Oklahoma State Cowboys 2006 Football Preview:

Pistol Pete Reloads

By Big12-Fans Writer Brandon Reese

Every time I look around the league and think I have it all figured out, I find another reason why I don’t. Throughout both divisions, there are teams that made improvements and teams that didn’t. You have perennial powers that will reload, midlevel teams that must rebuild, and cellar dwellers that must make changes. It’s those changes that create excitement in a program left for dead. It’s those same changes that can leave a program without direction, spiraling out of control.

When you look at Oklahoma State, you can see a program teetering on a ridge of advancement or disaster. To be honest, I’ve never been on board with Mike Gundy as the coach of this squad. I know my opinion doesn’t amount to much, but he hasn’t done anything to build confidence in his abilities as a playcaller and motivator. I have no doubts about his commitment or his scruples. Shortly after his hiring he cleaned out a program Les Miles allowed to become riddled with criminals and ne’er do wells. He went out this year and pulled in a monster recruiting class, but if he can’t get it to translate on the field, his regime at Six Gun State won’t last.

The offense returns eight starters, but Bobby Reid is a name that lost a lot of luster last year. He entered as part of the widely heralded group of Texas schoolboy quarterbacks including Oklahoma starter Rhett Bomar and probable Texas Tech starter Graham Harrell. Sharing snaps last year he completed less than half of his passes, threw four interceptions and only two touchdown passes. There’s little doubt that this was simply a poor freshman season on a bad team. I have a hard time believing he’s destined to be that bad of a quarterback. I will say that if things don’t pick up early on this season, it won’t be too hard to convince me. One reason I can say that is the addition of transfer Adarius Bowman. Bowman was dismissed from the team in North Carolina, and appears to be walking the line in Stillwater. At 6’4” he’s a prototype wide receiver with speed, hop and power. He’ll be paired with senior D’Juan Woods, who desperately needed a threat to free him up. Woods is a completely underrated receiver who lost a lot of fanfare after the Les Miles departure. Running back Mike Hamilton returns for his sophomore season, hoping to eclipse his near 1,000 yard performance last year. He’ll split some snaps with incoming juco transfer Dantrell Savage, who is more in the mold of Vernand Morency in his agility and speed. The offensive line is strong with bookend tackles David Koenig and Corey Hilliard sealing off the edges for the power game. In the middle, sophomores David Washington and Steven Denning will look to senior Kurt Seifried for leadership.

On defense, excitement is running rampant over incoming freshman Chris Collins. He’s got all the tools to really make a splash in the conference this year, but it’s hard to hop to believe a freshman can step in and handle what this conference has to offer. If he can, let the rest of the conference know they have a problem. The linebacking corps leaves a little to be desired from there with Rodrick Johnson and Jeremy Nethon likely to fill those roles. Neither is to be taken lightly, but they’ve hardly made the strides everyone was hoping to see. Former corner and quarterback Donovan Woods will make the move to safety after the impressive performance of redshirt freshman Andre Sexton. Jacob Lacey and Martel Van Zant will play crucial roles on the corners, with Quentin Moore playing the safety position. The defensive line is full of seniors and returns sack leader Victor DeGrate at defensive end. Darnell Smith will man the other edge and hope to add to the sack total this year with tackles Ryan McBean and Xavier Lawson-Kennedy. After only recording 24 last season, the Pokes will need to show an ability to get to the opposing quarterbacks.

All in all, what can we expect from the Cowboys this year? They set up some real cupcakes for the out of conference. Barring a total meltdown in Houston, they should have 4 wins heading into conference. The North offers up Nebraska, Kansas State and Kansas, so the Pokes should come out of that with one and possibly two wins. They won’t get a lot of help in the South with roadtrips to Texas and Texas Tech, but home dates against Texas A&M and Baylor ought to bring that sixth win. If not, there’s always the Bedlam game against Oklahoma, where anything can happen. Look for the gunslingers to make a second trip to Houston, only this time it’ll be in December.