Oklahoma

Can Oklahoma State football emerge from haunting Bedlam shadow with OU off to SEC?

Published

1 year ago

August 21, 2024

Press Room

Can Oklahoma State football emerge from haunting Bedlam shadow with OU off to SEC?

STILLWATER — The new Big 12 has arrived, and the old guard has departed.

In building his program from conference also-ran to a consistent contender for league titles, Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy overcame nearly every obstacle his Cowboys confronted.

Rung by rung, they climbed the ladder.

In 2021, they made their first appearance in the Big 12 Championship Game. Last year, they returned again. The Cowboys beat Texas nine times in the last 14 meetings after downing the Longhorns just twice in the previous 24.

On the Cowboys’ climb toward conference supremacy, one major goal remained irritatingly unattainable. Though the balance of power in the Bedlam rivalry had been leaning OSU’s way with two wins in the last three years, OU’s overall dominance dulled the recent orange tint of the series.

But the tectonic plates of college football have shifted. OU is off to the Southeastern Conference, and the Cowboys are in position to emerge from the Sooners’ long shadow in a new Big 12 that lacks blueblood power at the top.

More: Which Oklahoma State football game is most important this season?

When the 18th-ranked Cowboys open the season against South Dakota State at 1 p.m. on Aug. 31 at Boone Pickens Stadium, they embark on a season that will not include Bedlam.

The haunting feeling of a potential loss to OU ruining an otherwise great season no longer sits in the pit of OSU fans’ stomachs.

Bedlam is a tale of bygone days, and the sun shines a little brighter at Boone Pickens Stadium.

“If you look at what this program has done under Coach Gundy’s leadership, certainly going back to 2010, we’re winning like a blueblood,” OSU athletic director Chad Weiberg said. “We’re top 10 in the number of wins, and if you look at the list of who the other nine are, it’s everybody you would think.

“Then there we are. So our goal is to keep winning at that level.”

The Big 12 looks like a league built for wide-ranging competitiveness thanks to an evenly balanced collection of programs. Yet the Cowboys have shown a consistency over the past 14 years that few teams can match.

More: Which Oklahoma State football freshmen to watch in 2024 preseason camp

“I think that we’ve got a number of teams in this league that have an opportunity to make a move national,” Gundy said at Big 12 Media Days last month. “Whether anybody can take over and dominate for an extended period of time would be hard to tell at this point.”

Perhaps new rivals await OSU in the latest version of the Big 12, like newcomers Utah or Arizona. Maybe familiar faces like Kansas State or Texas Tech.

Or could this simply be the time for OSU to forget about rivalries and focus on trophies?

OSU has just one Big 12 title in the league’s 28-year history, but the landscape feels ripe for a program to establish itself as a standard-bearer of the conference. And OSU’s recent trend is heading in the right direction.

“Our goal is being in the championship game every single year,” Weiberg said. “We came out of the previous version of the Big 12 Conference, as we knew it then, by reaching that game two of the last three years. So we want to continue that kind of success.

“We want to carry the momentum we have coming out of that version of the Big 12 into the new version of the Big 12 and keep rolling with that kind of success.”

More: What are Oklahoma State football’s pressing questions as Cowboys open 2024 preseason camp?

2024 OSU football schedule

Week 1: OSU vs. South Dakota State, 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 31 (ESPN+)
Week 2: OSU vs. Arkansas, 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 7 (ABC)
Week 3: OSU at Tulsa, 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 14 (ESPN2)
Week 4: OSU vs. Utah, TBA Saturday, Sept. 21
Week 5: OSU at Kansas State, TBA Saturday, Sept. 28
Week 6: OSU vs. West Virginia, TBA Saturday, Oct. 5
Week 7: Bye week
Week 8: OSU at BYU, 9:15 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18 (ESPN)
Week 9: OSU at Baylor, TBA Saturday, Oct. 26
Week 10: OSU vs. Arizona State, TBA Saturday, Nov. 2
Week 11: OSU at TCU, TBA Saturday, Nov. 9
Week 12: Bye week
Week 13: OSU vs. Texas Tech, TBA Saturday, Nov. 23
Week 14: OSU at Colorado, 11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 29 (ABC)

Source link

Click to comment

Oklahoma

How are the roads today? See the latest weather, conditions in Oklahoma

Published

7 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Press Room

How are the roads today? See the latest weather, conditions in Oklahoma

Driving in Oklahoma City in the winter is hectic. When the snowstorms come, or even ice, many drivers opt to hit the highways as opposed to cruising through the main city streets.

