Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
2-1
Southern Miss
2-1
Cowboys Fall To No. 22 Southern Miss, 28-6
September 23, 2000 | Cowboy Football
Sept. 23, 2000
By DANNY M. BOYD
Associated Press Writer
STILLWATER, Okla. - Southern Mississippi is wearing out its welcome on the road.
Jeff Kelly passed for 257 yards and two touchdowns as No. 22 Southern Mississippi beat Oklahoma State 28-6 on Saturday night.
Southern Mississippi, coming off a 21-0 victory at Alabama and a close loss at Tennessee, ended Oklahoma State' 17-game home winning streak against nonconference opponents.
"I don't know of anybody starting out tougher from a scheduling standpoint," Golden Eagles coach Jeff Bower said.
"I'm really happy with how we performed. I wish we had a few more plays back from the Tennessee game."
Kelly, who completed 20 of 37 passes, threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Shawn Mills in the first quarter, and gave the Golden Eagles (2-1) a 21-3 lead with a 9-yarder to Shawn Mills in the third quarter.
"Southern Mississippi is a good football team," Oklahoma State coach Bob Simmons said. "They did not make a lot of mistakes. They have a good defense. Obviously, we knew that coming in. We knew that we had to execute a lot better than we did."
Southern Mississippi held Reggie White to 65 yards rushing. The Cowboys star had 187 yards in the opener against Tulsa and 130 against Southwest Texas.
"We have a lot of mentally tough people," Eagles senior defensive end Cedric Scott said. "We have a lot of senior leadership. We know what it takes to get ready to play every week."
Tony Lindsay led the Cowboys (2-1) with 72 yards rushing and 66 passing before leaving the game in the third quarter.
Simmons said Lindsay's shoulder tightened up and Lindsay got hit on the shoulder by Southern Mississippi defenders.
Lindsay's 53-yard run put the Cowboys within striking distance, but Oklahoma State managed only a field goal. A facemask penalty against the Cowboys negated a safety late in the third quarter.
Kelly hit Mills to put Southern Mississippi up 21-3 with 6:51 left in the third quarter.
Leon Barns picked off Aso Pogi's pass and raced 25 yards for a score to put Southern Mississippi up 28-6 with 5:10 left.
Southern Mississippi led 14-3 at halftime.
Kelly connected with Mills on the 31-yard pass play to put the Golden Eagles up 7-0 with 10:08 left in the first quarter.
Oklahoma State's Michael Cooper recovered a fumble on a punt return on the 8, but the Cowboys lost yardage and had to settle for Seth Condley's 33-yard field goal.
The Cowboys' Gabe Lindsay fumbled a punt return and Southern Mississippi recovered on the Cowboys' 6. Kelly then fumbled and Oklahoma State's LaWaylon Brown returned it to the Southern Mississippi 27, but the Golden Eagles' Chris Vaughn picked off Lindsay's pass to end the drive.
Kelly got Southern Miss in position for its final score of the first half with a completion to Dannye Fowler for a 39-yard gain. Nix then scored from the 1 with 46 seconds left.
