Saturday, September 6, 2008
Ok State/Houston Pregame Preview
The Cowboys are about to break in the newly renovated Boone Pickens Stadium for the first time. With it's new expansions, Boone Pickens Stadium is now shaped as a horseshoe connected to Gallagher Iba Arena. The "Boone Bowl" now has a seating capacity of 60,000 screaming poke fans. Tonight, they expect around 40,000 fans to watch the Cowboys take on the Houston Cougars.
Tonight, the Cowboys need to improve in a couple different areas in order to get the first win at the new "Boone Bowl".
1. Red Zone Offense.
-The Cowboys had to settle for 2 field goals while their first two drives in the redzone. One that started on the Wazzou 26 yard line.
2. "Better than a grade D" offensive line.
-After the game against Washington State, Russell Okung stated that the Pokes' offensive line played equal to a grade D. He said he didn't feel like the line gave it everything they got.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Former Poke LB, Donovan Woods Makes 53-Man Roster With Steelers
Former quarterback, safety and linebacker at Oklahoma State, Donovan Woods, made the 53-man roster earlier this week with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Woods had a strong, yet unnoticed pre-season with the steel curtain, playing special teams and linebacker. He made some pretty key plays including 2 sacks and he also played well on special teams. Woods was one of the later players to make the teams final roster cut, beating out Willie Reid for a spot on the roster. This year, Woods will most likely be solely a starter on special teams due to the amount of depth Pittsburgh has at linebacker with James Harrison, LaMarr Woodley and Lawrence Timmons. He was signed by Pittsburgh in Late April and was the first Cowboy from the 2007 class to be signed in the NFL. It will be interesting to see the impact Donovan has on the Steelers shaky special teams throughout the season.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Cowboys Gear Up For Revenge in Home Opener Against Houston
The Cowboys are trying to forget what happened they last met the Cougars in Houston two years ago. Behind quarterback Kevin Kolb, Houston defeated the Cowboys with the score 34 to 25, favoring the Cougars, in September of 2006. Kolb went 21 of 28 for 313 yards and 4 TDs in the game, battling out Bobby Reid, who went 13 of 22 for 281 yards and 3 TDs. However, this time around the Pokes have a newer and improved team and Houston doesn't have Kevin Kolb. The Cowboys are coming off a 39 to 14 victory against the other Cougars of Washington State. Houston is coming off a 55-3 win over Southern under new head coach Kevin Sumlin. Kendall Hunter had a career day and the defense looks better than ever. If the offense produces with a balanced attack as they usually do and minimizes turnovers, the Pokes wont even need a defense to win this game.
Prediction:
Cowboys 34 Houston 14
List of Houston Cowboys Seeking Revenge:
- Guard Russell Okung, Bush High School (Ft. Bend)
- Receiver Jeremy Broadway (Washington High School in Houston)
- Corner Brodrick Brown (Westfield High)
- Defensive lineman Jeray Chatham (Westfield High)
- Reciever DeMarcus Conner (Westfield High)
- Linebacker Patrick Lavine (Jersey Village)
- Safety Quinton Moore (Pearland)
- Offensive Lineman Trent Perkins (Alice)
- Safety Ricky Price (Cypress Falls High)
- Safety Andre Sexton (Cypress Falls High)
- Running back Keith Toston (Angleton)
- Receiver Artell Woods (Bryan)
Questions:
1) Projections?
2) What needs to improve this game?
3) How many TDs will Hunter have?
4) How many yards will the pokes D allow?
5) How many yards will Robinson and the offense have?
Adarius Bowman in the CFL
To those of you who don't know, Adarius Bowman was ranked by ESPN as a top receiver coming out of highschool and a potential top 25 pick in the 2008 draft starting the 2007 season. At 6'5", 220, he had 4.3 speed (40m) and was considered to have a similiar style to that of Randy Moss and Terrell Owens. Bowman recorded 2,696 yards and 25 TD's in his 4 year career while at Oklahoma State. However, at the end of the 2007 season Bowman ran into some problems. In March, Bowman ran a 4.76 forty which scouts didn't appreciate, and was arrested in March for possession of marijuana which ended his run to the NFL within the near future.
After remaining going undrafted, he remained unsigned for 2 more months until he signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, a team in the Canadian Football League. Since then, Bowman has recorded 358 yards and 3 touchdowns in nine games with the Roughriders.
I guess we'll see how long it takes for the NFL to sign him, if he does in fact go to the NFL. It would be a disappointment and a waste of talent if he never makes it to the NFL.
OSU's Special Teams and Defense Overpowers Wazzou in Opener
The Pokes opened up the season at Qwest Field in Seattle against the Washington State Cougars, led by new head coach- Paul Wulff. The Cowboys, who were and are still being doubted because of lack of experience on the D-Line and an untalented secondary, showed drastic improvement starting with the opening drive of the game.
The defense started by allowing a couple mediocre runs but in the following plays began to pressure the Cougar's QB, Gary Rogers. The defense then seemed to pick up some momentum after Ricky Price sacked Rogers on the fourth play of the drive. The Pokes’ strong play from the secondary along with a good pass rush made up for the slow moving, no-huddle spread offense lead by Zach Robinson. The defense gave up 82 yards in the air and 114 yards on the ground combing for a total of 186 yards and 13 points. This is a huge improvement compared to the whopping 443 total yards and 29.5 points allowed per game in 2007. JUCO transfers Swanson Miller, Lucien Antoine and Jeremiah Price all put in a great effort in holding Wazzou to only 13 points.
The special teams unit showed that they are going to pick up right where they started ended of after the 2007 season. Sophomore receiver Dez Bryant had 4 punt returns, averaging 14 yards and Senior Ricky Price also had a 68-yard punt return that almost went the distance. Perrish Cox also ran right through the Cougars special teams, ruining any chance of a comeback by returning a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown.
The Cowboys relentless offense, rated seventh in the nation last year for total offense per game (486 yards), did not really seem to be intact until the fourth quarter. The Pokes had a total offense of just 202 yards in the first 3 quarters compared to 138 in the fourth quarter alone. However, sophomore running back Kendall “Spud” Hunter had a great day on the ground, running for 107 yards and 2 touchdowns (1st multi-touchdown game of his career).
Hunter had great blocking from the Pokes’ highly underrated O-line consisting of talented guards Russell Okung and Brady Bond. Okung will continue to be a great asset for the offensive line if he continues playing as he has the past 2 years. He is a target of several NFL teams because of his amount of talent, strength and size (6-5, 300lbs).
Overall, this game was a great boost in morale for the Pokes defense. Even though Wazzou's new no-huddle spread offense was slow and not very productive, the cowboys secondary still showed great improvement. I think if the Pokes keep a balanced offensive attack and the defense continues to grow and improve, it would be a challenge for the cowboys to lose 6 games, as they've done the past 3 years. This could be a great year for the cowboys with the amount of talent they have.
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