] Well, I was getting there. Uh, that we had the ability to beat this lower level team, 17:35 which not everybody apparently does. 17:37 Um, but we all know what's gonna happen is that when, when OU and OSU, when we play Bedlam basketball here in, you know, in a, in a few weeks, uh, OU will find a way to win, and then they will find a way to collapse in the conference season as they always do. 17:50 Uh- That, that is BMO. Yeah. [laughs] I mean, M- for, for Mo- Moser, it really is. Um, but, uh, the, the cowboy basketball team still has some guys that are, that are little, little dinged up right now coming back. 18:03 Uh, a- and the coolest thing is it was a, it was a double header, and this Friday Oklahoma State has another double header. Let me double check, make sure I have the right teams. The men- You said this Friday? 18:12 Yeah, Friday, November 6. Uh, the men play the University of Queens And, uh, the women play Morgan State. The women play at 5:00 and the men play at 8:00. At home? And so... Yeah. Oh, awesome. 18:28 It's a double, double, double header- Yeah, yeah... usually implies sa- No, no, right. I thought maybe double header on TV. [laughs] You're playing Queens in Hawaii and the women playing Morgan State in Iceland. 18:39 [laughs] Right. Ooh, that'd be fun. Um, but no, uh, so, and, and how cool is that? 'Cause I'm wagering one ticket can get you in for both. 18:48 Uh, it's, it's a cool, really cool thing what Oklahoma State is doing with that 'cause, uh, that allows both of those programs to have a, a larger attendance, which unfortunately, as we've seen nationwide, has been down a little bit. 19:04 So, uh, it'll be a good chance. If you wanna see both men's and women's, you've got a young boy, young girl, uh, bring 'em to that, bring 'em to that. Get, let 'em see both. 19:14 Go home at halftime of the men's game so you guys can be, you know, nice and rested for the noon kickoff. Um, and then get ready for wrestling on Sunday. 19:22 We wrestle Drexel on Sunday here in Stillwater, and we will massacre them. Gonna be a massacre. That's, that's all I can say, is that- It's-... we're going to massacre them. They are our first sacrificial victim. 19:40 Uh, and we got a lot of young guys that wanna prove to that Gallagher-Iba Arena crowd what it's like to be a Cowboy, and we're going to massacre them. Yeah. I believe it. Um- They might not score. They [laughs] right. 19:54 Well, and we're going to have another, uh, how to understand college wrestling tutorial. Not that OSU fans need it, but those who want to become wrestling fans might need it. 20:05 But I know that, uh, holding teams down, you know, holding their scores down is a, a big part of this. It helps. [laughs] Which Oklahoma State's football defense needs to also remember at times. 20:17 Right, right, right, right. So- But again, overall, I, I'm not complaining about the defense as far as the season goes because everything has set such high expectations, has met and surpassed preseason expectations. 20:28 I mean, this team was picked, like, 13th, I think, coming into the, to the Big 12 Conference season, and clearly we're going to finish significantly better than that. So, uh, you gotta, you gotta look at the positives. 20:39 It's, uh, not, you know, you, you, you can't expect to win the national title year one. 100% right. Or in Oklahoma State's case, any year except 2011 when they should have won. Ever. [laughs] Yeah, I'm kidding. 20:53 Uh- But, but one day. One day. And you know what? Bedlam Buds will be- Well, in 1945, remember we had- That's it. Yeah... one of those Texas A&M's that [laughs] Right, right. Yes... Oklahoma A&M. 21:01 But I, Bedlam Buds will be there for when that national championship happens. I was just looking through the Oklahoma State Cowboys, uh, men's basketball roster. Who's the star? 21:09 Who's the, who's the player that I should be watching? 'Cause I, I'll tell you, Jeremy, I'm like, "Hmm, now that political season is kind of over, I might have some free time on Friday." 21:18 And I'm like, "Maybe I'd come to watch one of these games." 'Cause I've always wanted to go to Gallagher-Iba Arena. I've never been. So, but who, who, who's the star for the Cowboys? 21:27 Well, I mean, eh, I mean, we got a lot of young guys. Parsa Fahla- Yeah... is the star. Yeah. But he is not able to play right now because of the injury, so, um, but he would be the star. 21:41 Uh, just looking at the roster here, I mean, we got a lot of new guys on this team. Mm-hmm. Um, Allman, a freshman. Allman is just a terrific player. Uh, Jalen Mont- uh, Montenatti, um-
