Oklahoma State University Athletics
OSU Football Braces For Bedlam
April 08, 2003 | Cowboy Football
Senior Day Saturday will mark the final game for 15 Oklahoma State seniors. The list of OSU seniors includes 10 players who are likely starters this week and two additional players who were starters before their careers ended prematurely. OSU's senior class will be presented in pregame ceremonies. There is more on each senior later in this release.
Final Game for Coach Simmons Saturday will also mark the final game in the Oklahoma State tenure of Head Coach Bob Simmons. OSU's 20th Head Football Coach announced two weeks ago his intention to resign effective at the end of the season. Saturday's game will be the 68th in Simmons' OSU career. There is much more on the OSU coach elsewhere in this release.
Four Out of Six Would be Nice Should Oklahoma State upend Oklahoma's newly crowned Big 12 Conference South Division champions this week, it would be the Cowboys' fourth victory over the Sooners in the last six years. OSU's 1995 win over OU in Norman snapped an 18-game winless streak against Oklahoma and the Pokes followed the '95 win with victories in 1997 and 1998. Two of the three victories have been in Norman.
Against Number One Since 1950, Oklahoma State has faced five teams ranked number one in the country. Only once, however, has that game been on Lewis Field. Oklahoma's appearance on Lewis Field this week will mark the sixth time the Pokes have faced a top-ranked team since 1950 and, the last time the Cowboys hosted the number one team, they almost pulled a stunning surprise.
Remember 1983? The week of Oct. 8 found Nebraska ranked number one in the nation and the subject of a Sports Illustrated cover story that crowned the Cornhuskers one of the best in the history of the sport. Nebraska's visit to Lewis Field that week turned into one of the most talked about near-misses in OSU history. Below is an excerpt from Tom Kensler's (now of the Denver Post) game story in the Oct. 9 Sunday Oklahoman.
Oklahoma State's swarming defense and the fabled Sports Illustrated jinx almost worked some magic Saturday afternoon in Lewis Stadium. And while almost won't account for anything but a loss on the OSU side, for the first time this season, No.1 Nebraska knew it was in a ballgame....a down-to-the-wire 14-10 Big Eight Conference opener. Until Husker safety Bret Clark intercepted an Ike Jackson pass in the endzone as the final gun sounded, there was a chance, a legitimate chance, that Oklahoma State might defeat a team already called the best in the history of college football.
OSU vs. No. One Of the five previous times OSU has played a top-ranked opponent, Oklahoma has provided the opposition twice, both in Norman. Nebraska has been the opponent twice and Miami (Fla.) once.
Records, etc. Oklahoma State enters the final week of the season with an overall record of 3-7 and a Big 12 Conference mark of 1-6. The Cowboys have won at least two conference games each of the past five seasons but will need an upset of OU this week to keep that string going. Oklahoma will come to Stillwater with a perfect mark of 10-0 and a Big 12 mark of 7-0.
And, for Dessert For the second-straight year, the OSU-OU clash is being featured on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and televised to a national cable audience. For 31 years (1944-1974), Oklahoma State and Oklahoma played each other on the final Saturday of the regular season. From 1975 through 1999, the in-state rivalry was played on the season's final Saturday only six times (1978, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985 and 1999). Saturday's OSU-OU game is the final regular season Big 12 Conference game of the 2000 season. Texas faces Texas A&M and Colorado faces Nebraska Friday afternoon before the OSU-OU game on Saturday brings down the curtain on this year's Big 12 season.
