Cowboy Football Prepares For Tilt With Baylor

Nov. 13, 2000

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Cowboys Host Baylor
Starting a two-game homestand that will bring the 2000 season to a close, Oklahoma State entertains Baylor on Saturday afternoon on Lewis Field. Both teams will be looking for their initial Big 12 Conference wins as the Cowboys and Bears kick off at 1:05 p.m. CST.

Toys to the Game
Fans attending Saturday's game between Oklahoma State and Baylor are encouraged to bring toys that can be given to local charities for eventual distribution to area kids. Toys can be dropped off at the Cowboy Corral or at designated points at each entrance into Lewis Field.

Something's Gotta Give
One of Saturday's participants will come away with their first Big 12 Conference football victory of the season. Oklahoma State is 2-7 overall and 0-6 in league play. Baylor is 2-8 overall and 0-7 in Big 12 play, and the Bears will be playing their season finale this week in Stillwater. Not since 1993 has Oklahoma State gone this deep into the conference schedule losing each game, although the 1994 unit managed just one tie in league play.

Looking for a Fifth
Oklahoma State will be looking for a fifth straight victory over Baylor when the Bears invade Lewis Field this week. OSU has not lost to Baylor since play officially began in the Big 12 Conference in 1996. While OSU has won all four as members of the Big 12, Baylor won 11 of the first 14 meetings between the two schools and has an 11-7 series edge over Oklahoma State.

Ticket Availability
Tickets for Saturday's Big 12 game between OSU and Baylor are available at the Athletic Ticket Office. The ticket office is located on North Boomer Road in Stillwater. Tickets can also be purchased by telephone. The number is (877) ALL-4-OSU. Saturday marks OSU's next-to-last home game of the season. The Cowboys finish the 2000 campaign next week when top-ranked Oklahoma comes to Lewis Field.

Coach Simmons Tops Injury List
OSU Head Coach Bob Simmons tops this week's injury list. The coach suffered a knee injury on the sideline during the third quarter of the Texas Tech game. Coach Simmons may have an MRI as early as Monday to determine the severity of the injury. In other injury news, tight ends Bryan Blackwood and Khary Jackson both suffered ankle sprains, as did offensive lineman Bryan Phillips. All are expected to be ready for Saturday's game against Baylor.

How About a Recount
While vote recounts have been demanded in the ongoing Presidential election, Oklahoma State's football Cowboys are looking back on a season of near misses. While OSU is 2-7, the Cowboys were literally just a play away from wins against Texas A&M and Iowa State and had opportunities in a loss at Missouri. Even Saturday at Texas Tech, the Cowboys had chances. OSU ran 52 offensive plays and had 257 total yards during a first half that netted zero points. Oklahoma State had the football nearly 10 minutes longer than Texas Tech but could not convert. Texas Tech also converted Oklahoma State turnovers into 35 points, including two interceptions and a blocked field goal that were all returned for touchdowns.

OSU Last Week
As mentioned, Oklahoma State had chances but could not turn those chances into points in a 58-0 loss at Texas Tech. Tailback Reggie White rushed for 111 yards on 23 carries and redshirt freshman Aso Pogi passed for 219 yards, but the Cowboys could not find the end zone on a windy day in Lubbock. It was the third time in four starts for Pogi to eclipse the 200-yard passing mark. OSU's young quarterback was sacked three times and intercepted twice. The Cowboys had 257 total yards in the first half but could manage only 73 in the second half. The loss was Oklahoma State's seventh straight overall and fourth straight road loss. The Pokes finished their 2000 road slate with a 1-4 mark, the only victory coming in the season opener at Tulsa.

Baylor Last Week
While Oklahoma State was having difficulty in Lubbock, Baylor was having trouble of its own against Missouri in Waco. Tiger quarterback Darius Outlaw threw for 199 yards and two touchdowns, and Missouri rolled up 472 yards of total offense in a 47-22 win. The loss was Baylor's 20th consecutive in Big 12 Conference play. Baylor quarterback Josh Zachry, making his first start, was sacked seven times in the first half alone. The Bears trailed just 7-0 at the beginning of the second quarter but fell victim to turnovers.

On the Air
Saturday's game against Baylor will be broadcast live on the Cowboy Sports Network. KWTV Sports Director Bill Teegins is the radio voice of Oklahoma State football and basketball and is joined on the broadcast by Tom Dirato. The Cowboy Sports Network is produced and syndicated by Cowboy Sports Properties, a division of Learfield Communications. The OSU-Baylor radio broadcast will begin at noon with an extensive pregame show and end with a live postgame report from the OSU dressing room. The broadcast can be heard in Oklahoma City on KOMA (FM 92.5), in Tulsa on KRMG (AM 740) and in Stillwater on KSPI (FM 93.7). There will be no telecast of the OSU-Baylor game.

