After stumbling out of the blocks, Mike Gundy has Oklahoma State rolling alongside

MORGANTOWN — Faculty soccer coaches don’t have a tendency to stay in a single place for very lengthy in at present’s world. That’s why it’s a bit stunning to lookup and see that Mike Gundy is in his nineteenth season at Oklahoma State.

Since Gary Patterson’s retirement from TCU, Gundy has been the elder statesman in a Huge 12 convention that doesn’t characteristic very many long-tenured head coaches. Iowa State’s Matt Campbell is second with eight years and BYU’s Kalani Sitake is third with seven.

A coach doesn’t stick at one college for almost twenty years by chance and Gundy has greater than confirmed his teaching prowess over time.

“The factor that stands proud with him is how he’s finished it,” WVU head coach Neal Brown mentioned. “He’s gained 10 video games (seven) occasions or one thing loopy like that. He’s gained it scoring excessive and he’s gained it being one of many high defenses within the nation. He’s gained it a variety of other ways.”

Brown, who’s tied for the fourth-longest-tenured coach within the league with two others, and the Mountaineers (4-2, 2-1 Huge 12) will host Gundy and the Cowboys (4-2, 2-1) this Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium (3:30 p.m./ESPN).

Gundy has led the Cowboys to 17 straight bowl sport appearances, however a stunning 33-7 loss to South Alabama at residence and a follow-up loss to Iowa State had the Cowboys sitting at 2-2 earlier this season. The workforce rebounded from that stumble, nonetheless, and has gained its final two video games in opposition to Kansas State and Kansas, and now appears to be like like one of many hottest groups within the league.

Gundy credited the advance to 2 issues — blocking and tackling.

“We’ve labored actually laborious the final 4 weeks on tackling,” Gunday mentioned on Monday. “Within the first few video games, I advised the employees it was my fault as a result of I didn’t drive them to sort out and be as bodily in follow as they wanted to. I realized towards well being and it didn’t work; we weren’t superb tacklers.”

The workforce additionally settled on a full-time quarterback, former Texas Tech Purple Raider Alan Bowman, and working again, sophomore Ollie Gordon. Bowman has thrown for 571 yards and a pair of touchdowns with no interceptions within the workforce’s final two victories, whereas Gordon has run for 100 yards three weeks in a row and added 116 receiving yards final week in opposition to the Jayhawks.

“One of the best ways for example it’s, our offensive line has performed significantly higher the final month,” Gundy mentioned. “It doesn’t matter who the quarterback and working again are.

“We’re blocking higher. We’re overlaying guys up and never having destructive performs. So we’re not in destructive conditions, we’re overlaying linemen up, we’re working the ball and that enables us to be a more-effective offense.”

As Brown sees it, Gundy and his employees simplified a variety of what the Cowboys had been doing on offense and protection following the South Alabama sport, and it’s working.

“He’s stayed fairly true to himself,” Brown mentioned of Gundy. “He’s discovered methods to alter. Rebounding from that sport in opposition to South (Alabama) has been actually spectacular. To me, I take a look at that figuring out the interior workings of the way you get a workforce again and that’s fairly spectacular.”

West Virginia is on the lookout for its personal rebound this week after struggling a surprising loss to Houston final Thursday. To take action, the Mountaineers might want to sluggish the Cowboys’ roll of their first sport again at Milan Puskar Stadium since Sept. 23.

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