Mike Gundy says cornerback Justin Gilbert must play better
By Anthony Slater – Aslater@opubco.com – @anthonyVslater
Justin Gilbert’s breakout sophomore season ended on the highest of notes.
After picking off Andrew Luck — the NFL’s eventual No. 1 pick — and helping Oklahoma State win its first-ever BCS game, Gilbert was named the Fiesta Bowl Defensive MVP, putting a definitive stamp on his meteoric two-year ascension.
He was the future face of the program, labeled a top-15 NFL prospect by ESPN guru Mel Kiper.
But he was still only 20 years old.
“Could be preseason hype, could be coming out early, could be on the cover of a magazine, Fiesta Bowl MVP,” Mike Gundy said of Gilbert earlier this week. “I just think things like that happen sometimes to kids.”
What happened was a disappointing start to the 2012 season. A disappointing start that’s now slipped well into Gilbert’s junior campaign.
In his first two years, Gilbert had four kick return touchdowns. Last season, he intercepted five passes, three from 2012 NFL first round picks and starters (Luck, Robert Griffin III and Ryan Tannehill).
In 2012, during what was supposed to be his best and potentially last season at OSU, he is still yet to intercept a pass or produce a kick return touchdown.
One of Oklahoma State’s biggest playmakers, simply, hasn’t made any plays.
“His performance before (the TCU game) was below average, in this one it was average,” Gundy said on Monday. “It needs to be considerably better for us to play at a high level and for him personally.”
But the cornerback and coach are working toward that.
The secondary, thought to be one of the team’ biggest strengths before the season, has maybe been its biggest weakness (except for injuries).
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