OSU football: Mike Gundy is a major factor in two golden Cowboy eras
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![Oklahoma State was rolling in the mid- to late-1980s under head coach Pat Jones, left, with quarterback Mike Gundy, right, and a pair of future Hall of Fame running backs. [DOUG HOKE/THE OKLAHOMAN ARCHIVES]](http://cdn2.newsok.biz/cache/w620-dbb756e46f72aece2876452d64a1b39a.jpg)
There were magical moments last century for Oklahoma State, but these are the golden days for the Cowboys with 16 — and 13 consecutive — bowl appearances and 151 of their 593 all-time victories coming since 2000.
FIVE COACHING LEADERS
Lynn “Pappy” Waldorf
Seasons: Five (from 1929-33)
Record at OSU: 34-10-7
National titles: Zero
Waldorf is one of just five Cowboys in the College Football Hall of Fame. He later coached at Kansas State, Northwestern and California, where he took the Golden Bears to three consecutive Rose Bowls (1948-50). In 28 collegiate seasons, Waldorf went 157-89-19, winning most often with then-Oklahoma A&M.
Jim Lookabaugh
Seasons: 11 (from 1939-49)
Record at OSU: 58-41-6
National titles: One
Lookabaugh became the first OSU graduate to later become head coach of the football team. Coming off a Cotton Bowl win in the 1944 season, the Watonga native fielded his best squad in 1945. Those Aggies won by an average of 23.2 points per game en route to a Sugar Bowl win and an eventual national title.
Pat Jones
Seasons: 11 (from 1984-94)
Record at OSU: 62-60-3
National titles: Zero
Taking over after Jimmie Johnson left for Miami, Jones hit the ground running in 1984. The Cowboys were 44-15 in Jones’ first five seasons. In 1986-87, he assembled perhaps the best backfield ever in Thurman Thomas and Barry Sanders. But Jones went 18-45-3 after the NCAA handed down a four-year NCAA probation in 1989.
Les Miles
Seasons: Four (from 2001-04)
Record at OSU: 28-21
National titles: Zero
OSU’s rise to the national spotlight started under Miles’ watch. When the former assistant returned as head coach for the 2001 season, OSU had just just one winning season since 1988. The Cowboys went 4-7 in 2001 but ended the season with an upset of Oklahoma. Miles went 24-14 in the next three seasons before heading to LSU.
Mike Gundy
Seasons: Entering 15th
Record at OSU: 121-59
National titles: Zero
When Gundy took over as head coach in 2005, OSU had an .491 all-time winning percentage and had played in 16 bowl games. Fourteen seasons later, Gundy nows accounts for 25.6 percent of the school’s 594 all-time wins, while adding 13 bowl appearances. The Cowboys have had just one losing season in Gundy’s tenure (2005).
BY THE NUMBERS
Better late than never: 1945
It took until 2016, but OSU was recognized as the 1945 national champion by the American Football Coaches Association, as part of a commission to award champions from 1922 to 1949 (when the coaches’ poll had yet to exist). With All-American Bob Fenimore leading the way, the then-A&M Aggies beat Saint Mary’s in the Sugar Bowl to wrap up a perfect 9-0 season.
All-time NFL draft picks: 125
Ralph Foster (1940, Chicago Cardinals) was the first of Oklahoma State’s 125 NFL Draft picks. There have been 20 Cowboys selected in the first round, with Bob Fenimore (1947, Chicago Bears) as OSU’s lone overall No. 1. The Cowboys have produced five first-round picks this decade — Dez Bryant, Russell Okung, Justin Blackmon, Brandon Weeden and Justin Gilbert.
Consensus All-Americans: 18
Blackmon is one of 18 Cowboys to be earn consensus All-America honors, but the Ardmore native is the only one in school history to receive the distinction twice (2010-11). Blackmon’s final two seasons in Stillwater were legendary (233 catches for 3,304 yards and 39 total touchdowns). His tenure helped establish OSU as one of college football’s top programs for wide receivers.
