Ranking All 94 of Mike Gundy’s Victories: Part 3 - They’re Not All Pretty, But They’ve Got Great Personalities

Mike Gundy is entering his 12 season as the head coach of the OSU Cowboys. With a 94-47 record I expect him to reach 100 wins this upcoming season. That made this summer the perfect time to look back at all 94 that have come before and decide which were the best, which were the worst and which were just games against bad Baylor and Kansas teams.

I’ve broken the list down into five parts:

PART 1: Scars, Scares and Stupid Scheduling

PART 2: Some Blowouts, Some Close Calls and a Whole Lot of Meh

PART 3: They’re Not All Pretty, But They’ve Got Great Personalities

We’ve reached the top 50. As far as I’m concerned we’re done with the bad games. Yes there are still blow outs. Yes there are still close wins. Not every game here is pretty, but everyone has some nugget, some fact or some interesting nugget that just makes them too good to rank lower.

50. Kansas (10-8-2011) As I’ve said, I don’t much care for blowouts. This game however, was on another level. After Kansas scored on their first drive (which shocked the whole stadium), OSU scored touchdowns on ALL 8 FIRST HALF POSSESSIONS. 56 straight unanswered points. Clint "Choo-Choo" Chelf replaced Weeden BEFORE HALFTIME! The game wasn’t on television and I remember a former coworker saying that OSU would have been better off at the end of the season if it had been televised. It certainly couldn’t have hurt. Cowboys roll 70-28.

49. @ Texas Tech (11-12-2011) 66-6 Destroying the Red Raiders is fun. Going up 49-0 at halftime is a hoot. Demoralizing them by 60 points is hilarious. Holding them to 6 points gets me drunk happy. But the best part of this whole game? This moment.

48. @ Tulsa (9-17-2011) Somebody mentioned this game on twitter after Part 1. I just couldn’t put it that low. There’s something about that game. It’s endearing (didn’t kick off until after midnight), frustrating (delay were due to storms, and the fact that some idiot scheduled a late game in Tulsa so it could be on television. Oh and it wasn’t a great performance and it ended at 3:35 a.m.), and tragic (Glenn Spencer left when his wife died that night in Stillwater). That’s just too much to put in the bottom 50. Cowboys win 59-33

47. @ Texas (9-26-2015) The dropped snap that turned into a 10 yard kick, that turned into the game winning field goal. After looking like a blowout early, this game turned ugly and ridiculous. But stealing one from Texas and becoming the first team to win in Austin four straight times is pretty awesome. Cowboys escape 30-27.

46. Arizona (9-9-2011) It wasn’t a bad game. It just… was. It was almost a mirror image of the bowl game from the season before. Except for the fact that Weeden came out firing, completing his first 13 passes and going 22 for 23 in the game. Cowboys win 37-14.

45. Tulsa (9-18-2010) Sorry Tulsa. Weeden threw for 409 yards and six touchdowns, with 328 and five of that coming in the FIRST HALF! That 2011 team just dominated inferior opponents. That’s the one thing the media never gave them enough credit for. Mostly because they’d give up touchdowns late when the game was over which meant we "didn’t play enough defense like those SEC teams." OSU set a school record for offense in the game, but that was beat a few weeks later against Baylor. Cowboys win 65-28.

44. Mississippi State (8-31-2013) This was not a great game. After a first half of offensive ineptitude, J.W. Walsh came in and finally got the ball moving. The Bulldogs nearly returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown right before halftime. Also, lets be honest. Walsh winning this game is the reason the team lost its identity for the first half of the season (ie: loss to West Virginia). At the end of the day though, it’s always good to beat an SEC team. Cowboys win 21-3.

43. Iowa State (10-26-2013) We only passed for 78 yards. However, we ran for 342. 342! Can you remember the last time we had that many rushing yards in a game?!? Desmond Roland (!) ran for 219 yards and four touchdowns. Where has the run game gone? Cowboys win 58-27.

42. #23 Texas Tech (11-17-2012) For one game, Isaiah Anderson lived up to expectations. He had a career high 174 yards and three touchdowns in his final game at BPS. Cowboys win 59-21.

