The Imperfect Storm

Oklahoma State took to the field with heavy hearts Friday night after they, and the rest of the nation, woke up to news of a single-engine airplane crash that had claimed the lives women's basketball coach Kurt Budke and Miranda Serna, his assistant.  The other two were victims were Olin and Paula Branstetter, a long-time married couple who were known as avid aviators.

A moment of silence was observed to honor both Kurt
Budke and Miranda Serna.

When all was said and done, the Cowboys - favored to win by 28 points - came out on the losing the end instead, falling 37-31 in double overtime to an Iowa State team that was 0-56-2 against teams ranked in the top six.  Jeff Woody's touchdown to clinch an epic victory created a cyclone (pun intended) whose impact not only ruined Oklahoma State's shot at the national title and Brandon Weeden's Heisman campaign, but will have far greater effects when the new BCS standings are released on Sunday evening.

The defense, which has been somewhat maligned for its "bend, but don't break" approach, was the reason that the Cowboys even had a fighting chance.  Shaun Lewis returned an interception 72 yards for a touchdown to get the ball rolling, while Alex Elkins recovered a fumble to stop a scoring drive in the 3rd quarter.  Elkins also had an interception late in the game, leading to a field goal attempt by Quinn Sharp, which if successful, would have probably been the game winner.

Iowa State's offense followed a similar blueprint used by Cowboys' previous opponents.  They played "keep away" by holding the ball for 35 minutes, which resulted in them running more plays (101 to OSU's 76).  Even though they committed 3 turnovers, they still succeeded where others had failed, executing when it mattered most.

Quarterback Jared Barnett (pictured right), a redshirt freshman who was just making his third career start, played with the kind poise that is normally displayed by his counterpart on the opposite sideline.  Despite being responsible for all of his team's turnovers, he remained unfazed; throwing for 376 yards and consistently keeping plays alive using his scrambling ability.  He also gained 84 yards on 14 carries to lead the team in rushing.

If you had to judge by the way the Cyclones' defense, you would have never guessed that they statistically ranked among the worst units in the country.  Not only did they throw caution to the wind by committing to stop the run, but they sure made it count, forcing two fumbles off the sure-handed Joseph Randle.  That choice almost came back to bite them, as Weeden threw for 476 yards.

What the Cyclones lacked in a pass rush, they made up for by trying to deflect the ball every time Weeden was ready to throw it.  The resulted in tipped passes that were intercepted 3 times, including the all-important one by Ter'Ran Benton in second overtime.

Even though Justin Blackmon broke free for a 2nd quarter touchdown, defensive back Leonard Johnson managed to keep the All-American receiver in check.  Other receivers stepped up, but on a night when Weeden was misfiring, he would have preferred to have his his "go to" guy.

Oklahoma State have the next weekend off, as they join the rest of Cowboy Nation in grieving the loss of 4 family members.  At the beginning of the season, they Cowboys had set out to win the conference title, so that goal still remains intact. 

Orange Squeeze

Oklahoma State had gone 66 years before finally winning in Lubbock last year.  So just how odd was it, that in their first visit back, the Cowboys put "66" on the scoreboard against a Texas Tech team that has nose-dived since a massive upset win over Oklahoma 3 weeks ago.  

I'm sure there have been happier days before.

The Red Raiders scored more points in that game (41) than in their next three games combined (33), and have given up a total of 159 points in that same span.  In fact, had it not been for Cornelius Douglas' fumble return for a score, Texas Tech would have wound up scoreless; which I'm pretty sure hasn't happened in Lubbock. 

The Cowboys made light work of the Red Raiders, scoring just about every time they touched the ball in the first half.  It also didn't hurt that Texas Tech was intent on shooting themselves in the foot; something that the Cowboys defense appreciated, considering that they didn't have to spend almost 40 minutes on the field.  Still, the defense recorded 3 takeaways, each of which was converted for a touchdown.

Joseph Randle had 3 rushing scores to bring his season tally to 21 TD, trailing Wisconsin's Monte Ball (23 TDs), and Justin Blackmon got to pad his stats as well; but a person making a "Heisman statement" was Brandon Weeden who went 31-37 for 423 yards and 5 TDs. 

Weeden became the school's all-time leader in touchdown passes, and is 3 scores short of matching his totals for last season.  Throughout the season, he has slowly built his resume which will receive a massive boost should the Cowboys beat Oklahoma in their season finale. 

Next up for the Cowboys is Iowa State on Friday night.  The Cyclones are on a 2 game win streak, but I doubt they'll be able to match the Cowboys' firepower.

Cowboys prevail in a "Cat and Mouse" thriller.

