Oklahoma State football notebook: Controlling Big 12 title destiny ‘easier said than done'

The other is Oklahoma State, because it has one conference loss and K-State, Texas Tech and OU still ahead on the schedule.

“Easier said than done,” coach Mike Gundy said when assessing the rest of the season.

“I think the interesting concept with our league right now is we would all agree that Kansas State is ahead of everybody. Not that I'm going to sit here and comment on the entire league. I think Oklahoma's played pretty well lately. They've gained some ground.

“And then the rest of us, for the way we're playing, I think you've got to limit your mistakes, you've got to play with effort, you've got to stay as healthy as possible. And offensively, it's all about big plays. And then defensively, it's about forcing turnovers.

“That's the fun thing with our league right now with fans and media, and not so fun for coaches.”

OSU'S GRADUATION SUCCESS RATE SCORE TIED FOR SIXTH IN BIG 12

Oklahoma State and Iowa State are tied for sixth in the Big 12 in the latest football Graduation Success Rate (GSR) scores released Thursday by the NCAA.

OSU and ISU both had a GSR score of 62 percent. Recently departed Missouri led the conference with a 73 percent GSR, followed by Kansas (72), Texas A&M (69), Texas Tech (66) and Baylor (63). Kansas State (58), Texas (58) and Oklahoma (47) scored lower than OSU.

The figures released are for students who entered college in 2005 and, unlike the Federal graduation rate, take transfers and students who leave the school while in good academic standing into account.

The Big 12's newcomers, West Virginia and TCU, both posted GSR scores of 79.

OSU SPREAD SYSTEM CATERS TO WIDE RECEIVERS, TOO

Even without two starting receivers in Tracy Moore and Isaiah Anderson, the OSU passing game still churned out 415 yards against Iowa State and nearly had three receivers tally more than 100 yards. Charlie Moore finished with eight catches for 123 yards, while Josh Stewart had 13 catches for 89 yards and Blake Jackson had four catches for 96 yards.

Offensive coordinator Todd Monken, as usual, downplayed the stats. But it's clear that the Cowboys' spread system still caters to receivers just as much as it caters to quarterbacks.