Grading the Game

Here is how I grade today's game:

Offense - A: Producing 450 yards rushing is impressive whether its Missouri State or not. Especially when you split it up between three 100+ yard rushers. Beau Johnson had a little trouble with holding on to the ball, fumbling twice but besides that, the offense played pretty well. If the starters were to stay in the whole game, we would all still be there.

Passing Offense - B: Considering only 10 passes were thrown, it's hard to grade the Pokes, but the 65-yard TD pass to Bowling was all I needed.

Rushing Offense - A+: Three 100-yard rushers for 450 combined yards is something that rarely ever happens (2nd time in OSU history). They were basically unstoppable. It seemed like every run was a 15-yard gain or more. SOLID.

Offensive Line - A+: It seems like they are getting better and better every game. The blocks and holes they are creating for our RB core have been great. They just completely overpowered MSU at the line and made it simple for Spud, Toston and Johnson. Week by week, I become more and more impressed with Russell Okung. He is a freak of nature and could easily be a first round pick in '09.

Defense - B+: They didn't shutout MSU, but they played pretty well. Pass rush was strong and they had strong tackles including some huge hits. There were a couple of garbage pass interference call and holding calls that should have never have been called, but I guess you win some and you lose some. They still need to create more turnovers. I was expecting a few today, and after the first play of the game I thought there would be a ton but that was the only one. Not necessarily a bad thing; however, we are going to need to create more turnovers in Big XII play. I was impressed with the secondary and pass defense today.

Special Teams - A: I have been very impressed with our special teams this year. Dez continues to shine and blockers continue to block. He is going to have huge holes every time he touches a punt or kick return. Bad thing is opposing teams will stop kicking to him.

Fans - A: Despite horrible weather, a majority of the fans went to the game and stayed most of the game. And I've got to admit, this was one of the most boring games I have ever been to.

Pokes Pound Missouri State, 57-13

Game Highlights

Despite the starters only playing the first half, the Cowboys still managed to rack up 450 yards rushing on the day. It was only the second time in history that the Pokes had three 100-yard rushers. Kendall Hunter racked up 131 yards and 2 TDs on 11 carries as the starter, Keith Toston had a career day recording 147 yards and a TD on 11 carries, and Beau Johnson ran for 139 yards and 2 TDs on 13 carries.

Zac Robinson completed 2 passes on 4 attempts for 80 yards and a TD. Robinson's TD pass came in the first quarter on a 65-yard completion to Bo Bowling.

The defense had a good game allowing only 188 total yards and had some huge hits throughout the game. They never lost momentum after the forced fumble on MSU's 18-yard line on the first play of the game.

Week 3 Roundup

1) What are your concerns for this weekend's game, and what do you want to see out of the Pokes?

2) How does the game play out? Does Missouri State have a chance? Prediction?

3) Do you want to see Cate or Weeden play if Gundy decides to put one in?

4) Big 12 Predictions..

Oklahoma at Washington
Iowa State at Iowa
Nevada at Mizzou
New Mexico State at Nebraska
Washington State at Baylor
SMU at Texas Tech
(Texas Arkansas postponed)

5) Who wins - USC or Ohio State? Score?

NEW GAME TIME FOR SATURDAY'S AGAINST MISSOURI STATE--12:05 PM (CST)

Original Article

STILLWATER – Due to weekend weather forecasts, Oklahoma State University officials have announced that Saturday’s home football game against Missouri State will kick off at 12:05 p.m. instead of the scheduled 6:05 p.m.

OSU officials have been in constant contact with the National Weather Service regarding the weekend. Projections place the state of Oklahoma in the path of two weather systems. The Stillwater area is already under a flash flood watch that is unrelated to hurricane activity in the Gulf of Mexico.

Information currently available indicates deteriorating weather conditions on Saturday, especially during the evening hours. The move in the kickoff time will hopefully provide fans with safer trips to and from Stillwater.

