Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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34 JANUARY 2022 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: OKLAHOMA STATE shows up for the Fiesta Bowl? A sulking one that believes it was inches away from creating a CFP debate between them and Cincinnati, and is therefore disengaged and lethargic? Or one that views this as an opportunity to prove it was one of the best teams in the country all along by beating an elite program like Notre Dame? Odds are it will be the latter. Gundy's track record speaks for itself. Oklahoma State has won four of its last five bowl games. This is also the first New Year's Six bowl game Oklahoma State has ven- tured to since the Sugar Bowl that con- cluded its 2015 season. The Pokes lost to Ole Miss, 48-20. Gundy doesn't want to relive a defeat like that. Quarterback Spencer Sanders will be one of the main determinants in whether that happens or not. He's never been the most prolific of passers. A red- shirt junior, he's never thrown for 20 touchdowns in a season. This year, he has 16 scoring tosses and 12 intercep- tions. He has thrown for just 205.7 yards per game in an era in which everyone seems to be hitting 300 with ease. Still, Sanders is held in high regard by the Oklahoma State coaching staff. He arrived in Stillwater as a four-star dual-threat recruit with high upside. He hasn't quite reached the potential many around the program had hoped for, but he's capable of rising up in big games. His 37-yard touchdown run against Oklahoma was a huge turning point in that rivalry victory. He's coming off one of the worst per- formances of his career, though. He threw four interceptions, zero touch- downs and had a quarterback rating of less than 100 for the third time in his 32 career games against Baylor. 2021 NOTRE DAME SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 5 at Florida State W, 41-38 (OT) Sept. 11 Toledo W, 32-29 Sept. 18 Purdue W, 27-13 Sept. 25 vs. Wisconsin* W, 41-13 Oct. 2 Cincinnati L, 24-13 Oct. 9 at Virginia Tech W, 32-29 Oct. 23 USC W, 31-16 Oct. 30 North Carolina W, 44-34 Nov. 6 Navy W, 34-6 Nov. 13 at Virginia W, 28-3 Nov. 20 Georgia Tech W, 55-0 Nov. 27 at Stanford W, 45-14 Jan. 1 vs. Oklahoma State^ (ESPN) 1 p.m. * at Soldier Field in Chicago ^ Fiesta Bowl at Glendale, Ariz. 2021 OKLAHOMA STATE SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 4 Missouri State W, 23-16 Sept. 11 Tulsa W, 28-23 Sept. 18 at Boise State W, 21-20 Sept. 25 Kansas State W, 31-20 Oct. 2 Baylor W, 24-14 Oct. 16 at Texas W, 32-24 Oct. 23 at Iowa State L, 24-21 Oct. 30 Kansas W, 55-3 Nov. 6 at West Virginia W, 24-3 Nov. 13 TCU W, 63-17 Nov. 20 at Texas Tech W, 23-0 Nov. 27 Oklahoma W, 37-33 Dec. 4 vs. Baylor* L, 21-16 Jan. 1 vs. Notre Dame^ (ESPN) 1 p.m. * Big 12 Championship game at Arlington, Texas ^ Fiesta Bowl at Glendale, Ariz. Oklahoma State freshman defensive end Collin Oliver leads the Cowboys in sacks with 11.5. The Pokes have the most sacks in the nation with 55. PHOTO COURTESY OKLAHOMA STATE ATHLETICS