OSU Last Week Oklahoma State snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 50-22 win over Baylor on Lewis Field. Redshirt freshman quarterback Aso Pogi had one of the best days of his young Cowboy career. Pogi ran for four touchdowns and passed for another as the Cowboys produced the most points since a 50-point outburst against Missouri in 1997. The Cowboys scored quickly and often against Baylor. OSU took a lead less than 30 seconds into the game after recovering a Baylor fumble on the one-yard line. Pogi scored the first touchdown on a one-yard run and followed that with a six-yard run, a 13-yard pass to Mike Denard and a five-yard run. Sandwiched between was a 25-yard Seth Condley field goal and OSU led 30-0 early in the second quarter. For the game, Pogi completed 14-of-18 passes for 171 yards and a touchdown and had 15 rushes for 30 yards and four touchdowns. On the other side of the ball, the Cowboys limited Baylor to 66 rushing yards on 31 attempts. The Bears were able to complete 17 passes for 227 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Oklahoma Last Week The Sooners protected their number-one ranking and earned the Big 12 South title with a 27-13 win over Texas Tech in Norman. OU never trailed, although Tech was able to pull within eight, 21-13, at the 7:13 mark of the fourth quarter. Heisman Trophy candidate Josh Heupel passed for 248 yards and one touchdown. The Sooners limited Texas Tech to just 21 rushing yards on 23 attempts, an average of 0.9 per carry. Texas Tech did complete 42-of-62 passes for 309 yards in the losing effort.
On TV Saturday's game will be televised live by Fox Sports Net. Ron Thulin, James Lofton and Eric Clemens will call the game to a national cable audience. It's just the second television appearance of the season for OSU. The Cowboys' game at Texas on Sept. 30 was an ABC regional game.
On Radio Saturday's game against Oklahoma 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-OU radio broadcast will begin at 1:30 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).
OSU Offense
Aso Taking Charge Cowboy quarterback Aso Pogi turned in another solid performance in the 50-22 win over Baylor, and is asserting himself as one of the best young quarterbacks in the country. His four rushing touchdowns against Baylor last week were the most since Barry Sanders scored five times on the ground against Kansas in 1988. His 171 yards passing against Baylor gives him 1,448 for the season, just 77 yards behind the all-time freshman passing record of 1,525 established by Mike Gundy in 1986.
Big 12 Player of the Week Pogi's numbers against Baylor Saturday earned him honors as the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week. It is the first time this season an OSU player has earned one of the weekly awards from the Big 12.
First Start Produces 300 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, Again 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.
Consider These Numbers Pogi saw limited playing time in the first four games of the season. He had just 49 attempts over the first four games of the season. Since he became OSU's starter for the Iowa State game, he has passed for 1,177 yards, an average of 235.4 yards in those five games. His 235-yard average, extended to an 11-game season would equate to 2,574 yards and that would be a single-season Oklahoma State passing record.
Pogi Closing In On Freshman Passing Mark With 171 yards passing against Baylor last Saturday, redshirt freshman quarterback Aso Pogi has now thrown for 1,448 yards this season. Pogi is only 77 yards behind Mike Gundy's freshman record of 1,525 passing yards set in 1985. Pogi went over the 1,000-yard mark against Texas A&M with 146 yards passing and only needs 78 more yards against Oklahoma this weekend to pass Gundy.
In the Big 12 While Aso Pogi has started just five games in his OSU career, his early numbers clearly put him among the Big 12's best. In average number of completions per game, Pogi is sixth with 13 per game. In passing efficiency, Pogi is eighth with a rating of 111.64. He narrowly trails Texas Tech's Kliff Kingsbury (116.9) and Texas' Chris Simms (118.68)
Reggie Goes over 1,000 Tailback Reggie White rushed for 78 yards in the first half against Baylor and eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the season. With one game to play, White has 1,005 net yards on 196 carries. With more than 1,000 yards for the season, White joins an elite group of Oklahoma State backs. In fact, the Liberty, Texas, junior becomes just the 12th player in OSU history to rush for 1,000 or more in a single season. That's significant when you consider the reputation of Oklahoma State's former backs.
OSU Defense
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.
Difference Maker With one game to play in his senior season, OSU defensive end Juqua Thomas has surpassed his numbers from a year ago and should be considered for postseason honors. With one game to play, Thomas has been officially credited with 49 tackles. Of his tackle total, 37 have been unassisted. A year ago, Thomas had 13 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. With one game to play, he has been credited with 20 stops for minus-83 yards and 4.5 sacks for minus-29 yards.