It may not have had the "Game of the Century" hype, but Oklahoma State vs Kansas State was where all the action was; delivering all the excitement that one could possibly ask for.

The Cowboys won 52-45, but it wasn't until K-State QB Collin Klein's pass to Tramaine Thompson in the end zone fell incomplete that they could truly get the celebration going.  A game that looked like another rout for the Pokes early on, turned in a "cat and mouse" affair, especially in the last 5 minutes which saw a total of 29 points scored between both teams.

The Breakdown.

Offense:

Weeden bounced back from 2 early turnovers to register
a career passing day.

The Cowboys seemed to be on a roll, but it was their 4 turnovers that kept the Wildcats in the game.  Justin Blackmon muffed a punt early, and lost a fumble near the goal-line later on, while Brandon Weeden threw 2 interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown, rounding off a 24 point run for K-State.

Other than that, there wasn't really much the Wildcats could do to stop Weeden from hitting them up for 502 yards (a school single-game record); this only a week after getting torched by Oklahoma's Landry Jones for 505 yards (a school single-game record for OU).  With his offensive line giving him all the time in the world to execute, Weeden was literally playing armchair quarterback; picking off a secondary that not only played soft coverage, but hardly covered the middle of the field despite getting burned for big plays all game long.

Blackmon more than atoned for his costly fumbles with a 54 yard TD reception late in the game, but the rest of the receiving corp deserves some credit as well.  Tracy Moore, Isaiah Anderson and Josh Stewart combined for 15 receptions, causing more problems for an already weak secondary.

There wasn't much production from the running game, as Joseph Randle only managed 73 yards on 16 carries.  He still had three touchdowns, the last one giving his team the lead for good.  With the kind of success the Cowboys had in the passing game, Randle only had to be at his best when needed to.

Defense:

Klein gave the Cowboys more than they could handle.

A recovered fumble on K-State's opening possession helped the Cowboys take a 7-0 lead, and a James Thomas interception resulted in another touchdown to bring the score even at 24.  Unlike most teams however, the Wildcats would just not go away.

Collin Klein, who was held to 58 yards passing against Oklahoma the previous week, passed for a season-high 231 yards.  His improved passing enabled the Wildcats to mix the pass and run effectively, and play "keep away" by holding the ball for a little over 40 minutes.

While they Cowboys weren't able to force as many turnovers, a few stops here and there helped them stay ahead of a pesky Wildcat team determined to bounce back after getting routed in their previous outing.

Overall:

The Cowboys haven't been 9-0 since 1945, when they won the Sugar Bowl under the guidance of Jim Lookabaugh.  With only 3 games left in the season, they've positioned themselves for a BCS bowl invitation at the very least.  Anything more than that is literally "in their own hands".

Next up:

Oklahoma State travels to face a Texas Tech that's been routed in its last 2 games, and has lost 4 of their last 5 overall.  Lubbock hasn't always been kind to the Cowboys, but they were able to win there last year, and should probably do the same on this visit.

Smith paces Cowboys win over Texas.

Oklahoma State had yet to win consecutive games against Texas since the formation of the Big 12.  Mack Brown had yet to lose a game the weekend after the Red River Rivalry.  On Saturday, something had to give, and it was Oklahoma State who came out on top, with a 38-26 win to extend its winning streak in the series to 2 games.


Last year, the Cowboys halted a 12 game skid against Texas with a 33-16 in win Austin, marking the first time since 1944 that they had left town with a win.  At the time, the Cowboys were on the rise, while the Longhorns were in free-fall; only a season removed from playing for a national championship.


After getting torched by Oklahoma QB Landry Jones the previous week, the Longhorns secondary had their work cut out for them; having to face a high-octane offense led by 1st team All-Conference QB (Brandon Weeden) and Biletnikoff Award Winner (Justin Blackmon).  The outlook did not seem very good.


Texas opted to play "keep away" by running the football, knowing that it would be impossible to match the Cowboys' firepower.  On paper, the strategy seemed to work rather well, with the Longhorns holding the ball for close to 40 minutes.  However, the lack of a legit passing game, 3 turnovers and the offense getting turned back at crucial times, proved too much to overcome.


With the Texas offense struggling earlier in the season, seemingly a carryover from last year, Mack Brown pulled starting QB Garrett Gilbert in favor of a rotation between Case McCoy and David Ash at the position.  The move rejuvenated the Longhorns offense, but it all came undone at the hands of Oklahoma, with both QBs struggling against a much superior defense.

The Cowboys defense harassed Ash all afternoon

There was a lot of speculation as to whether Brown would keep the rotation, or just stick to one player.  Ash got the nod ahead of his counterpart, who many a Longhorn faithful see as a carbon-copy of his more famous sibling, Colt.  There's no denying that Ash is talented, and while he played like that at times, he was clearly overwhelmed by the Cowboy defense.


