Nebraska is the latest opportunity for the Cowboys to break the cycle of heartbreak
Nebraska latest opportunity for OSU to break cycle

By Mike Baldwin

Published: October 13, 2007

Joel Fish, a renowned sports psychologist, said it's paramount coaches and athletes facing negative hurdles must maintain a positive outlook.

"Step one is to be honest about the pattern you're struggling with,” Fish said. "Usually there are one or two key moments that decide the outcome.”

Oklahoma State fans can site numerous key moments over the years. A 1-11 road record under coach Mike Gundy goes beyond losses. It's how the Cowboys lose that's maddening.

Last year they blew a 17-point lead at Texas Tech. They led Kansas State by 11 points but surrendered two touchdowns the final 3:04. OSU lost in overtime to Texas A&M on a blocked extra point.

The late-game collapse trend continued last week. The Cowboys lost again to Texas A&M again after leading 17-0 at halftime.

Fish, the director of Center for Sports Psychology in Philadelphia, has given advise to coaches and athletes for 20 years.

"It's a matter of helping your team understand that if they trust in the game plan, ‘Today will be our day,' ” Fish said. "If you're prepared for those one or two key moments you feel more in control.”

Gundy refuses to dwell on negatives.

"We closed one out two weeks ago,” Gundy said. "And obviously we closed one out in the bowl game.”

But those weren't true road games.

"It's a matter of a coach making a great call or a player stepping up and making a play,” Gundy said. "There's really not an explanation for it other than that.”

Fish said Gundy is taking the right approach.

"Athletes and coaches must emphasize what they can control,” Fish said.

"You can't have ‘Here we go again' moments. Sometimes all it takes is one game to get over the hump and you're off to the races.”

Will today's game at Nebraska be that "hump” game for the Cowboys? The Cornhuskers have the worst defense in the Big 12 and are coming off a 41-6 loss at Missouri.

Don't read too much into that score. Nebraska is averaging 439.3 yards and 30.8 points. The Cornhuskers are ranked 20th nationally in passing and OSU's pass defense is ranked 116th.

Is Nebraska vulnerable? No question. Can OSU win? You betcha. But until the Cowboys post a significant road win or two doubts will remain.

"The analogy I use is the Chicago Bulls kept getting beat by the (Detroit) Pistons in the NBA playoffs,” said running backs coach Curtis Luper.

"But the Bulls had a special guy (Michael Jordan) who made some special plays to get them to that next level.

"We have some special guys on this team. Our guys have to make some plays. It's as simple as that. We had several opportunities on offense last week to win that game. We made some plays but not enough to win.”

Sophomore linebacker Patrick Lavine is confident the Cowboys can end the road trend.

"We just need to finish,” Lavine said.

"Our playmakers have to make plays. And when we get up we can't get content. When we figure out how to finish we're going to be a really strong team.”

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