Oklahoma State football: How Mike Gundy became the king of Austin, Texas

Last Saturday’s 32-24 win at Texas was a feel-good victory for Oklahoma State football fans and for head coach Mike Gundy. The win vaulted the Cowboys into the AP Top 10 for the second time in the past three seasons and the 10th time in the last 14 seasons.

The win also marked an impressive feat: within the past decade, Mike Gundy has beaten four different Texas head coaches in Austin, Tex.

After Saturday’s 32-24 win, Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy has beaten four different Texas head coaches in Austin within the past decade.

Gundy has beaten Mack Brown (2013), Charlie Strong (2015), Tom Herman (2017), and now Steve Sarkisian (2021) in the confines of Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. It speaks to the struggles of Texas and to the more successful winning culture that Gundy has built with the Cowboys.

Texas has infamously struggled as an athletic program to put a consistently competitive football team on the field. For a university with resources nearly unmatched throughout the entire nation in terms of donors, exposure, high school recruiting proximity, and talent, the Longhorns have found a way to remain at times mediocre and at best average overall.

Overall, Gundy has a 6-3 record against the Longhorns in his nine trips to Texas as head coach. Let’s recount the games in which Gundy and the Cowboys have taken on the Horns in Austin:

2006: Texas 36, OSU 10

These 2006 Cowboys were the first team that Gundy took to a bowl game in his second season at the helm — and they’ve reached the postseason each year since then. Only five schools in the nation have a longer streak than OSU’s 15 straight years under Gundy: Georgia, OU, Wisconsin, Alabama, and Clemson. Texas quarterback Colt McCoy threw three touchdowns in this Longhorns win as they set out to defend their national title from the previous year.

2008: Texas 28, OSU 24

OSU was 7-0 and ranked No. 6 in the country heading into this game. After falling behind 28-14 to McCoy and the Longhorns, a second-half rally fell short to give Texas the win, their 11th in a row in the series.

2010: OSU 33, Texas 16

OSU snapped its 12-game losing streak against the Longhorns with this crucial road victory, picking up only the second win against Texas as a Big 12 foe. Brandon Weeden threw for 409 yards and Kendall Hunter rushed for two touchdowns.

2011: OSU 38, Texas 26

The No. 6-ranked Cowboys beat the No. 22-ranked Longhorns to improve to 6-0. The Cowboys would only lose later in the season to Iowa State in double-overtime to spoil what could have been an undefeated season.

2013: OSU 38, Texas 13

Quarterback Clint Chelf threw for 197 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 95 yards and another two scores to lead the Pokes to a decisive 38-13 win. This was Longhorns head coach Mack Brown’s final season with the team, which finished the season at 8-5 and with an Alamo Bowl loss.

2015: OSU 30, Texas 27

The Cowboys squeaked by the Longhorns in this one off a last-second Ben Grogan field goal from 40 yards. OSU started this season 10-0 before dropping its final three games, while Texas finished 5-7 in its second season under Charlie Strong.

2017: OSU 13, Texas 10

These Cowboys would finish the season with 10 wins, marking the sixth time in the previous eight seasons that they had accomplished this feat. This was Tom Herman’s first season on the Texas sidelines, and the team would finish the regular season at 6-6 before winning its bowl game. OSU’s Ramon Richards made the game-sealing interception against Sam Ehlinger in overtime.

2019: Texas 36, OSU 30

Texas managed to snap its five-game losing streak to OSU at home behind Sam Ehlinger’s 281 yards passing and four touchdowns. These two teams would finish the season with identical 8-5 (5-4 Big 12) records.

2021: OSU 32, Texas 24

OSU clawed back from a 24-13 deficit in the third quarter to score 19 unanswered points with a shutdown defense and a strong rushing attack by Jaylen Warren. The senior rushed for 154 yards in the second half alone to give the Cowboys their first 6-0 start since 2015. The loss drops first-year coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns to 4-3.