OSU on Offense
The Cowboy offense continues to be balanced. Through nine games, Oklahoma State is averaging 151.3 rushing yards and 212.3 passing yards per game. OSU's average total offense per game is 363.6 yards, and the Pokes are averaging 5.0 yards per play. Tailback Reggie White leads the OSU ground assault. The Liberty, Texas, junior is averaging 103 yards per game and is on track to rush for 1,000 yards this season. Redshirt freshman Aso Pogi has now started four games since shoulder surgery ended senior Tony Lindsay's career. With four starts in eight games, Pogi has passed for 1,277 yards and five touchdowns. His completion percentage is just over 55 percent, and he is averaging 159.6 passing yards per game. The balance of OSU's offensive attack is again evident by 82 first downs by the rush and 87 via the pass.

Pogi Taking Charge
Quarterback Aso Pogi had played sparingly in four of Oklahoma State's first five games in 2000. Senior quarterback and leader Tony Lindsay spent the early part of the season competing with a bad shoulder. When surgery became necessary on Lindsay's shoulder, the quarterback chores fell on the the shoulders of Pogi. He has responded brilliantly and is one of the bright young quarterbacks in the country.

300 Once
In his first start against Iowa State, Pogi passed for 328 yards. It was the most passing yards in school history by a freshman and the fourth-best single-game passing performance in Cowboy grid history. Only Mike Gundy, Ronnie Williams and Tony Pounds had better single-game performances.

300 Twice
How could Pogi encore the numbers from his first start? How about throwing for 313 more yards in his second career start. Against Colorado in Boulder, Pogi threw for 313 yards on a day in which he completed 30 of 49 passes, threw for two touchdowns and had just one interception. He became the first Oklahoma State quarterback to pass for 300 or more yards in back-to-back games.

Against A&M
He didn't duplicate a 300-yard performance, but Pogi was again impressive against Texas A&M on Nov. 4. Against a defense that was fourth in the league against the pass, Pogi completed 15 of 29 passes for 146 yards with a long of 27. He carried the ball 12 times against the Aggies for 26 yards and scored one touchdown. It was Pogi's second rushing touchdown of the season.

Pogi Closing In On Freshman Passing Mark
With 219 yards passing against Texas Tech last Saturday, redshirt freshman quarterback Aso Pogi vaulted past Tony Lindsay into third place on the OSU freshman passing list with 1,277 yards this season. He needs only four yards passing against Baylor on Saturday to move past Gary Porter (1,280) into second place on the list behind Mike Gundy who threw for 1,525 yards in 1985. Pogi went over the 1,000-yard mark against Texas A&M with 146 yards passing and needs 248 more yards to tie Gundy.

Pogi in the Big 12
This week's Big 12 Conference statistics reflect Aso Pogi's emergence as one of the top young quarterbacks. He will go into this week's game against Baylor No. 6 in the league in passing, averaging 12.89 completions per game. He is the only freshman (redshirt or true) among the league's top eight passers.

Reggie White Staring at 1,000
With his sixth 100-yard plus rushing performance of the season last week at Texas Tech, junior tailback Reggie White appears almost certain to become the 12th player in OSU history to rush for 1,000 or more yards in a single season. Through nine games of the 2000 season, White has rushed 181 times for 927 yards. That leaves him 73 yards short of the 1,000-yard mark. White continues to rank No. 3 in the Big 12 behind Ennis Haywood of Iowa State and Dan Alexander of Nebraska. He trails Alexander by just over two yards per game.

OSU's All-Time Rushers
Reggie White's 927 yards through nine games already gives him the 15th-best single-season rushing performance in OSU history. Barry Sanders has the single-season record with 2,628 yards during his Heisman Trophy season in 1988. Ernest Anderson is No. 2 with 1,877 in 1982. If White can eclipse the 1,000-yard mark this season, he will put his name on an elite list of Oklahoma State ball carriers that have left their marks as some of the best players to ever play the sport.

OSU Defense
Defensively, the Cowboys are allowing an average of just 129.4 rushing yards per game, and that is the sixth-lowest number in the Big 12. Only Kansas State, Texas, Nebraska, Texas A&M and Oklahoma have allowed fewer rushing yards per game. The Cowboys are allowing 266.9 passing yards per game and have allowed 17 touchdown passes through the first nine games of the season. Junior linebacker Dwayne Levels continues to lead the OSU defense with 80 total tackles. Levels' tackle numbers include 63 solo stops and nine tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

Defensive Gems
Earlier in the season, Oklahoma State's defense allowed Southern Miss minus-seven yards rushing, the lowest opponent rushing total of the season. It was the third straight week Oklahoma State had held its opponent to fewer than 100 rushing yards and the 19th time in 36 games OSU's opponent has been held to less than 100 yards on the ground. The performance against Southern Miss ranked among the all-time best in OSU football history. Southern Miss' minus-seven yards equals the sixth-lowest ever allowed by a Cowboy defense. Iowa State had the same rushing total against Oklahoma State in 1981. Southern Miss becomes the 10th OSU opponent to be held to minus rushing yards. Three of Oklahoma State's top 10 all-time efforts against the rush have come during the Bob Simmons era of Cowboy football.