41. West Virginia (11-10-2012) Clint Chelf got his first career start and threw for four touchdowns. It was Holgerson’s first time back at BPS after he took his talents to Morgantown. I don’t care which side of the field he’s on, I love watching Holgy lose his shit on the sidelines. Cowboys win 55-34.

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40. Washington State (9-4-2010) Speaking of Holgerson… I remember going into 2010 thinking it would be a rebuilding season. Not the second best season in OSU history! Holgerson’s offense was spectacular and was a huge reason that team was so impressive. Yes it was a blow out over a bad WSU team, but suddenly we all believed we could have a great season. Certainly one no one expected that coming into the year. Cowboys romp 65-17.

39. Kansas State (10-20-2007) A 26-yard field goal by Jason Ricks with two seconds left helped the Cowboys overcome a career day by Josh Freeman. Here’s another NFL name for you; Jordy Nelson who caught four touchdowns, including the one that put the Wildcats up 39-38. You could say this about all the other games this season, but this one (and a game we haven’t talked about yet) definitely made the difference between going to a bowl game in Gundy’s third year… and staying home. Cowboys win 41-39.

38. Houston (9-7-2008) For the first time in school history, OSU had a 200 yard rusher and 200 yard receiver in the same game thanks to outstanding performances from Dez Bryant and Kendall Hunter. Dez had four touchdowns including a 71-yard punt return touchdown. Funny thing though, we actually trailed 16-14 at halftime. By the way, this was the only game in a three game series with Houston that we won. No. I don’t want them in the Big 12. Cowboys win 56-37.

37. West Virginia (10-11-2015) We escaped a game we never should have had to escape from. We led 17-2 in one of the weirdest and wildest first halves I’ve ever seen. Seriously, go watch highlights here. Yet the lead never felt safe. This was one of the few games last season we never trailed. Yet that overtime was one of the most stressful periods of the whole season. Cowboys escaped 33-26.

36. @ #22 Texas (10-15-2011) It wasn’t an especially well-played game, but it was a second straight win over Texas in Austin. One Crazy Moment: Justin Gilbert tied the school record with his fourth career kickoff return for a touchdown at the start of the third quarter. Fozzy Whitaker returned the favor by taking the following kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. Cowboys win 38-26.

35. Texas A&M (10-4-2008) A 28 point beat down that involved two interceptions returned for touchdowns and four TD’s from Dez Bryant including one on a punt return. This was the fourth straight game where we scored 50+ points. That’s a school record that (surprisingly) still stands. This was the first of four straight wins over A&M. Cowboys win 56-28.

34. #22 Baylor (11-6-2010) In the first meeting between the two teams as ranked opponents, Justin Blackmon returned from suspension to help the Cowboys rack up 725 yards of offense and take a 24-0 halftime lead. That 725 yards was the school record until 2012 against Louisiana Lafayette. I wish it was still the record. (I hate Baylor). Can you believe the Bears were the only ranked team we beat in 2010? Cowboys win 55-28.

33. at Missouri (10-22-2011) OSU won big despite Blackmon sitting out the second half because of hit to the head; but that’s not why this game made it this high. It’s because we unveiled the all whites in the new uniforms for the first time. I’ll never forget the first time I saw them. Things of beauty. Cowboys win 45-24.

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32. Iowa State (11-1-2008) With this win, the Cowboys reached eight victories for only the third time in school history. Like with many of the early achievements, it may not seem like much now, but it felt damn good at the time. However, that’s not why this game is this high. Dez Bryant is. I think sometimes we forget just how great Dez Bryant was. He caught nine passes for 171 yards and four touchdowns, including one that went for 80 yards. That man was a beast... Cowboys win 59-17.

31. Baylor (10-18-2008) …which is why we end Part 3 with this game. Dez caught 11 passes for 212 yards and two touchdowns as OSU reached 7-0 for the first time under Gundy and the first time since 1945. Seriously I don’t think we ever really give Dez or the 2008 team enough credit for how good it was. I think the years since and Justin Blackmon spoiled us a bit. He came right after Dez and did some amazing things. Blackmon was no Dez Bryant. Number one is All-Time Top 5 greatest Cowboys ever. I know what happened with the suspension in 2009. He shouldn’t have lied. He should have told the truth. The punishment was unfair. All of that aside though, we might never see another wide receiver as good as number one. Cowboys win 34-6.