Game Notes: OSU vs. South Alabama

With a 35-point statement victory under their belts, the Cowboys hit the road this week for a Friday evening encounter with South Alabama in Mobile.

The last time the Cowboys ventured into Alabama for a Friday night non-conference game things didn't go so well. Troy pulled the upset ten years ago. Now, South Alabama welcomes the Cowboys. Mike Gundy says his program has changed over the past decade.

"I think our organization, our program is more mature now than it was at that time,” said Gundy. “But, I will say that you're still vulnerable at all times. It's never as comforting to play on the road as it is at home."

Linebacker Justin Phillips added, "We're going to go out there with the same mentality that we always do. We're going to try to beat anybody we go up against. So, we're not going to take it lightly just because they're South Alabama. We're going to go out there, play our game and do the best we can."

The Jaguars played Ole Miss close for a half before losing on Saturday.

Although Gundy is happy about his team's win, he isn't happy with everything.

The somewhat alarming thing for Cowboy fans this week is obvious, a night game in the deep south against a team priming itself for a major upset.

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But Gundy is more concerned with is what he can control; that’s fixing the few things that went wrong in the opening win over TU.

"I want Mason to play in his world, stay in his box,” said Gundy. “He got out his box in what happened Thursday night. I'm not pleased with the way McCleskey handled the ball on the punt return. He made about three bad decisions within the span of about eight seconds. If we play in a game and somebody beats us, that's the way the game goes, but I'm not interested in beating ourselves. In order for us to be successful, we have to be a smart, disciplined football team and we lost a little touch of reality on those two plays."

The Jaguars operate a lot like Tulsa. They also gave up two long touchdown passes to Ole Miss in the season opening loss. The Cowboys are hoping that combination will mean very little drama Friday night.