The University Daily Kansan
Monday, November 16, 1998
Kansas vs. Oklahoma State
Cowboys coach relies on God for strength
By Michael Rigg
sports@kansan.com
Kansas sportwriter
Oklahoma State coach Bob Simmons is hoping for a higher authority to help his team.
Earlier this season, Simmons said that his belief in God was all he had to fall back on because the people who supported him during his first four years have abandoned him.
"Obviously, if there's any doubt in me, that's who I turn to for my strength," said Simmons, who was an assistant under Christian Bill McCartney at Colorado.
As for the criticism and lack of support, that will continue, Simmons said.
"Obviously, there is going to be criticism, and that's something
that will be there as long as you remain a head coach of a program," Simmons said.
Especially a program that had the highest expectations of any Cowboys team in the 1990s. Oklahoma State was picked to go to a bowl game by many preseason publications and to finish in the top half of the Big 12 Conference this season. But the Cowboys were decimated by injuries early on — such as a devastating knee injury to quarterback Tony Lindsay — and are only 3-5.
Admittedly, this season has been tough the Cowboys.
Simmons said that Oklahoma State had fallen victim to high preseason expectations.
"Losing is not a great thing,
believe me," said safety Chris Massey. "We just have to keep our heads up."
Simmons: Says his team's game against Kansas is winable
"Our expectations as long as I'm the head coach will always be high," he said. "I know that there are going to be bumps in the road. I know that when you play in this conference, you have to play at that level every week. I can't control the conditions sometimes. All I can try to
control is what I have in front of me."
And what's in front of the beleaguered Cowbys this week is a game Simmons calls winnable. The Cowbys play Kansas at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow at home.
For the final home game at Lewis Field for 28 Cowboys seniors, Simmons would love nothing more than to send them away victorious.
"Obviously, these seniors have some sentimental times here and want to go out on a winning note," he said. "At this point in time, that is still very possible. Is it sentimental? Yes. Can we use that as an emotional part of the ballgame? Yes. It would be good, but we have to go out and execute, and that's the bottom line."
To do that, the Cowboys will have to do something they have failed to do so often this season — execute on offense. Oklahoma State ranks 91st nationally in total offense, and Lindsay is just now growing comfortable in the offense after missing four games because of his knee injury. Also, running back Nathan Simmons
— who rushed for 937 yards last season — has failed to get started in 1999, as he as only accumulated 255 yards on the ground.
On the flip side, the Cowboys feature one of the nation's most terrorizing defenses, the vaunted "46" defense, which smothers an opponent's offense. The NFL's Chicago Bears used in their 1985 championship season.
Although the Cowboys won't climb to the football pinnacle in 1999 the way the Bears did in 1985, they can agree on one thing
the season isn't finished yet. "I know our season is not going the way we wanted it to," Massey said. "The season is far from more. We still have three games, and we're going to come out and try to finish up strong."
- Edited by Jennifer Roush
Kyle Ramsey/KANSAN
12th Week Football Predictions
CHRIS FICKETT (sports editor)
BRAD HALLIER (associate sports editor)
JULIE WOOD (editor in chief)
MICHAEL RIGG (Big 12 football reporter)
MIKE MILLER (Kansas football reporter)
SHAWN ROBERTS (student)
Kansas at Oklahoma State
Kansas State at Nebraska
Texas Tech at Texas
Oklahoma at Iowa State
Mississippi State at Alabama
Michigan at Penn State
Tennessee at Arkansas
Miami, Fla. at Virginia Tech
Indiana at Minnesota
Notre Dame at Pittsburgh
Kansas
Nebraska
Texas
Oklahoma
Alabama
Penn State
Tennessee
Virginia Tech
Minnesota
Pittsburgh
Kansas
Nebraska
Texas
Iowa State
Mississippi State
Penn State
Tennessee
Virginia Tech
Indiana
Notre Dame
Kansas
Nebraska
Texas
Iowa State
Mississippi State
Penn State
Tennessee
Virginia Tech
Minnesota
Notre Dame
Oklahoma
Alabama
Penn State
Tennessee
Virginia Tech
Minnesota
Notre Dame
Kansas
Nebraska
Texas
Iowa State
Mississippi State
Penn State
Tennessee
Virginia Tech
Minnesota
Notre Dame
Kansas
Nebraska
Texas
Iowa State
Mississippi State
Penn State
Tennessee
Virginia Tech
Minnesota
Notre Dame
Kansas
Nebraska
Texas
Iowa State
Mississippi State
Penn State
Tennessee
Virginia Tech
Minnesota
Notre Dame
Kansas
Nebraska
Texas
Iowa State
Mississippi State
Penn State
Tennessee
Virginia Tech
Minnesota
Notre Dame
Kansas
Nebraska
Texas
Iowa State
Mississippi State
Penn State
Tennessee
Virginia Tech
Minnesota
Notre Dame
Kansas
Nebraska
Texas
Iowa State
Mississippi State
Penn State
Tennessee
Virginia Tech
Minnesota
Notre Dame
Now Hiring!
The University Daily Kansan
Advertising STAFF
Applications Due Monday,Nov.15,1999 4p.m.
Spring 2000
119 Stauffer-Flint
Call 864-4358 for details