Later Thursday, OSU will obtain and release information regarding pregame activities that might be affected by the weather. OSU is also in communication with Fox College Sports regarding what effect the change in kickoff time might have in the network’s planned television coverage.

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The Pre-Game walk will start at 9:45 AM and the gates will open at 10:30 AM!

The Last Time We Had A Star-Studded Receiver...

Back in the 2001, 2002 and 2003 seasons, Oklahoma State had one of the most talented receivers in the NCAA. As a Heisman Trophy and All-America candidate in 2002, Rashaun Woods was arguably one of the best receivers ever to play at Oklahoma State, and his stats prove that. Just like Dez Bryant, the offense relied on him as their only play-making receiver on the team. In 2001, Woods had 1,023 yards receiving (Most in Big XII) with 10 TDs and set a single-season record with 80 receptions. In 2002, Rashaun was even more impressive, recording 17 TDs to go with 1,695 yards receiving, setting a record for 3rd most yards in a single season in NCAA history. Woods had another impressive year in 2003, recording 1,367 yards along with 15 TDs.

Woods left Oklahoma State with a career total of 293 receptions for 2,414 yards receiving and 42 touchdowns, all of which are Big XII records. In 2002 the Pokes went 8-5 and in 2003 went 9-4.

There has been much contreversy this year about the lack of utilizing our other receivers. However, if we have someone with the immense amounts of talent as Dez, why don't we continue to use Bryant until if fails? That is a similiar approach we took in 2003 when we had Rashaun and went 9-4. This is the same theory Trooper Taylor took when responding to the criticism stating, "If it's not broke, we're not going to fix it...If the defense takes him away, they [other receivers] know when their window of opportunity comes up, they jump all over it. Because if not they'll be standing right next to me and we'll give it to the next guy."

How can we compare Rashaun to Dez..?
So far this year, Dez Bryant has been the play-making receiver and mainly the only target Robinson has thrown to. Out of the 20 passes Robinson has thrown to receivers this year, 16 have gone to Bryant for 326 yards and 3 TDs. The other 4 went for 51 yards and no TDs.

Can we expect Dez to be the receiver that gets the vast majority of receptions and yards all year long just as Rashaun did in his time at OSU?
Well, it wouldn't be a bad thing considering the 2002-03 season teams were both successful (8-5 and 9-3) with the same game plan. Opposing teams still haven't even figured out a way to stop Dez either, taking into account that we still have other offensive threats in Pettigrew, Hunter, and Zac Robinson.

Having Dez as our only receiving threat is a good thing in my mind. If opposing defenses use double coverage, they will leave the running game open for Spud or allow other receivers to be wide-open. Then, if the coverage moves in to stop the run, we use play-action and throw the ball right back to Dez or Pettigrew as we have been doing.

So, do the Pokes really need to spread the ball around to other receivers just because Dez has a large majority of the receptions and the others barely have any? Do we really need to control or limit the amount of times Dez catches the ball as others suggest?

I sure hope not. Fans forget how rare it is to come across players with such talent as Bryant. So why not use our big #1 as much as we can while we still have him?

Looking Ahead at Missouri State

Missouri State opened their season Thursday night in Springfield against the Division II Washburn Ichabods. The Bears fell behind 14-0 early in the first quarter, but eventually tied the game at 21 before going in to half time. After half, the Bears temporarily took the lead after a 31-yard field goal by Matt Hottelman; however, they were unable to hold the lead. The Bears fell behind again on the ensuing Washburn drive that led to a TD.

With about 15 seconds left in the game, the Bears were unable to capitalize on the fourth-down play at the goal-line, which could have tied it all up at 35 pending a successful 2-point conversion. The pass was completed to WR Chris Geisz near the goal line but defender Casey Curran made a game-saving tackle, stopping Geisz inches short of the goal line. Despite their 433 yards of total offense, the Bears home opener was spoiled by the Ichabods by the score of 35-27.

On the other hand, The Cowboys are looking to pick up some more momentum at home before beginning Big XII play on October 4th.

