Oklahoma State football notebook: Trip to Norman new experience for several Cowboys

OSU coach Mike Gundy said he expects a rowdy Sooner crowd on Saturday afternoon, but believes his Cowboys are equipped to handle it because of their previous experience playing in other hostile road environments with high stakes.

“Certainly, there's an advantage with playing at home,” Gundy said. “I don't think anybody would deny that. But I think these guys have played in big games on the road.

“They've played at Texas two years in a row and played in the Fiesta Bowl and played at Missouri when they were ranked real high and at (Texas) A&M. So I think it shouldn't really factor in other than typical home-field advantage.”

OSU has been one of the nation's best road teams in recent seasons, posting a 15-4 record in its last 19 contests away from Boone Pickens Stadium. But the Cowboys are just 1-2 on the road this season, with losses to Arizona and Kansas State and a 20-14 closer-than-expected victory over Kansas.

OFFENSIVE LINE SHUFFLES

Gundy knows better than to question Cowboy offensive line coach Joe Wickline's musical chairs on the offensive line.

But that hadn't really been the case so far in 2012, with OSU running out the same starting five — Parker Graham, Jonathan Rush, Evan Epstein, Lane Taylor and Daniel Koenig — in seven of its first nine games.