Biletnikoff Awards: 3
OSU has won three Biletnikoff Awards — given to the nation’s top wide receiver — (James Blackmon twice and James Washington once). Three OSU running backs (Bob Fenimore, Thurman Thomas and Barry Sanders) have been unanimous All-Americans. However, OSU’s most-recent 1,000-yard performer in the NFL was Seattle’s Chris Carson, who rushed for 1,151 yards last season.
Heisman Trophy winners: 1
There’s only one Heisman Trophy winner from OSU. But there’s only one Barry Sanders and nobody ever had a season like he did in 1988. After spending the 1986 and 1987 seasons behind future Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Thurman Thomas, few foresaw Sanders shredding the NCAA record book the way he did in 1988. Sanders set 34 NCAA records that season, rushing for 2,628 yards and 37 touchdowns. He added two more on special teams. He opened the season against Miami of Ohio by returning the kickoff for a touchdown, same as he had the year before against Tulsa. It was just the start of Heisman campaign that ended with Sanders accepting the award in Tokyo since the Cowboys were playing Texas Tech in the long-forgotten Coca-Cola Classic. Along with a stout offensive line, quarterback Mike Gundy and receiver Hart Lee Dykes, OSU led the nation in scoring that year, averaging 48.7 points per game en route to a 10-2 record.
CAREER LEADERS
| Passing yards | |||
| 1 | Mason Rudolph | 2014-17 | 13,618 |
| 2 | Brandon Weeden | 2007-11 | 9,260 |
| 3 | Mike Gundy | 1986-89 | 8,473 |
| 4 | Zac Robinson | 2005-09 | 8,317 |
| 5 | Josh Fields | 2001-03 | 6,090 |
| Rushing yards | |||
| 1 | Thurman Thomas | 1984-87 | 5,001 |
| 2 | Terry Miller | 1974-77 | 4,754 |
| 3 | David Thompson | 1993-96 | 4,318 |
| 4 | Kendall Hunter | 2007-10 | 4,181 |
| 5 | Barry Sanders | 1986-88 | 3,797 |
| Receiving yards | |||
| 1 | James Washington | 2014-17 | 4,472 |
| 2 | Rashaun Woods | 1999-03 | 4,414 |
| 3 | Justin Blackmon | 2008-11 | 3,564 |
| 4 | Hart Lee Dykes | 1985-88 | 3,510 |
| 5 | D’Juan Woods | 2002-06 | 2,751 |
| Touchdowns | |||
| 1 | Barry Sanders | 1986-88 | 60 |
| 2 | Thurman Thomas | 1984-87 | 50 |
| 3 | Terry Miller | 1974-77 | 49 |
| 4 | Joseph Randle | 2010-12 | 43 |
| 5 | Justin Blackmon | 2008-11 | 42 |
| 5 | Rashaun Woods | 1999-03 | 42 |
| Tackles | |||
| 1 | John Corker | 1976-79 | 496 |
| 2 | Mike Green | 1979-82 | 485 |
| 3 | Ricky Young | 1978-81 | 451 |
| 4 | Leslie O’Neal | 1982-85 | 393 |
| 5 | Sim Drain | 1986-89 | 369 |
| Sacks | |||
| 1 | Leslie O’Neal | 1982-85 | 34.0 |
| 2 | Jason Gildon | 1990-93 | 33.0 |
| 3 | Rodney Harding | 1981-84 | 31.0 |
| 4 | Emmanuel Ogbah | 2012-15 | 28.0 |
| 5 | Greg Richmond | 2000-03 | 21.5 |
| Interceptions | |||
| 1 | Bob Fenimore | 1943-46 | 18 |
| 2 | Mark Moore | 1983-86 | 16 |
| 2 | Melvin Gilliam | 1985-88 | 16 |
| 4 | Gregg Johnson | 1977-80 | 13 |
![Oklahoma A&M's Bob Fenimore (55) prepares a stiff arm a Saint Mary tacklers during the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, 1946. [AP Photo/File]](http://cdn2.newsok.biz/cache/sq150-eac6ae31c0443507e5e599f69e37ea7d.jpg)
Jeff Patterson is the sports editor of The Oklahoman. A native of Lexington, Kentucky, he allegedly once told his father on a childhood trip passing through Oklahoma that he would one day live there. He doesn't recall this, but he fulfilled that... Read more ›