The Cowboys' offense spent quite some time on the sidelines, and it wasn't hard to see why they were out of rhythm whenever they got back on.  Brandon Weeden had a rather off day, but still managed to connect with Justin Blackmon for the Pokes only passing TD; breaking a 7-7 tie.


They were able to stay ahead of the Longhorns thanks to 2 big TD runs by Jeremy Smith (30 & 74 yards, respectively), when the game seemed rather too close for comfort.  Smith's first score came only a few minutes before half-time with the Cowboys only ahead by 4; while his second one gave his team an insurmountable 14 point lead.


Normally brought in for short yardage duty as well as goal line situations, Smith was able to showcase not just strength but speed as well, leaving the Longhorn defenders in his wake on both scores.  A highly rated prospect out of powerhouse Tulsa Union, he may be behind Joseph Randle on the depth chart, but is still very valuable when it comes to helping moving the chains.  Smith tallied 140 yards on only 7 carries, to earn game MVP honors (in my book at least).


Defensively, you'd have to commend the Cowboys for their effort; given that they were on the field for what seemed like an eternity.  Despite a few close calls, they kept the Longhorns at bay getting stops when it mattered.  All that being said, they still get a pie in the face after falling victim the infamous Statue of Liberty play that propelled Boise State to an unlikely Fiesta Bowl win over Oklahoma.  Cowboy fans can no longer "poke" fun at OU fans (it's the best I could come up with) regarding that play.


The performance might have been below par - I'm sure the Cowboys were expecting to play a lot better - but there's a lot of good things to take away from this win.  The offense was effective in generating points given their limited possession, while the defense held their end of the bargain.  


Jeremy Smith and Justin Gilbert (kickoff return for a TD) provided 3 pivotal plays that ensured the Cowboys stay undefeated ahead of their showdown against Mizzou.

Asphyxiation & Meltdown (A&M)

It's been almost 10 years since Texas A&M kicked off with a preseason Top 10 ranking.  All it took was a fortnight for them to drop out of the Top 20, after yet another second half meltdown; this time at the hands of the Arkansas Razorbacks, a one time South West Conference rival.


One week after watching a 17 point half-time lead disappear against Oklahoma State, the Aggies seemed determined to put that performance behind them with 5 first half touchdowns (all rushing), racing to a 35-17 lead before the interval against their future SEC division foe.  Once again, they came out flat in the second period, getting outscored 25-3.


For a while, the Aggies seemed to be in control of the game, running the ball at will against an Arkansas defense that couldn't stop the run even if they tried.  As a team, A&M totaled 381 yards on the ground; Christine Michael ran for 230 yards and 3 TDs on 32 carries, Cyrus Gray had 95 yards and 2 TDs on 17 carries, while QB Ryan Tannehill pitched in with 56 yards on 5 carries.  On any day, if you passed those stats onto someone, they'd probably tell you that the Aggies won.  However, despite getting gushed for all those yards, Arkansas came up big when it mattered the most, stopping Michael for no gain on a rush attempt on 4th & 2 late in the game.


A&M had been faced with "4th & short" situations during the 3rd quarter.  With the Razorbacks still reeling, A&M opted to punt rather than go for the kill.  The decision to punt on both occasions gave Arkansas some confidence that they could stop the Aggies, which is what they eventually did.  The momentum started to swing in their favor and next thing you know, Arkansas comes out on top.

Weeden (l) and Wilson both combined to torch the
Aggies for 948 yards through the air.

The running theme during these two losses has been the porosity of the Aggies pass defense.  Oklahoma State's Brandon Weeden passed for 438 yards, while Arkansas' Tyler Wilson went bananas, passing for 510 yards.  Along with the 900+ yards, both QBs combined for 5 touchdowns and no interceptions.  You'd figure that maybe the Aggies would make the necessary adjustments, seeing that there was nothing unpredictable about what Arkansas or Oklahoma State was doing, but whatever they did probably didn't work.  With a lot of "pass happy" schools on the Aggies remaining schedule, you can be sure that those teams will be taking notes and studying some film.


It has been 16 years since Texas A&M beat a team from the SEC, but with them moving on to that conference, they may not have to wait any longer.

Cowboys pick up tempo after a sluggish start.

Oklahoma State's encounter against Texas A&M was pretty much a tale of two halves.  And while it was the Aggies who got off to a quick start, the Cowboys were the ones laughing last after dominating the second half at every turn, winning 30-29.


