After giving up 56 points and more than 500 yards of total offense in a 21-point upset loss to Arizona Saturday night, Oklahoma State certainly could use the return of its veteran defensive coordinator.
Fortunately for the Cowboys, it appears all signs are pointing to just that.
Late last month, it was announced by OSU that coordinator Bill Young would miss 7-10 days after undergoing an unspecified medical procedure. Young was away from the team for the opener against Savannah State and the loss to the Wildcats.
With Louisiana-Lafayette on tap this weekend, and with Young having returned to the football offices recently, the long-time assistant told the Daily Oklahoman Monday that he’s “anxious to get back,” with the paper reporting that Young is back on the job full-time. Young declined to get into any medical specifics, but did say his health is not an issue as he prepares for what appears to be a return to the sidelines Saturday.
“I feel great,” Young, who had only missed two games as a player or coach over the past four-plus decades, said. “I had no symptoms going into this procedure; I have no symptoms coming out. I’m no different today than I was three weeks ago. I have some tremendous doctors.”
Young wasn’t able to watch the Debacle in the Desert -- the game was on DISH, the coach doesn’t have it -- so he was forced to listen to the game on the radio. After listening sans video, then watching tape of the game three times since, Young was succinct in his assessment of how the defense performed in his absence.
“We just made too many mistakes,” Young said. “We beat ourselves. And when you say that, you certainly don’t want to take anything away from Arizona. They beat us, there’s no question.
“But we had all those penalties. And we had some missed tackles. We got out-gapped a bit. There’s plenty of blame to go around.”