Mike Gundy rejects NIL-investment narrative after loss vs. Oregon

Mike Gundy rejected any NIL investment narrative following Oklahoma State’s 69-3 loss to Oregon over the weekend. Gundy traded barbs with Oregon head coach Dan Lanning regarding the amount of money spent by the Ducks.

It was perceived as a shot at Oregon and that Gundy felt that they had an unfair advantage. Lanning responded of course, in the media and with his team on the field.

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Still, Gundy maintained that he was impressed by Oregon and what they were able to do with their resources. Then, he pivoted to poor on-the-field play as to why the game quickly got away.

“First of all, when I made that comment, I was complimenting Oregon for what they had done,” Gundy said postgame. “Secondly, which I said later in the week, we have made commitments, too. We need to be better  and fundamentally sound. That is really what it comes down to. Sometimes you are going to  play people who can run away from you. Then, we need to look at that and see where we are. We didn’t play good enough with the systems we had and execute to put ourselves in that position.”

Gundy saw his offense unable to do anything on Saturday. Zane Flores finished seven-of-19 passing for 67 yards and two interceptions. Kalib Hicks led the way on the ground, but ran for just 63 yards on 14 carries.

Defensively, the Cowboys had no chance. Gundy saw his crew give up 631 yards of total offense. The Ducks racked up 10.2 yards per play.

“I think they are pretty good,” Gundy said. “I said a week ago that they are a good team; there is no reason to  deny it. There is nothing wrong with saying the teams you are playing are good. They have a lot of skill, speed, and they are very big up front on both sides of the ball. They are extremely big. We did not put much pressure on the quarterback today. We talked about that a week ago. I was concerned about whether we could put pressure on him. They are a good football team.” 

How does Oklahoma State respond? Well, Gundy and the Cowboys host Tulsa Friday night at 7:00 p.m. ET. There are major questions if this team can compete in an open Big 12, but they desperately need a win to erase some of the narratives from this past week.