It was 15 years ago today that Mike Gundy unleashed perhaps the greatest rant in the history of postgame rants. You've probably got it committed to memory by now.
The subtext of the rant here was that Gundy and the Oklahoma State coaching staff benched quarterback Bobby Reid -- the Cowboys' starter for most of 2006 -- in favor of Zac Robinson. Jenni Carlson wrote about it for The Oklahoman and Gundy, uh, didn't like it. He downed a Red Bull before walking in to the press conference, made viral magic, and left.
The public loved it but, for the Reid himself, The Rant was the last straw in a strained relationship between he and Gundy. Carlson printed what many around Oklahoma State football had heard Cowboys coaches say behind closed doors. "Honestly, the way I took it, I felt like it was all a front," Reid told ESPN months later. "That it was all a big show. It didn't feel genuine." Reid threw 14 passes over the remainder of the season and transferred to Texas southern thereafter. (Carlson later reflected on The Rant in a column on its 10-year anniversary.)
The story behind the story was that this rant came after one of the most influential games in recent college football history -- and a game Oklahoma State won.
Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell completed 46-of-67 passes for 646 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions; Michael Crabtree caught 14 passes for 237 yards and three touchdowns, while Danny Amendola added 14 grabs for 233 yards and a score.
Good as Tech's offense was, Oklahoma State's was better. Robinson (now the Rams' assistant quarterbacks coach) threw for 244 yards and two touchdowns, and the Cowboys compiled 366 yards and four touchdowns on the ground (116 and two from Robinson himself) in a 49-45 win.
Robinson put Oklahoma State on top with a 54-yard strike to tight end Brandon Pettigrew with 1:47 to play. Tech drove to the Oklahoma State 15 with 19 seconds to play, but Harrell's fourth-and-the-game pass hit off Crabtree's face mask.
Outside the visitors locker room, Leach went on a rant of his own and fired defensive coordinator Lyle Setencich the next week. Ruffin McNeill became the Red Raiders' interim defensive coordinator, setting off a chain of events that led to Lincoln Riley becoming Oklahoma's head coach.
Texas Tech would finish 2007 9-4 with a Gator Bowl win over Virginia and ranked No. 22 in the AP poll, while Oklahoma State stumbled to a 6-6 regular season before defeating Indiana in the Insight Bowl.
Crabtree shook off that drop to win the Biletnikoff Award the next two seasons (he's still the only 2-time winner of the award). He was later the No. 10 overall pick by the San Francisco 49ers and played 10 seasons in the NFL. Amendola played 15 seasons in the league, while Pettigrew played eight. Dez Bryant (five catches for 51 yards and a touchdown that day) was a first-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys and played in three Pro Bowls.
And while there was plenty of future NFL talent on the field that day, there was even more coaching talent. Harrell is now the offensive coordinator at West Virginia, and Morris the OC at Washington State. Red Raider offensive lineman Stephen Hamby is now Tech's O-line coach. Robinson is now the assistant quarterbacks coach for the Los Angeles Rams.