Mike Gundy on red zone struggles vs. Kansas State: 'They kicked our ass'

Oklahoma State snapped their two-game losing streak on Friday night and secured their first Big 12 win of the season when they defeated Kansas State 29-21. But they did not get as much help as they wanted from their offense.

The Cowboys scored just one touchdown on offense during the game, and when head coach Mike Gundy was asked what went wrong regarding their red zone offense, there’s no question that he kept things real.

“They kicked our ass,” Gundy said. “I mean that was real simple, I’m being honest.”

Oklahoma State was able to generate 412 total yards of offense on Friday night, implementing a balanced attack and taking care of the football with zero turnovers. But when the Cowboys got within the 20-yard line, they weren’t able to capitalize and get the necessary push up front.

“Scheme-wise, maybe we could have adjusted a couple things, but we didn’t get any movement,” Gundy admitted. “The offensive line played good in this game, but in that particular area we didn’t get any movement. So scheme-wise we need to improve, but we just didn’t get any push.”

Gundy was also asked if currently in today’s game of football it’s harder than ever to score in the red zone.

“I came to work Saturday morning and then went home at 11 because I wanted to watch the games and I normally don’t get a chance to do that. So all I did was watch games all day Saturday and how many games did you guys watch and we watched that teams couldn’t get one yard?” Gundy asked.

Running back Ollie Gordon was able to punch in a two-yard touchdown in the first quarter of the game to go along with his 136 yards on the ground. But after that, the Cowboys had to rely on their kicker Alex Hale to put up points for them along with an interception returned for a touchdown by Cameron Epps.

“It’s difficult now but we have to find a way to do it because we can’t win by attempting six field goals in a game,” Gundy said. “We’re not gonna be that fortunate much more, so we gotta find a way to score touchdowns. But you’re right, it’s hard to get a yard or two yes, unless you’re [the] Philadelphia Eagles.”

Maybe we’ll see the infamous ‘tush push’ play out of the Cowboys if their offense continues to struggle in the red zone and in short yardage. And they might want to do it fast, as they fave a Kansas team in their next matchup that currently averages 36.3 points per game.