The Pokes are pretty banged up after losing some player key players in the win over Houston on Saturday. Coach Gundy reported that Lucian Antoine will be out for the rest of the year with a torn ACL and Artell Woods will miss a week or so with a sprained knee.

Nevertheless, the Cowboys are going to have a huge advantage over Missouri State this weekend. Dez Bryant and Kendall Hunter are coming off historic/career days, Robinson is looking to improve his consistency and the defense is still trying to prove themselves as a better unit.

As of today, the Pokes are currently ranked #32 in the AP poll. With a strong game against Missouri State, the Cowboys could take another step towards the top 25.

Vote Dez for ESPN Player of the Week!

http://www.espnallamerica.com/

Other candidates are Sam Bradford (Okahoma), Patrick Pinkney (QB, Eastern Carolina) and Javon Ringer (RB, Michigan State).

Dez Bryant Named Walter Camp Player of the Week

Dez Bryant was just named as a Walter Camp national player of the week for the performance he had at the home opener in the newly renovated Boone Pickens Stadium. In the game against Houston, Bryant had 9 catches for a career best 236 yards along with a 71 - yard punt return  for touchdown. 

The defensive Walter Camp national player of the week was DB, Courtney Herndon, from Kansas State.

Dez Does It All

At the beginning of the season, there was much criticism  about how unexperienced and unproven our receiving core was... not anymore. Dez Bryant has already proven that he is one of the most talented receivers in the nation. Whether it is out-jumping defensive backs catching high lob passes or burning them deep, Dez Bryant has a ridiculous amount of talent. He is already ranked the #3 receiver in the nation for YPG (163) and has 326 yards receiving along with three TDs. 

There is only one other thing poke fans want from Bryant- that he stays until he graduates...

Injury Report

There were a few injuries throughout Saturday's game. So here they are:

- DB Lucian Antoine - Torn ACL - Out for the year

- WR Artell Woods - Knee Sprain - Out 1-2 weeks

- Jerry Chatham - Left game early - Should be back against Missouri State

- Swanson Miller - Left game early - She be back against Missouri State

Lucian's injury is devastating. I was ready to finally see some hard hits from him but I guess we'll have to wait until next year. He should be able to apply for a medical hardship and maybe be given additional eligibility. He left some big shoes to fill, and T.J. Bell will most likely be the one to fill them.

Houston Unable To Stop Cowboys Balanced Offensive Attack

Game Highlights

Dez Bryant and Kendall Hunter did it all Saturday night while breaking in the brand new 'Boone Bowl'. The Cowboys had a very shaky and inconsistent offense  in the first half despite Kendall Hunter's 58 - yard TD on the third offensive play of the game. They turned the ball over three times leading to 13 Cougar points and went into the half down 16-14.

However, the Pokes came out to play in the second half. It only took the Pokes 1 min. 30 sec. to take the lead after half time. The cowboys rushed down the field going 75 yards which was capped by Keith Toston's 28 - yard touchdown run. Then it was Dez Bryant's turn. Robinson and Bryant hooked up twice for TDs in the third quarter, including a 74 - yard screen pass that went the distance because of 2 extraordinary blocks from 'Double D' (Damian Davis). When the Cougars' D was too busy covering Bryant, Gundy took advantage and gave the ball to Kendall 'Spud' Hunter, who scored another TD off a 10 - yard rush. The balanced offensive attack looked just about unstoppable. 

Just when you thought Dez was done for the day, think again. Dez continued to show off his great punt returns taking a Chase Turner punt 71 yards for a Cowboys TD. This just contributed to Bryant's spectacular game, who had a career day with 9 catches for 236 yards and 3 TDs on the day (excluding the 71 punt return TD). 

Kendall Hunter also had a historic game, rushing for 210 yards on 22 carries. This was the first time in OSU history the Pokes had a 200-yard rusher and receiver in a single game.

As bad as the first half looked for Zach Robinson, he still finished the game going 14 for 21 for 320 yards and 3 TDs.

The Cowboys will look for a similar result against Missouri State on Saturday.