Taking a loss when the officials have been confirmed to have blown a call at the end of the game has to be a bitter pill to swallow, but Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy is handling it about as well as any coach you could imagine. A day after seeing his Cowboys lose to Central Michigan as a result of a play that never should have taken place, Gundy said what’s done is done and it is time to move on.
“I’m disappointed in myself that I called a play that could have been interpreted as intentional grounding,” Gundy said of the final offensive play executed by Oklahoma State. “That play has been on our playbooks for 12 years now and intentional grounding and an untimed down after the last play of the game bever even crossed my mind. Of course in hindsight, I wish I would have done it differently, but in the big picture the game should have been over.”
Officials awarded Central Michigan one final untimed down after calling Oklahoma State for intentional grounding on fourth down. As confirmed later by rules officials, the officiating crew should not have awarded an untimed down due to the penalty being a loss-of-down penalty on the final play. The game should have ended after the penalty without Central Michigan getting a chance to run an unbelievable Hail Mary and lateral for a stunning win in Stillwater. Gundy didn’t necessarily let the officials off the hook, but he did so in a respectful manner.
“While I’m disappointed in myself, I am also disappointed that we had 10 rules officials who didn’t properly apply the rule. I give credit to Central Michigan for coming up with a great play and executing it as well as they did.”
Gundy went on to explain why he was releasing this statement today, and it is merely to begin turning the page for his team.
“In our program, we talk all the time about controlling the things we can control and not getting caught up in the things we can’t control,” Gundy said. “We can control how we focus and prepare for Pittsburgh [Oklahoma State’s next opponent this week]. We can’t control the decisions that were made Saturday, so I do not believe it benefits our coaches or players to dwell on them and rehash them beyond what we already did during post-game interviews, the comments that our athletic director made yesterday and now with this statement from me today.”
This statement from @CoachGundy is pitch-perfect. How to handle it and move on. pic.twitter.com/3aoz0unVxa
— George Schroeder (@GeorgeSchroeder) September 11, 2016