The State of Oklahoma State

I'd first like to apologize for there not being a player of the game vote. It's just pretty obvious that Tyreek Hill stole the show when given the chance. It was an ugly loss for the 3rd straight week and this team is no longer fun to watch. This leads me to my point.

As a fan, I'm not entitled to a winning team. I chose to follow and support these guys.  It was my choice, which I don't regret, to submit myself to this heartbreaking agony as Squinky writes another chapter in his book of doom.

These guys are 18-23 year old college students, trying to make their way through school and football is just a means to achieve it (in theory).  With that being said, why do we get upset at these guys?  Is it because of the time we invest? The money put in? The amount of support you add on Saturday's?

We've had an extremely unfortunate patch of bad luck here lately. We've had numerous coordinators leave for other jobs, players leave the program for one reason or another, and an extremely young football team. Sure, there are ways to plan around these things and I'll get to that in a minute, but let's not forget that we haven't been dealt the best cards.

But it's not about the cards you are dealt, it's how you play your hand.

This is why I'm upset, and this is why numerous fans are upset. It's not any individual player's fault, and that needs to be made clear.

I'm not gonna sit here and call for the firing of coaches. Firing Gundy, Holder, Spencer, or even Yurcich isn't going to fix any of this.

I would like to consider myself somebody who knows their X's and O's. If you take a good look at the schemes the Cowboys are running, they are well designed. There are plays designed to give playmakers the ball. Sure, you can complain about a draw on 3rd and 24, but what team doesn't do that? The New England Patriots do it. The Oklahoma Sooners do it. The Alabama Crimson Tide do it. Everybody, including Oregon and Baylor, does it at some point or another. It's part of football. If you don't like it, maybe you've found the wrong sport.

Play calling is not the issue. It's the execution of the plays that is throwing us off.

Bad reads, missed blocks, mental errors, etc. It all comes down to player execution. As I said earlier, I'm not going to rip on individual players. It's not a cool thing to do in my book, especially considering that they are on the field in front of 11 defensive players and I'm in front of a TV.

So like I was saying, every offensive error can be linked to execution. Because football is a team game, every position on the field is linked and none can work without the success of the others. It's how team sports work.

Your running back is not rushing for 100 yards if the line can't block and the QB is missing reads. Unless the defense you're playing stinks, you have a minimal chance of success.

But why aren't they executing? Why didn't the quarterback make the right throw? Well, he's the backup and hasn't played in 5 years. Why aren't the linemen hitting their blocks? They are young and inexperienced. Why did the receiver miss his route? Poor communication or a poor read.

This all happens because of coaching (not play calling, there's a difference) and inexperience.

These guys are all young and it's bound to happen. It stinks, but it's just how it works. As I've noted before, players have left the program and it's created a massive hole in our junior and senior classes. I don't care if Nick Saban is the coach, he isn't getting a team who's core are 19 year olds to the championship. Young players are going to make mistakes and it's going to hurt.

But if those are the cards they've been dealt, how does this fall on the coaches?

Coaches seem to have given up on this season. They aren't on the sideline firing up players, instead they comment on our youth and how we are very average. It's not fair to any of the players, especially the seniors. Mailing it in in week 7 is not a good attitude to have for this team to sustain long term success. They aren't making any visible steps to play their hand to the best they can.

So what can we do? We can't coach this team or do any of the playing. What you can do is support. These players need it now more than they ever have. They need to know that we as fans have their backs.

We have one home game left this season against the Texas Longhorns and it is OSU's only plausible shot at making a bowl game.

Show up, wear orange, and be loud. These guys deserve it, rain or shine.

Go Pokes!