Different venue, same script.

So it may not have been the Alamo Bowl, but not much seems to have changed between Oklahoma State and Arizona since their last encounter in December.


The Cowboys got off to a fast start, scoring on their first three possessions.   Brandon Weeden looked he was going to complete every pass he attempted, Joseph Randle and Jeremy Smith looked like they were going to run over, around or through any defender in sight, and Justin Blackmon looked like he was going to catch everything thrown in his direction.  Oklahoma State operated with surgeon-like precision, and machine-like efficiency jumping to a quick 21-0 lead.


Then either Arizona got a little better, or the Cowboys got bored; but somewhere along the way, someone took their foot off the pedal.  Arizona finally got on the scoreboard in the second half, and had enough chances to actually turn a potential blowout into a contest, but credit to the Cowboys defense for hanging tough and making plays when they needed to.

Arizona really had no answer for Justin Blackmon

The Wildcats suffered from the same problems that plagued them in their last encounter against the Cowboys.  They could move the chains, make some plays, but just could not score.  The running game was held in check, and while they gained momentum with their passing game, they faltered at crucial moments; such as turning over the ball on downs despite reaching their opponents goal line.


What left me scratching my head for a few moments was the Wildcats execution on defense. For some reason they opted for a "man-to-man" approach leaving Justin Blackmon free to take their lunch money.  The end result; 12 catches for 128 yards and 2 touchdowns.  They probably forgot that he's the current Biletnikoff Award winner.


If this is any indication, it looks like the sun will be setting on Arizona a little faster than they are planning.  Their next two games will be against Oregon and Stanford; two teams that will  feature heavily not only in the conference title race, but also the in the national picture as well.  Luckily, Arizona plays in the Pac-12 South Division, and with USC on probation, might actually get to make something out of whatever's left.


Oklahoma State's next plays Tulsa next; a game that serves as a great warm-up ahead of their showdown against Texas A&M the week after.  I wonder what uniforms they'll break out next.

The Will and the way.

After the first weekend of March Madness, I have to say that the player who has impressed me the most is Arizona's Derrick Williams.

Williams' block helped Arizona survive the 1st round

In a 4 day span where upsets were the order of the day, no player was more clutch for his team than Williams.  In a closely contested game against Memphis, he came up with the game saving block at the buzzer, preventing a potential first round upset.

As if that wasn't enough, he still had some magic saved as his late 3-point play helped the Wildcats get past Texas in the second round.  Arizona now moves on play Duke in Anaheim, CA - Pac 10 country - and you can expect Wildcat fans to pack the stands.

Williams, the reigning Player of the Year in the Pac 10, along with Solomon Hill, Lamont Jones and company, led Arizona to it's first regular season conference title since 2005.  They might have won the conference tournament too, but Isaiah Thomas and Washington had other ideas. 

The last time Arizona was seen in the NCAA tournament, the were on the receiving end of a 39 point drubbing by Louisville in the Sweet 16.  This is of course a much different team now.  I wouldn't be surprised if Arizona pulls an upset over Duke (Kyrie Irving or not) this week.  They have the size, speed and shoot very well from the perimeter.  The key of course, will be to keep the game close, otherwise Duke might as well run away with it.

That being said, I would love to see just how many more game winning plays Williams can pull out of his sleeves.

Remember the Alamo.....bowl!!!

It was exactly six years ago to the day, when I made the trip to San Antonio to watch Oklahoma State play against The Ohio State University (that's how they call it, don't ask me why).  My good friends hooked me up with a ticket (thank you to Barry and Connie Bloyd) that actually turned out to be a great seat.  I had a great trip to San Antonio (well except the Greyhound ride back home).  I got to connect with some old friends, made some new friends, visited the San Antonio Zoo and of course, the Riverwalk.  I had a blast!!  And that was as good as it got.


Come game time, it was a whole different story.  The only things that these two squads had in common was that they played football and shared the same initials.  Other than that, there were two different sets of players on the field; NFL caliber talent vs Division I football talent.  Oklahoma State just never got going against an Ohio State team that at 7-4, was having a considerably down year.


Flash forward to yesterday and it was neat to see the Cowboys round off what has been their best season in school history so far, and snap a 2 game bowl skid while they were at it.  I'm already sick and tired of hearing these commentators and analysts state the same thing, over and over and over and over...... (I could do this all day), that Oklahoma State was supposed to have been rebuilding, they had been picked to finish near the bottom of the Big 12..... and so on.  Lookie here guys, and I'm not naming anyone specific (Craig James), we've heard it since spring training, the summer workouts and the entire season!!  How about telling something that we don't already know, okay?


Catch him if you can; oh wait, YOU CANT!!!



At some point in the first quarter, Justin Blackmon got wide open for a pass that went 71 yards for a touchdown.  Arizona corner back Robert Golden was probably thinking that he would have help from a safety over the top, and when that didn't happen, Blackmon did!!  Golden didn't even bother trying to chase him down.  Somebody help me out here; Blackmon is a 1st team All-American, he has lit up just about every cornerback that single covered him, he is a Biletnikoff Award winner (given to the best receiver in the country), yet somehow, he got behind your defense!!  If I was Mike Stoops, I would have him double covered from the day he arrived in San Antonio.  I'd make sure there were 2 defenders following him EVERYWHERE he went (OK, not just about everywhere!!).


Not to be left out of the fun, the defense got in on the act collecting 5 sacks and 3 interceptions.  Markelle Martin was probably the busiest player on the defensive side.  Beside returning an interception for a touchdown, he was busy racking up personal foul penalties left and right.  I'm thinking he must have had a side-bet with someone because he was playing like a man possessed.  Whatever floats your boat, buddy.

Arizona did just about everything but score.  They held the ball for 15 more minutes, ran over 20 more plays and did everything they could to keep Oklahoma State's orange-hot offense off the field.  Only problem was that when they couldn't score, the Cowboys didn't mind showing them how it's done.  I was hoping to see a flea-flicker from OSU at some point, but I guess they didn't get around to it because Dana Holgorsen was too busy chugging a Red Bull on the sideline; talk about free publicity.

I was rather disappointed when the officials reversed Michael Harrison's obvious touchdown.  It appeared to me that he had made a clean catch, had possession as he crossed the goal line and only lost the ball after the defender tried to wrestle it from him.  Poke nation thought "touchdown", the officials ruled "incomplete pass"; oh well!!

Let's do this again sometime!!

With Arizona set to make a trip to Stillwater, OK next September, I don't think the Wildcats, Robert Golden in particular, will be looking forward to seeing Justin Blackmon around.  Prior to the game, there were rumours that Blackmon had told some fans that would be returning for his junior season.  Other rumours have it that he had submitted some paperwork to the NFL to see get an evaluation of where he would likely be drafted should he leave.

I wouldn't mind him coming back for another season, but as I've always understood with regards to the NFL draft, you leave when you're hot and your draft stock is high.  Last I checked, he was projected to be a 1st round (25th overall) pick and ranked as the 3rd best receiver in the draft.  If you're wondering why he is rated as the 3rd best receiver, don't ask me, I'm just quoting the reports.

It was really great to see Oklahoma State players having fun.  It's been a great season and San Antonio isn't a bad place to be, especially at this time of the year.  I can only imagine that the trip back home was a lot better than the last time they played in the Alamo Bowl.