The Cowboys extended their winning streak over A&M to 4 wins, after having suffered a 4 game losing streak of their own in the series (2004-2007).  Anyone who paid for a ticket to this game surely got their money's worth; this one lived up to all the pre-game hype.  Also another point to note: at least this game kicked off at a very considerable time of the day; I'll take a 2:30pm kickoff over a 12:15am kickoff any day.

Broderick Brown had himself quite the afternoon.

The most surprising stat of course is that Oklahoma State's potent offense was only held to THREE (!!!) first half points.  You'd think that a team averaging at least somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 points per game would do better, but that was not the case.  A lot of credit will of course go to A&M's defense, that had a good enough pass rush, making things harder for the abnormally poised Brandon Weeden.


However, rather than kick their opponent while down, A&M seemed to take the foot off the pedal.  They had their chances to extend the lead in the first half, and potentially put the game out of reach.  Or maybe they planned on coming back to close the deal in the second half.  I had a feeling that the tide was about to turn for the worse.

Blackmon!!  Oh no, you didn't!!

True enough, that is exactly what happened.  Oklahoma State state came back and played probably what was their most complete game in a while.  With his offensive line blocking well, Weeden went to work, finding his receivers, while the running game picked up steam of its own.


Hats off to the defense for nearly pitching a shutout against A&M's offense.  The defensive line made a point of getting to the quarterback often, and the defensive backs contested any pass that they could.  End result was 4 forced turnovers; a fumble recovery and 3 interceptions including one by James Thomas to clinch the win.  Defensive back Broderick Brown made yet another highlight reel play (why lie, he's making it look real easy), to pick off Aggies QB Ryan Tannehill, giving the Cowboys a short field.


On the ensuing drive, Justin Blackmon had a moment that he would have loved to take back if possible.  He found himself in single coverage (why again would you single cover this guy?), and after making a catch and running for what was a sure touchdown, he fumbled the ball which went through the end zone for a touchback.  Had he not fumbled (or at least if he'd been able to recover it in the end zone for a score), that touchdown would surely clinched the game for his team.  However, it only served to make things a little more interesting.  Luckily, the defense stepped up again with Justin Gilbert (who returned a kickoff for a score, only to have it erased due to a holding call), making the most of a poorly thrown pass by Tannehill.


It's been almost 30 years (maybe more) since Kyle Field hosted a game in which both A&M and its opponent were ranked in the Top 10.  So for Oklahoma State to win a game of such magnitude and in a very tough environment, the momentum will probably snowball all the way to (and maybe through) Bedlam (I don't know that December 3 could get here fast enough).  You really want to measure the negatives against the positives, but judging how the team bounced back, it's all positive.


Also the days leading up to the game had been very trying as the team was in mourning following the death of Angela Spencer, wife of Linbebackers' coach Glenn Spencer.  Coach Spencer had to be hurried home during the Tulsa game, and was able to spend few moments by his wife's side before she passed away.  So it was only fitting that the team send her off in style.  RIP Angela Spencer.


Oklahoma State will be off this weekend, before they return to action against Kansas.  Hopefully their momentum won't take the weekend off either. 

Coming back to a city near you: by public demand!!

Cowboy Nation can now breath a sigh of relief, because Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon will be returning for another season.  While it was almost certain that Weeden would be coming back, no one would have been surprised had Blackmon declared for the NFL draft; where he was guaranteed to be a first round pick.

Both Blackmon and Weeden had sensational seasons, while helping lead Oklahoma State to it's best season yet.  They set individual school records in passing and receiving, breaking records that were set by Josh Fields and Rashaun Woods in 2002; who weren't too bad of a dynamic duo themselves.  They also earned first team All-Conference honors.

Brandon Weeden started off as an unknown, and by season's end, he was a first team All-Conference quarterback; the first from Oklahoma State since Clarence Highfill in 1932.  It is safe to say that everybody now knows who he is. 

Justin Blackmon, the Biletnikoff Award winner and first team All-American, was a highlight reel in motion.  He was so explosive that the only person who's been able to stop him so far, was the Carrollton (TX) Police Officer who arrested him in late October.  Defenders who tried to "single cover" him, could only recall the name and number on the back of his jersey while he sprinted toward to the endzone for another score.

In 2002, Fields and Woods helped lead OSU to it's first Bowl game since 1997

What this means is that Oklahoma State will likely earn a high pre-season ranking, that would put them in a position to contend for both a conference title and a possible BCS Bowl berth.  Since there won't be a conference championship game to worry about, this feat should be a little bit easier.

With a lot of starters returning on both offense and defense, and Bedlam returning to Stillwater for the second year in a row, I would highly encourage you to go out there and get your tickets now.  You wouldn't want to miss this show.