Mike Gundy knows better than anyone how much the finish matters--at least in the last two seasons.
He also knows how little can separate an ending as satisfying as Shawshank Redemptions from one on par with The Godfather.
Two plays turned Oklahoma State's 2013 season dark in a hurry. A year later, two plays provided a memorable, elating finish that transformed a forgettable season into one that screamed "Promise ahead! Prepare yourselves!"
"The year before last year, if (Justin) Gilbert catches that INT against OU, we win another Big 12 championship. That would have been two in three years, but we still ended up winning 10 games," Gundy told Fox Sports Southwest in a recent interview. "This year, we ended up winning seven, but beat Oklahoma on the road and won a bowl game. And people feel better now when in theory, we were better a year ago and we were basically one play away from another championship."
After the crushing Bedlam loss in 2013, Missouri defensive end Michael Sam ended a possible Cotton Bowl-winning drive with a sack/fumble that the Tigers returned for a touchdown to seal the game.
This year, it was an Oklahoma State lineman who sealed a bowl game. Defensive tackle James Castleman caught a short pass and rumbled 48 yards to end a Cactus Bowl comeback bid for Washington, trading some helmet paint on the way to the season's second-most memorable play.
No. 1 went to Tyreek Hill.
The running back's dismissal a week later in the wake of domestic violence allegations took a good chunk of shine off the memory of his game-winning Bedlam punt return, but nonetheless, it fundamentally changed how a season that featured a five-game losing streak will forever be viewed.
That's what happens when you best Bob Stoops on his home field for the first time as a head coach.
"The feeling in the community is different now than even a year ago, and it's just in how you finish," Gundy said. "It's unusual now and with all the attention in social media and the Bedlam game and the things we did with letting James Castleman touch the football, it just generated a lot of excitement and there was a tremendous amount of marketing that worked in our advantage at the end of the season."
To say the way seasons are remembered can be "fickle" only begins to describe it, even in recent history solely with Big 12 teams.
Oklahoma's 8-5 disappointment in 2014 after upsetting Alabama in the Sugar Bowl provided the latest example. West Virginia's 7-6 debut in the Big 12 after its Orange Bowl rout of Clemson should have killed the idea of "bowl momentum" forever.
This time around, Oklahoma State feels like a very different case.
If Stoops doesn't kick for a second time to Tyreek Hill or somebody trips him up on the way to the end zone, Oklahoma State might not be in a bowl game. If Castleman drops the pass or if Rudolph shortarmed a pressure throw into the flats, Washington might have completed a comeback that changed the conversation around the Cowboys.
Still, this is the same team who rallied from a 42-14 deficit on the road at Baylor and, as a 29-point underdog, was 41 yards from getting within one possession of the Bears with five minutes to play. After handing Rudolph the starters' reins, signs of progress began to appear, both with his performance and the rest of the team, which found it easier to protect him with offensive lineman Zach Crabtree back in the lineup. Rudolph's performance in the final three games is the biggest reason to believe OSU could factor into a Big 12 race that should otherwise be dominated by a TCU-Baylor hatefest.
That journey starts today when Oklahoma State begins spring practice.
"We're not a veteran team, but we're not a young team anymore," Gundy said.
Oklahoma State played 22 freshmen last season and had 32 freshmen and sophomores on its opening day depth chart. A lack of proven, quality depth meant it needed to stay healthy at two key positions: Offensive line and quarterback.
Then J.W. Walsh suffered a season-ending foot injury in the second game and a rash of injuries made remembering who went where (and their names) a laborious task.
The results were predictable: The Cowboys were 5-6 and on a five-game losing streak. Each loss came by at least 21 points.
"Our seniors hadn't lost that many games in four years," Gundy said. "We didn't overpractice, didn't beat them down. We just tried to lead them."
The Cowboys weathered the five-game losing streak by knocking off Oklahoma and suddenly, 2015 looked very different in Stillwater.
Gundy now has two proven quarterbacks in Rudolph and Walsh and eight offensive linemen he feels he can rely upon when the season arrives.
The Oklahoma and Washington upset wins changed outsiders' perception of Oklahoma State, but what about Gundy's view of how 2015 might play out?
"Certainly," he said. "Anytime you win a Bedlam game as a three-touchdown underdog or whatever we were and then go in and win as an underdog in the bowl game? Everybody's excited and developed some confidence and certainly makes us feel different about the offseason and spring football."
Two plays made excitement hard to come by a year ago, even with a double-digit total in the win column.
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