OSU's big season

TULSA - What a Fiesta Bowl. What a season. The best ever for OSU Football. Now what. Are there more big seasons ahead?

Sure, go ahead, spoil the good times, immediately wonder what is ahead. Can the momentum to continue? It is up to OSU to make it happen again and again and again.

It all started when last January Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon held a joint press conference to say they were going to stay at OSU for another year, and not go to the NFL. Good move. Both for the players and OSU.

What followed was a season OSU fans will never forget. 

The win over OU was the perfect way to end the regular season, and despite a snub from the BCS, OSU headed to the Fiesta Bowl with #4 Stanford, and won a very compelling and exciting game. Overtime yet, and never having a lead until the final play of the OT. Blackmon was sensational, a man possessed...the QB was okay considering a poor start..the running game was shaky, but they still overcame. The complement WR's hung in there. Chelf was huge. The defense played decent, stopping Stanford in the OT when it mattered most. And the decision to go for it on a 4th down with under 5 minutes to go at the Stanford 45..They got it, to Blackmon, of course.

So lets put this all in focus.

To continue the momentum, what does OSU have to do.

1st-Get Gundy signed already. Whats the holdup. He wants an extension, give him an extension. If there was ever a coach who deserved it in Stillwater, it is Mike Gundy. Sure the money is big, but OSU is playing with the big boys now, and keeping Gundy is extremely important. Besides, they will be getting the hometown discount if they add more years to the deal. Sign Him Now!

2nd-Replacing Weeden next season is going to be extremely difficult, but what team could replace a 28 year old walk-on. It was a lucky break to get him...but with success comes recruiting..and there are talented QB's in the fold. The Lunt kid seems to be the real deal, if he can adapt to the grind  college, always a tough chore. Lunt begins classes on Monday. I think what will be interesting is whether or not OSU changes the offense to suit the Quarterback. Gundy claims he wants a QB identified by Spring. That may be easier said than done. 

3rd-Replacing Blackmon. Again a tough chore, but he replaced Dez Bryant just fine. By the way, I think Blackmon will be a better pro than Byrant. better work ethic...better conditioning, better feel for what to do on pass patterns. A culture  has been set. OSU is W. R. U.

4th-Get the running game going. As much as we have praised the OL for keeping Weeden healthy..more lanes need to be created for Smith and Randle.

Some sidenotes from the game.

The officiating crew-Fantastic. The SEC outfit let them play. There were several close calls, and other crews would have thrown the laundry on some of those hits. Thank you guys for letting them play.

12-1 is going to be hard to forget. But the bar has been set, and OSU needs to keep it going. No sense in losing big Mo at this point. It starts with the Gundy contract, and go from there.