Juqua One of the Best
Senior defensive end Juqua Thomas is nine games into his senior season, and he has lived up to the preseason All-America billing. With two games to play in 2000, Thomas has 43 total tackles. 15 of his tackles have been behind the line of scrimmage, and he has six and a half sacks. . Thomas turned in one of best performances of the season against Iowa State. His numbers included six unassisted tackles, four tackles behind the line of scrimmage and two sacks.

Saluting Tony Lindsay
When shoulder problems ended Tony Lindsay's season prior to the Iowa State game, a significant era of Cowboy football also came to a close. Lindsay came to Stillwater in Bob Simmons' second OSU recruiting class and, after a redshirt season in 1996, asserted himself as one of the best quarterbacks to ever wear the OSU uniform. He has passed for 4,002 yards and is No. 3 on the career passing list. He also has 5,355 yards of total offense and is No. 2 on that career list at Oklahoma State. He was a four-year starter at Oklahoma State and one of only three quarterbacks to achieve that status in OSU football history. Lindsay was effective as a passer and a rusher. He finished his career with 1,353 rushing yards and 21st on that career list.

About Baylor
Baylor lost its seventh straight contest Saturday, falling to Missouri 47-22 in Waco. The Bears opened the season at 2-1 with wins over North Texas and South Florida before dropping seven straight in league play entering this weekend. Baylor has not won a Big 12 contest since defeating Kansas 31-24 on Oct. 10, 1998, a span of 22 conference games. BU has not had a winning season since Chuck Reedy led the Bears to a 7-4 season in 1995.

Who To Look For
Running back Darrell Bush leads the team with 422 yards rushing in 10 games while redshirt freshman quarterback Guy Tomcheck is the passing leader, completing 53 of 144 passes for 602 yards with six touchdowns and two interceptions. Wide receiver Reggie Newhouse, son of former Dallas Cowboys runningback Robert Newhouse, leads the Bears with 34 catches for 519 yards and three scores. As a team Baylor is only averaging 214.7 yards of total offense per game and are scoring just under 12 points per game at 11.7. Baylor's defense is led by senior linebacker Kris Micheaux who has 88 tackles this season, including four for losses. All-Big 12 candidate defensive back Gary Baxter is second on the BU squad with 84 tackles this season. Baylor opponents are is averaging 444.4 yards of total offense per game and are scoring nearly 35 points per game (34.7).

The Head Coach
Kevin Steele is in his second season as the head coach at Baylor and enters Saturday's contest with a 3-18 mark. He took over at Baylor after the 1998 season, replacing Dave Roberts who had a 4-18 mark in two seasons in Waco. Prior to accepting the job, Steele spent four seasons as the linebackers coach for the NFL Carolina Panthers (1995-98). Steele began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Tennessee for two seasons (1980-81) before being promoted to the outside linebackers coach in 1982. The following season he moved on to New Mexico State as the linebackers coach before moving on to Oklahoma State, where he served as linebackers and tight ends coach from 1984-86. He returned to his alma mater as the defensive backs coach for the 1987 and 1988 seasons and then was hired by Tom Osborne to coach the linebackers at Nebraska for six seasons from 1989-94.

The OSU-Baylor Series
The Cowboys and Bears have met 18 times on the gridiron with Baylor holding an 11-7 series advantage. OSU has won all four meetings between the two schools since the Big 12 formed in 1996, including a 34-14 win last season in Waco. The series began in 1914 with Oklahoma State coming away with a 60-0 win in Stillwater. Baylor then reeled off nine straight matchups before the Cowboys snapped the skid with a 20-7 win at home in 1972. BU leads the series 5-4 in Stillwater, but the Cowboys have captured the last three meetings at home. Baylor's last win in Stillwater was a 13-0 victory in the 1939 season.

A Few Extra Tidbits
RB Reggie White needs 73 yards to break the 1,000-yard rushing barrier and become the first back to do it since David Thompson rushed for 1,595 in 1996 ... WR/RB Jamaal Fobbs has caught a pass in the last 12 games, the longest streak on the club ... K Seth Condley is 13th in the nation in field goals per game at 1.38 ... The Cowboys are looking to snap a seven-game losing streak, the longest under Bob Simmons, and longest in a season since losing seven straight to end the 1993 season ... Lee Fobbs, the father of Jamaal Fobbs, is the defensive tackles coach at Baylor, Jamaal is the only player in the Big 12 conference to be featured in two football media guides (family pic in Baylor's guide) ... OSU's last Big 12 win came against Baylor last season, a span of eight games ... Baylor freshman wide receiver John Martin, the son of OSU Senior Associate AD Dave Martin, had two catches for 22 yards in one contest this season before suffering a season ending injury in practice earlier this season ... Martin and sophomore RB Casey Cook (OKC) are the lone Baylor players from Oklahoma.

Oklahoma State University Athletics

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