OSU Notes
If You're Looking for a Linebacker All-Big 12 voters who are looking for a linebacker should consider Oklahoma State's Dwayne Levels. Through 10 games, the talented junior leads the Cowboys in total tackles with 86. He has been credited with nine tackles for minus-19 yards, one sack, two pass deflections, three quarterback hurries and one fumble recovery.
Condley a Groza Finalist Oklahoma State kicker Seth Condley is one of 20 finalists for the Lou Groza Award, which goes annually to the best kicker in the country. The senior from Muskogee has connected on 12-of-20 field goals and is fourth in the Big 12 and 22nd nationally in the field-goal category.
Marcellus Looking for 1,000 Senior receiver Marcellus Rivers will go into Saturday's finale against Oklahoma looking to go over 1,000 yards for his OSU career. Rivers' 2000 numbers include 19 catches for 292 yards and two touchdowns. For his OSU career, Rivers has 68 receptions for 963 yards, leaving him 37-yards short of the 1,000-yard mark. At 963 yards, Rivers is 18th on the all-time receiving chart at Oklahoma State. Should he crack the 1,000-yard mark, he would become the 16th player in Cowboy history to record 1,000 or more receiving yards in their career.
Finally Oklahoma State is 4-1 in season finales under head coach Bob Simmons. The lone blemish on that slate came a year ago when Oklahoma won by a 44-7 margin in Norman. In Simmons' first OSU season, the Cowboys won at Hawaii in the season finale. The following three seasons saw three-straight season-ending wins over Baylor.
About Oklahoma Oklahoma has made a national resurgence this season and is currently the top-ranked team in the country with a perfect 10-0 mark. The Sooners captured their first Big 12 South title with a 27-13 win over Texas Tech last Saturday in Norman. After the Bedlam contest this weekend, OU will travel to Kansas City to take on the Kansas State Wildcats in the Big 12 Championship game on Dec. 2.
Who To Look For Quarterback Josh Heupel, a Heisman Trophy candidate, leads the Sooner offensive attack, which is ranked ninth in the country, averaging 452.3 yards total offense per game. OU's 42.9 scoring average is the second best in the country behind Boise State's 44.9 ppg. Heupel runs Oklahoma's passing attack, averaging 316.2 yards per game through the air, and has completed 67 percent of his passes while throwing for 3,018 yards with 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions. The Sooners have four receivers who have caught 30 or more balls this season, led by Antwone Savage's 46 receptions for 592 yards. Curtis Fagan is the team's deep threat, averaging 16.2 yards per catch to go along with six scoring grabs. Runningback Quentin Griffin leads the rushing attack with 581 yards on 155 carries and has scored 16 times this season.
The Sooner defense is led by Butkus Award candidate linebacker Rocky Calmus, who has 100 tackles this season including 12 for losses. Safety Roy Williams is second on the team with 80 tackles while linebacker Torrance Marshall is right behind him with 78, including a team high five sacks. Defensive back J.T. Thatcher is the team leader in interceptions with seven, which ranks him fourth in the country. As a team, OU's defense is ranked 10th in the country in total defense, giving up 283.3 yards per game. The Sooners are allowing opponents to score at a 16.1 average, seventh best in the NCAA.
The Head Coach Bob Stoops has made a significant impact on the Oklahoma program since taking over after the 1998 season. Stoops is 17-5 in two seasons in Norman, including a 7-5 ledger last season with an Independence Bowl berth. He is in the running for National Coach-of-the-Year honors after leading the Sooners to their best season since 1987. Stoops came to Oklahoma from Florida where he was the defensive coordinator from 1996-98, which included a national championship following a 12-1 season in 1996. Prior to his tenure in Gainesville, Stoops was an assistant coach under Bill Snyder at Kansas State >from 1989-95, which included the last five seasons as defensive coordinator. He began his coaching career in 1983 at Iowa where he remained till 1987. He spent one season as an assistant coach at Kent State prior to his arrival in Manhattan. Stoops is 1-0 against Oklahoma State as head coach with last season's 44-7 win in Norman.