It may feel like you have come in contact with every driver in the metro area, and if you’re not looking to get stuck in the slow-moving traffic, there may be a way to evade it all.

Oklahoma provides a map of the cameras throughout their highway systems with views of how traffic, snowfall and other factors impact your commute.

If you’re looking for a way to slide through the traffic, here are some ways you can prepare for the road ahead.

How are the roads in OKC?

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation provides a map of all highways, interstates and streets going through the state. Some parts of the roadways feature live cameras, allowing you to see active traffic flow throughout the state.

As these are live, you can also see how the weather may have impacted the roadway throughout the day.

More: See live traffic flows in, around Oklahoma City metro.

Also included in the map, you can see traffic flow patterns, indicated by the green, yellow and red paths.

OKC live traffic cameras

What roads are closed?

The ODOT also shares road closures throughout the state. Using the map below, you can click through and see if there are any active closures on highways, turnpikes or other state-operated roadways throughout Oklahoma.

Oklahoma snow tracker

The City of Oklahoma City operates all snow route clean-up throughout the city, while ODOT and the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority are responsible for their respective roads.

Roads are cleaned, including inside suburbs, for weather events like snow, blizzards, freezing rain and ice storms.

Find maps and snow plow locations at oksnowplows.org

Source link

Oklahoma

Persistence Helps Oklahoma Land “Freakazoid” Wide Receiver

Published

19 hours ago

December 3, 2025

Press Room

Persistence Helps Oklahoma Land “Freakazoid” Wide Receiver

NORMAN — In the middle of his signing day press conference Wednesday, Oklahoma coach Brent Venables got word that wide receiver Jayden Petit had signed with the Sooners.

Venables called Petit a “freakazoid.”

“Big, strong, athletic, amazing, not only in catch radius but his strain at the top of the route, again, for a guy in high school is just a little bit different,” Venables said.

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Petit’s recruitment was emblematic of the Sooners’ recruiting approach under Venables and general manager Jim Nagy.

Venables and wide receivers coach Emmett Jones stayed in contact with Petit even after the Naples, Florida, product committed to Wisconsin in June, less than three weeks after taking an official visit to Norman.

Petit flipped to the Sooners on Thanksgiving and signed Wednesday.

“They stayed with it,” Venables said of his staff’s approach to Petit. “And where a lot of people would grow weary, they didn’t. And again, same things they sold in recruiting, I think, came to fruition. And Jayden’s a really spiritual guy and I think he just had a peace about coming to Oklahoma.”

4-star wide receiver signs with Oklahoma Sooners

Published

1 day ago

December 3, 2025

Press Room

4-star wide receiver signs with Oklahoma Sooners

The Oklahoma Sooners landed a signature from four-star wide receiver Jahsiear Rogers on Wednesday’s early signing day, as they continue to add to their 2026 recruiting class.

Rogers was ranked as a four-star prospect by 247Sports Composite, and he is from Appoquinimink High School in Middletown, Delaware. He stands at 5-foot-11, weighs 180 pounds, and was ranked as the 43rd-best WR in the ’26 class.

Rogers committed to wide receivers coach Emmett Jones on October 27th, a couple of weeks after receiving an offer. Rogers decommitted from Penn State, in the wake of former head coach James Franklin’s firing, to join the Sooners. He also held offers from Nebraska, Indiana, and Alabama, among others.

Jones has been busy rebuilding the wide receiver group since the disastrous 2024 season, and he’s adding a blue-chip target in the form of the Nittany Lions flip. Rogers is one of four wideouts that Oklahoma landed on signing day.

Jahsiear Rogers Highlights

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Aaron on X @Aaron_Gelvin.

Source link