Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Host Mustangs In Final Non-Conference Action
September 13, 2004 | Cowboy Football
Oklahoma State Cowboys
host the
SMU Mustangs
Saturday, Sept. 18, 2004 • 6:05 p.m. [CDT]
Boone Pickens Stadium [47,800] • Stillwater, Okla.
Pokes Look for Third Straight
Oklahoma State entertains SMU Saturday night at Boone Pickens Stadium as the Cowboys try to win for a third straight time in 2004 and head for October with a perfect record. The Cowboys are 2-0 after a home field win over Tulsa last Saturday night. Kickoff for the SMU game is set for 6:05 p.m., and its the final game of September for O-State. The Cowboys have an open date next Saturday before jumping into Big 12 Conference play by hosting Iowa State on October 2.
Join the Walk
An estimated 10,000 people lined Hester Street last Saturday afternoon as the Cowboys walked from the Atherton Hotel at the Student Union to Boone Pickens Stadium. OSU is encouraging all fans to participate in the walk again this week. It's one of OSU's more popular football traditions and occurs approximately 2-1/2 hours prior to kickoff.
Season Ticket Record
Oklahoma State set a new single-season record for season ticket sales in 2004. Going into last week's game against Tulsa, more than 37,500 season tickets had been sold. That number tops the previous high of 35,142 established a year ago. The third-highest number of season tickets sold was 35,115 in 1985. Oklahoma State's attendance of 47,307 for the Tulsa game represented the most for a non-conference game since a 1988 game against Texas A&M.
OSU-SMU, Briefly
Oklahoma State enters this week's action at 2-0 with victories over UCLA and Tulsa. The Cowboys have put up impressive rushing numbers over the first two weeks, and also featured a defense that played very well in stretches. Through two games, OSU is averaging 351 yards on the ground and allowing just 145.5 yards rushing. The Cowboys are averaging 34.5 points per game and allowing 20.5 points per contest. SMU comes to Boone Pickens Stadium looking for its first win of the season. The Mustangs lost their season opener to Texas Tech by a score of 27-13, and were shut out at TCU last Saturday by a 44-0 count. SMU is averaging 246 yards of total offense while allowing an average of 549 yards per game. There's much more on the OSU-SMU matchup elsewhere in this release.
Quick Starts
Oklahoma State is 2-0 on the season for the first time since 2000 when the team recorded consecutive wins over Tulsa and Southwest Texas to open the season. OSU hasn't opened a season with three straight wins since 1997 when the Pokes won their first six before losing an overtime game to Missouri. This is the fifth time since 1986 the Cowboys have been 2-0 after the first two weekends of competition. Should OSU defeat SMU Saturday night, the Cowboys would be 3-0 for just the fourth time since 1987.
Boone Pickens Stadium, Week II
Saturday night will mark the second game in the renovated south structure of Boone Pickens Stadium. OSU's newest facility opened to rave reviews last week when the Cowboys defeated Tulsa. The completed Phase I portion of the stadium project features 2,100 new club level seats and 19 luxury suites, as well as all new press and broadcast areas and new fan amenities throughout the south side. The south stadium construction is just the first of three phases that will eventually completely renovate the facility. Work will begin after the 2004 season on the north side and after the 2006 season on the west endzone.
Rankings
Oklahoma State continued to climb toward the national top 25 this week. After the Cowboys defeated Tulsa to run its season mark to 2-0, the Pokes earned enough votes that they would be ranked 27th in both the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' poll and the Associated Press poll if the rankings were extended.
OSU-SMU, On the Air
Oklahoma State's home game against SMU will be broadcast live on the Cowboy Radio Network with Dave Hunziker, Tom Dirato and Robert Allen describing the action. The network broadcast begins one hour before kickoff. There is no television, live or delayed, planned for the game. The Oklahoma State Radio Network is a property of Host Communications, Lexington, Ky. The game broadcast can be heard across the state of Oklahoma on more than 30 radio stations.
Cowboys Last Week
Oklahoma State broke a 7-7 second quarter tie when quarterback Donovan Woods dove for a one yard touchdown and the Cowboys cruised to a 38-21 win over Tulsa at Boone Pickens Stadium. A crowd of 47,307 watched the Cowboys improve to 2-0 on the season by dominating the game on the ground. Oklahoma State rushed for 276 yards on 60 carries. Tailback Vernand Morency led all rushers with 184 yards on 29 carries. Oklahoma State scored points via the air (46 yard pass from Woods to Chijuan Mack), on the ground (two touchdowns by Woods and one by Morency) and also on a 59 yard punt return by Darrent Williams. On the defensive side, defensive backs Jon Holland and Darrent Williams were the tackle leaders with seven each. Williams also had a tackle behind the line of scrimmage for a loss of eight yards, a forced fumble and a pass breakup. Marque Fountain had two quarterback hurries and the game's only quarterback sack.
More Notes from the Home Opener
• Darrent Williams' 59 yard punt return for a touchdown was his first of this season, but the third of his career. Including five interception returns for touchdowns, he now has eight career returns for scores.
• With 184 yards against Tulsa, tailback Vernand Morency has gone over the 100 yard mark in the last four regular-season games. Over the last five games, including last year's Cotton Bowl, Vernand has exactly 1,000 yards.
• Oklahoma State's win over Tulsa in its home opener gives the Cowboys a record of 70-28-5 all-time in home openers. It was also OSU's ninth-straight home-opening victory.
• Robert Jones' fumble recovery in the third quarter was his second of the year. Jones also had one last week in OSU's win over UCLA in the Rose Bowl.
• Quarterback Donovan Woods' touchdown pass to Chijuan Mack was his first career TD pass and also marked Mack's first career TD reception.
• OSU's 38-21 win over Tulsa was the Cowboys' third straight over the Golden Hurricane, dating back to a 1998 TU win in Tulsa. The Cowboys have now won 18 straight over the Golden Hurricane in Stillwater, dating back to a 35-7 Tulsa win in 1951.
• The 38 points Oklahoma State scored in Saturday night's win represented the most points the Cowboys have scored against Tulsa in a single game since a 56-35 win in 1988.
• Oklahoma State's win over Tulsa Saturday night was also the Cowboys sixth victory over a team from the Western Athletic Conference since 1999. The Cowboys are 6-1 vs. the WAC since ‘99, the only loss coming to Louisiana Tech in Shreveport two years ago.
SMU Last Week
The Mustangs, who lost to Texas Tech in their season opener the week before, suffered a 44-0 loss to TCU in Fort Worth last weekend. TCU scored in every quarter and held the football more than 34 minutes en route to the victory. The Horned Frogs had 165 rushing yards and 397 yards through the air. SMU's leading rusher Foy Munin had seven carries for 10 yards. A pair of SMU quarterbacks, Tony Eckert and Chris Phillips, combined for 14 completions in 29 attempts. Eckert threw the game's only two interceptions.