The OSU-Oklahoma Series The Cowboys and Sooners have met 94 times on the gridiron with Oklahoma holding a sizable 73-14-7 series advantage. OSU had won three of the last five meetings, including two straight prior to last year's 44-7 loss in Norman. The series began in 1904 and has been played on a yearly basis since that time except for the 1905 and 1909 seasons. OU holds a 33-5-4 advantage in contests played in Stillwater, but the Cowboys won the last time the teams met at Lewis Field by a 44-26 score on Oct. 24, 1998.
A Bedlam Memory (Last Meeting In Stillwater 10.24.98):
STILLWATER, Okla. (Tulsa World) - Quarterback Tony Lindsay passed for two touchdowns and ran for two others as the Cowboys took out their frustrations on struggling OU 41-26 Saturday night before a sellout crowd at Lewis Field.
Ecstatic over beating the Sooners in Stillwater for the first time in Stillwater since 1966, fans stormed the field after the game and tore down both goal posts.
Snapping a three-game losing streak, OSU improved to 3-4 overall and 2-3 in the Big 12 Conference. The Sooners, 2-5 and 0-4, sunk even deeper under embattled coach John Blake.
OU has lost five in a row for the first time since losing the last three games under coach Howard Schnellenberger dropping the first three of the Blake regime.
He is the first coach to lose to OSU and Texas in consecutive years since Dewey "Snorter" Luster in 1944-45. Luster was replaced by Jim Tatum the following season.
His team scoring the most points against OU in the series since 1945, OSU coach Bob Simmons improved to 3-1 against the Sooners.
OSU teed off on a defense ranked sixth nationally in total yardage. Trailing 10-7 at intermission, the Cowboys scored 34 second-half points, including 21 in the third quarter.
The Cowboys scored on every third-quarter possession and on six of the first seven in the second half.
Sooner starting quarterback Eric Moore suffered a concussion in the final minute of the first quarter and was replaced by fourth-stringer Jake Sills, who fumbled twice and threw two interceptions.
OSU turned three of his mistakes into 21 points.
OU junior tailback DeMond Parker carried the Sooner offense, rushing for 220 of his team's 410 total yards.
Marred by 262 yards in penalties -- the Sooners were penalized 19 times for 177 yards, the game lasted three hours, 37 minutes.
Matt Reeves kicked his second field goal, a 34-yarder, to give the Sooners a 13-7 lead as time expired in the half.
Helped by an OSU personal foul, OU had moved to the Cowboy 7. But a bad pitch by Sills -- recovered by Parker at the 17 with three seconds remaining -- forced OU to kick a field goal.
The Cowboys' only scoring drive in the first half covered 66 yards. Fullback Brian Aikins culminated it by catching his first touchdown pass of the season, an 8-yarder from Lindsay, with 10:45 remaining in the second quarter.
The Sooners operated brilliantly on their first two possessions, getting a field goal and touchdown.
Buoyed by Jarrail Jackson's 41- yard kickoff return, OU moved 31 yards in seven plays, scoring on a 29-yard Reeves' field goal to go up 3-0.
After allowing OSU only one first down the subsequent possession, the Sooners struck again under adverse circumstances.
On a second down from the Cowboy 6, Moore rushed for five yards and was hit late out of bounds, suffering a concussion. Players from both sides prayed and play was delayed about 12 minutes before Moore was helped off the field.
Sills replaced him and two plays later, fullback Jermaine Fazande scored from 1-yard out on the final play of the first quarter to push the Sooners up 10-0.
A Few Extra Tidbits WR/RB Jamaal Fobbs has caught a pass in the last 13 games, the longest streak on the club ... K Seth Condley is 19th in the nation in field goals per game at 1.20 ... Bob Simmons' three wins against OU ties him with Lynn Waldorf (3-0-2 against the Sooners) for the most wins against Oklahoma as a head coach of the Cowboys ... OSU's 180 pass completions this season is a school record, surpassing the 179 passes completed in the 1987 campaign ... OSU's 208.2 passing yards per game average is third best in school history behind the 1987 (218.3) and the 1989 (216.9) squads.
