Oklahoma State University Athletics
OSU Football Set For Home Opener
April 08, 2003 | Cowboy Football
HEADLINES Cowboys Continue Spring Workouts Cowboys Continue Spring Drills Pickens Record Gift Takes OSU to Next Level
RELATED LINKS • Newsletter Signup• OCSN Newswire Sept. 11, 2000 Complete Release in PDF FormatDownload Free Acrobat Reader Saturday, Sept. 16, 2000 7 p.m. [CST]Lewis Field [48,000] Stillwater, Okla.Radio - Cowboy Radio Network OSU Prepares for Home OpenerOklahoma State opens the home portion of the 2000 schedule this week when the Cowboys entertain Southwest Texas. Oklahoma State comes home with a record of 1-0 after opening the season Saturday night with a 36-26 win at Tulsa. Southwest Texas comes to Stillwater with an overall record of 1-1. The Bobcats suffered their initial loss of the season Saturday night by a 19-13 margin to Cal State-Northridge in overtime. Pokes 1-0, AgainOklahoma State's 36-26 win at Tulsa Saturday night gave the Cowboys a win in their season opener for a fifth-straight season. OSU's string of opening-day victories dates back to 1996 and the Cowboys have won every opener under Bob Simmons except the first one in 1995 when OSU lost to second-ranked Nebraska. Three of OSU's last five season-opening victories have come on the road. OSU won at Iowa State in 1997, at Kansas in 1998 and at Tulsa in 2000. Orange Peel WeekendSaturday night's game against Southwest Texas culminates a weekend full of activities associated with Orange Peel. The annual student-sponsored event is scheduled for Friday night on Lewis Field. Comedian Damon Wayans and musical group Collective Soul are this year's entertainers. Other SpecialsIn addition to Orange Peel events, it will be ÒTake a Kid to the GameÓ Day and Fellowship of Christian Athletes Day at OSU. Several thousand members of FCA statewide will be in attendance. It's also OSU Experience, sponsored by the Office of High School and College Relations, with several thousand high school students on the Oklahoma State campus. TicketsTickets for Saturday night's home opener and season tickets for the 2000 campaign are available. The OSU Ticket Office is located on North Boomer Road in Stillwater and the phone number is 1-877-ALL 4OSU. What's Wrong with this Picture?Go figure! Oklahoma State received votes in last week's Coaches Poll ... won its season opener ... and lost its votes. Despite going 1-0 and on the receiving votes for last week's poll, those votes were not to be found this week. The Big 12 is represented in this week's Top 25 by top-ranked Nebraska, sixth-ranked Texas, seventh-ranked Kansas State and 18th-ranked Oklahoma. Future OSU opponents who did receive votes this week included Southern Mississippi, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Colorado. The Sixth for Bob SimmonsSaturday night also marks the official beginning of the sixth home season of OSU football during the Bob Simmons era. In terms of longevity, Simmons is now the eighth OSU head coach (out of 20) to have OSU careers of six years or more. Jim Lookabaugh and Pat Jones both had 11-year stints at OSU to top the list. Below is a list of Oklahoma State football coaches who have served the longest tenures. Longevity Coach Years Highlights Jim Lookabaugh 11 Cotton and Sugar Bowl wins. Pat Jones 11 Four bowl games in 11 seasons. John Maulbetsch 8 His team was 6-1-2 in 1924 Cliff Speegle 8 Beat Florida State in the '58 Blue Grass Bowl Phil Cutchin 6 Two of his 19 wins were over Oklahoma Paul Davis 6 Best record of the earliest OSU coaches. Jim Stanley 6 Big Eight co-champs in 1976 Bob Simmons 6 Three wins over Oklahoma and a bowl game. Jimmy Johnson 5 Set the table for 1980s successes. New FacesWith the 2000 season underway and the Cowboys ready for their home opener, there are several new faces and a new look to OSU football. New to Bob Simmons' coaching staff for 2000 are offensive coordinator Del Miller, linebackers coach Dave Huxtable, offensive line coach Mike Jacobs and tight ends coach Mike Summers. Also new to the staff are graduate assistant coaches Shawn Fowler and Dale Ploessl. New FacilitiesIn addition to new faces around the OSU program for 2000, there's a new look on the field and off. When the Cowboys open the home season this week against Southwest Texas, they will be playing on a newly-installed surface. The AstroPlay surface was installed over the summer and replaces the old surface that had been in use since 1987. OSU coaches and players are also beginning to occupy their new spaces in the OSU Athletic Center. The $54 million project is scheduled to be completed in December. OSU Radio NetworkSaturday night's game and every game on the 2000 football schedule will be broadcast live on the Cowboy Radio Network. Learfield Sports is in the first year of a multi-media agreement with OSU, and the Cowboy Network is just one facet of that relationship. Bill Teegins, multiple-year recipient of the Oklahoma Sportscaster-of-the-Year award, returns for his 10th season as the radio voice of OSU football. Tom Dirato returns for his 20th season providing expert analysis. The Cowboy Network features 26 stations that cover Oklahoma from border to border. Those network stations are listed elsewhere in this release. TelevisionThere will be no live television for Oklahoma State's game against Southwest Texas. OSU fans can see highlights on the Bob Simmons Show, which airs in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Stillwater during the week. Livin' on Tulsa TimeOklahoma State struck for three first-quarter touchdowns, came up with momentum-changing plays on defense, and shut down Tulsa when it counted as the Cowboys rolled to a 36-26 win over the Golden Hurricane at Skelly Stadium. Another Top-10 CrowdOklahoma State's appearance at Skelly Stadium Saturday night drew another sellout crowd of 40,385. Tulsa officially lists eight all-time sellouts for its football facility and Oklahoma State has been the opponent for seven of those. Vintage TonyDespite rumors of his demise, Oklahoma State's senior quarterback took every snap against Tulsa, playing with a poise and effectiveness that comes with a fifth-year senior and four-year starter. He passed for 166 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 54 yards on 12 carries. That's 220 yards of total offense, an average of 6.87 yards every time he touched the football. Lindsay's three TD passes vs. Tulsa rank second in his career to four scoring strikes against Missouri on Oct. 25, 1997. Bang for the BuckOklahoma State was opportunistic and efficient on offense in its opener against Tulsa on Saturday. Despite a deficit in time of possession (10 minutes less than the Golden Hurricane), OSU ran just 58 plays but finished with 413 yards of total offense. The Cowboys rushed for 247 yards, 187 of which belonged to tailback Reggie White, and passed for 166, all by senior quarterback Tony Lindsay. Hanging on to the BallNot only was OSU efficient on the offensive side of the ball against Tulsa, the Cowboys were stingy as well. Tony Lindsay did not throw an interception in 20 attempts and the Cowboys fumbled only once. On the other side, Oklahoma State caused two Tulsa fumbles, recovering both, and came up win an interception. ReggieTailback Reggie White erased a string of 12-straight games OSU has played without a 100-yard rusher. White gained 187 yards on 25 carries against Tulsa. He scored one touchdown and averaged 7.5 yards per carry. His performance was the best since 1998 when Jamaal Fobbs rushed for 217 vs. La.-Lafayette.
