Guerin Emig: The Oklahoma State Cowboys are no different than us when we have a day off from work. They choose carefully how to spend their precious time.

STILLWATER — Rashod Owens watched OU-Texas.

Brennan Presley watched all sorts of games.

Anthony Goodlow went to a wedding.

Justin Kirkland went to a haunted house.

The Oklahoma State Cowboys are no different than us when we have a day off from work. They choose carefully how to spend their precious time.

I wanted to find out how the four Cowboys available to media Monday night spent their time Saturday. I appreciated their answers.

I hope you appreciate this peek inside their facemasks…

“I watched a lot of teams, especially in our conference that we could potentially play later in our season, and that we will play,” Owens said, “just to see what type of coverages and defenses they’re playing.”

OSU coaches can simplify their base offense and still think outside the box. That combination awoke a sleeping Cowboys team against Kansas State. (via @GuerinEmig) https://t.co/ykaLVoBKyj

— Sellout Crowd (@selloutcrowd_) October 10, 2023

An analytical approach, then, with a focus on OU-Texas.

“It was a pretty good game overall, but I do believe Texas shot themselves in the foot a few times,” Owens said. “I really think Texas could have pulled it off if they didn’t have so many turnovers in the game, and whenever they ended up being on the 1-yard line to seal the game (during OU’s goal line stand). They just didn’t finish through…

“It was a great game overall. I give props to both teams for playing hard.”

“The first five minutes was back and forth. I’m thinking it’s gonna be one of those games,” Presley said. “It was interesting to see powerhouses play. Sadly, I have some friends up at OU. Some of them were at the game. You kind of talk about it and watch from a fan perspective, not as a college football player.

A little different approach than Owens’. One can picture the notoriously sweet-toothed Presley picking candy out of a bowl while sprawled out on the couch over a 12-hour Saturday vigil.

“I watched a lot of football,” he said. “I watched my brother (play) for Tulsa against FAU. I watched OU-Texas, Notre Dame-Louisville. Georgia-Kentucky. It was a lot of good games. Iowa State-TCU. I watched Kansas and UCF.

“It was kind of hard to keep track of them, but it was the first time in a while I had a Saturday to just sit around and watch football.”

I know the feeling. I love my job same as the Cowboys love theirs, but when I have that rare fall Saturday home — and it’s very rare given someone I write about is almost always playing somewhere — ESPN, Fox, CBS and NBC can become lifeblood.

Not that it has to be that way.

You watch any football on your Saturday off, Anthony?

“No sir. I didn’t,” Goodlow said. “I went home, laid down a little bit and went to a wedding.”

Oh yeah? Who got hitched?

“One of my old buddies, his older brother. One of my old teammates at Tulsa’s. Grant Sawyer’s. It was in Westlake, Texas.”

How bout you, Justin? What did you do with a day off?

“I did watch some of the morning games,” Kirkland said. “But that night my wife and I and some buddies went to a haunted house. It was good to get out of the football realm of things.”

Understandable. Where was this haunted house?

“Guthrie. It was a really good haunted house.”

Note to self: Be sure you tell Kirkland and his wife to visit the Gundys Halloween night, Mike having admitted to dressing up and hosting players’ families in the past.

Oh yeah… Gundy.

In case you missed it at his Monday press conference, here’s what OSU’s ball coach did with his Saturday off…

“I came to work Saturday morning and went home at 11 because I wanted to watch the games and I normally don’t get a chance to do that,” he said. “All I did was watch games all day Saturday.”

Now we’re back to the analytical…

“I have a notepad and a pen and it sits by my chair,” Gundy said. “I try to steal people’s plays and make notes. Anything I see that’s a good play, I write it down. Arizona ran a great play against USC. They spread everybody out and took the back out and they dumped it to him, and they took the center and cracked the Mike (linebacker), Mason Cobb, and ran him for however many yards.

“Lincoln (Riley) did that forever, bringing a receiver all the way across the field and blocking the linebacker. But this was a guy (who) wasn’t in the backfield. Things like that, I write them down, take notes. There’s a lot of smart coaches out there. Might as well steal their plays.”