Oklahoma State Football: 5 Things the Cowboys Learned from Last Year

The Oklahoma State Cowboys learned quite a bit from their successful 2011 season.

This team learned how to win, what to expect as one of the best teams in the country and how to use great players to win games. Mike Gundy and his team will take those things to help them into the seasons to come.

Here are five things this team learned last season.

How to Be the Favorite

Last season, Oklahoma State was the favorite in every single game that they played in. They lost just one of those 13 games.

This squad has learned how to win the games it is supposed to win. Before last season, this team notoriously would lose those types of games.

Under the leadership of Brandon Weeden, Jamie Blatnick and others, this team learned that. Let's just hope the younger guys remember it next season.

Running the Ball Is Still Good

Despite being a pass-heavy, up-tempo offense, the Cowboys did run the ball successfully during most of the 2011 season.

As a team, they averaged nearly 160 yards on the ground per game and totaled over 2,000 for the entire season. Starter Joseph Randle rushed for 1,216 yards and 24 touchdowns.

Plus, in their biggest game of the season against Oklahoma, the Cowboys rushed for over 250 yards, dominating the line of scrimmage. Running the ball isn't gone; it's just changed a bit.

How to Be Dominant

Even though they did lose one game, the Cowboys were dominant in 2011 against the teams on their schedule. That's not something this program has been known for.

The Cowboys beat Kansas by 42, Baylor by 35, Missouri by 21, Texas Tech by 60, Tulsa by 26 and Oklahoma by 34. Not all of those teams were great, but beating them all by that much in the same season is extremely impressive.

This team has learned the art of dominance.

Anyone Can Beat Anyone

A November loss to the Iowa State Cyclones, a heavy underdog, probably kept the Cowboys from getting a chance to play in the national championship. A tragic plane crash had just rattled the team, but the game still had to be played.

That loss taught this team that anyone can beat you on a given night. If you don't put your best foot forward from the very start of the game, anything can happen.

Hopefully, this team won't forget that in the years to come.

They Can Beat Oklahoma

Finally, after nearly a decade, this team defeated their in-state rival to finish out the year. Many thought there was a kind of mental block there for the Cowboys and that the Sooners simply had their number.

If there was such a mental block, it was shattered in that game. The Cowboys dominated the Sooners, 44-10, in one of the most lopsided games in Bedlam history.

Now, this team knows it can be the better team in the state. Let's see if they can continue it.