Cowboys focusing on Sept. 3

[mslacat]

FYI

After a major scrimmage session yesterday and ahead of another tomorrow, Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy chose to take things relatively easy on Wednesday.

The workout, which ran only about one hour and 45 minutes, re-focused the Cowboys on the basics and continued to build their gameplan for Sept

"We just went through a shorter workout today, in between scrimmages," Gundy said. "Obviously, we scrimmaged yesterday and we'll scrimmage 60 or 70 plays tomorrow. It was a shorter workout and we worked on a lot of fundamentals and on Montana State. We'll get back out here tomorrow and get after it.

"We worked against scout teams more than anything. There wasn't anything (that stood out today) one way or the other, just a lot of work on Montana State."

The Cowboys have been well into gameplanning for the season opener against MSU on Sept. 3 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater.

"We've been working on it (Montana State game) for about a week," Gundy said. "We're in pretty deep."

Four days into the start of the fall semester, the first-year head coach indicated that he feels like his players have gotten into the groove of things, working through class and studying along with preseason workouts.

"I think they're in the routine," Gundy said. "I feel like they're in that routine of lifting, class and meetings and practice, study hall and training table. They're getting in that routine."

While they've gotten into the school routine, the practice routine is wearing thin as it usually does this time of year.

"I noticed today watching the players that you always run into the wall where you're ready to play a game," Gundy said. "I can tell they are tired of hitting on each other and tired of going against each other, and they're ready to play against another team."

"I feel the same way. We've got three or four more practices that we need to get some work out of them, and then we'll cut back and get ready to play a game. It's getting that time. We need to go play."

Along those lines, Saturday's practice is actually a full scale mock game. Gundy said he's hopeful the turf on Boone Pickens Stadium will be ready by then so that the Cowboys can experience the gameday scenario to its full effect.

"It gives us an opportunity to do just what it says; it's a mock game," Gundy said. "Our players put the uniform on, go through pre-game stretch. There are so many things involved in game day activities that people don't realize. Then you take all of the freshmen that we have that are going to have to play in the game. They need to go through that. The shock can be lessened when it comes around on September 3rd. We've covered everything: we even put in instant replay in this one. We try to set up a scenario for everything that could possibly happen in a game."

The Cowboys will even go so far as to go through "The Walk" - OSU's pre-game tradition of walking from the team hotel down Hester Street to the stadium. It's a tradition that started in the Les Miles regime, but one Gundy is planning to retain.

[Cat Grad]

This is pretty cool. Had a chance to work with some folks that used "the walk" into the stadium. Sounds like our kids yesterday. Wish I coulda been there next week