Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys face Owls in Dolphins Stadium
September 05, 2005 | Cowboy Football
Oklahoma State (1-0)
at Florida Atlantic (0-1)
Thursday, Sept. 8, 2005 • 6:02 p.m. [CT]
Dolphins Stadium • Miami, Fla.
ESPN2 • Cowboy Sports Network
Cowboys Head for Sunshine State
After successfully opening the 2005 season Saturday night at Boone Pickens Stadium, Oklahoma State faces a short week and a cross country trip to Florida where a Thursday night encounter with Florida Atlantic awaits. The Cowboys, 1-0 on the season after a 15-10 win over Montana State, will face Howard Schnellenberger's Florida Atlantic team that opened 2005 with a 30-19 loss at Kansas over the weekend. Kickoff at Dolphins Stadium is set for 7:07 (EDT) and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN2.
The First of Three Against FAU
Thursday's game against Florida Atlantic is the first of three scheduled games against the Owls. Florida Atlantic will play at Boone Pickens Stadium in 2006 and again in 2007. It will also be the first time the Cowboys have played in the state of Florida since 1991, when OSU faced Miami (Fla.). The year before, the Cowboys played Florida in Gainesville.
Short Week
Oklahoma State will depart for Miami around midday on Wednesday. Upon arrival, the Cowboys will hold a light workout at Dolphins Stadium. That workout is closed to the media, but head coach Mike Gundy will be available briefly just after the walkthrough. In Florida, the Cowboys will headquarter at the Renaissance Fort Lauderdale. During this shortened week, Oklahoma State players will be available at Monday's press luncheon and briefly after practice on Tuesday. OSU players are off limits on Wednesday and Thursday until postgame. The Cowboys will leave Florida immediately following Thursday night's game, again via air charter.
Another First
Thursday night's game against Florida Atlantic will mark the first-ever meeting between Oklahoma State and Florida Atlantic. OSU's entire non-conference schedule — Montana State, Florida Atlantic and Arkansas State — features first-ever opponents.
OSU in Florida
Oklahoma State is just 3-8 all-time against teams from Florida, and the Cowboys are 2-4 in games played within the borders of the state. Oklahoma State's last trip to Florida (see below) was in 1991, when the Cowboys lost to Miami in a game played in the Orange Bowl.
Cowboys-Owls on ESPN2
Thursday's game will be broadcast live on ESPN2. Mike Tirico, Kirk Herbstreit and Erin Andrews will call the action for the cable network. It is OSU's first televised game of the 2005 season, but the 26th appearance since 2002. It will be OSU's first regular-season appearance on ESPN since the 2001 season opener at Southern Mississippi. OSU has appeared on ESPN or ESPN2 15 times previously.
Speaking of Television
Saturday will mark Oklahoma State's 104th all-time appearance on television, and more than half (55) of those previous appearances have occured since 1996. Since the inception of the Big 12 Conference, Oklahoma State has been a yearly fixture on national and regional broadcasts. Below is the yearly breakdown since ‘96.
Thursday Night Special
Oklahoma State will be playing a regular-season game on a day other than Saturday for the first time since 1986. Prior to 1950, the Cowboys played regularly on days other than Saturday. Since 1958, however, Oklahoma State has played just three previous regular-season games on days other than Saturday. The Cowboys opened the 1958 season on a Friday night in Denver with a 31-14 win over the University of Denver. In 1982, Oklahoma State played a Sunday night game in Tulsa vs. the Golden Hurricane, losing 25-15. In 1986, the Cowboys hosted Missouri on ESPN on a Thursday night, winning 10-6. In that game, a freshman quarterback by the name of Mike Gundy completed 18 of 29 passes for 232 yards.
OSU on Radio
Thursday night's game against Florida Atlantic will be broadcast live on the Cowboy Radio Network with Dave Hunziker, John Holcomb and Robert Allen describing the action. Hunziker returns for his fifth season as the radio voice of OSU football. Holcomb is the sports director of Tulsa's KOTV (CBS), and is beginning his first season as the analyst in the Cowboy broadcast booth. Allen returns for his fourth season on the OSU sideline. The radio broadcast begins one hour prior to kickoff. The game broadcast is also available on Sirius Satellite Radio, channel 127.
OSU Last Week
Oklahoma State successfully opened the Mike Gundy era of Cowboy Football with a 15-10 win over Montana State. The Cowboys withstood a gritty challenge from the Bobcats thanks partly to a defensive shutout in the second half and an offense that produced 378 total yards, despite several missed scoring opportunities. The Cowboy defense allowed All-America quarterback Travis Lulay to pass for 205 yards, but he did not throw a touchdown pass, and the Bobcats were limited to just 49 net rushing yards. On the offensive side, quarterback Donovan Woods passed for 117 yards and a touchdowns while rushing for 61 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Bobby Reid was the game's leading rusher with 82 yards on six carries, an average of 13.7 yards per rush. D'Juan Woods had three receptions for 48 yards and a touchdown, and Luke Frazier added two catches for 27 yards.
Postgame Notes
• Oklahoma State is now 60-39-5 in season openers, although Saturday's margin of victory was the smallest in a season opener since 1996 when the Cowboys picked up a 23-20 overtime win over Southwest Missouri State.
• Quarterback Donovan Woods made his 13th straight career start Saturday against Montana State while redshirt freshman Bobby Reid was also in the starting lineup, albeit at a receiver slot where he was on the receiving end of an 11 yard pass on the Cowboys' opening play.
• Mike Gundy became the first Oklahoma State head coach to win his initial game since Pat Jones defeated Arizona State 45-3 in his career opener in 1984. Bob Simmons lost his first game at home to Nebraska in 1995 and Les Miles lost his first game as OSU's coach on the road at Southern Mississippi in 2001.
Honoring Vernon
Oklahoma State players will wear a helmet sticker with the initials “VG” throughout the 2005 season, and the Cowboys also recognized their late leader in another way Saturday night. Oklahoma State's first kick cover unit had just 10 players. In pregame ceremonies, associate head coach and special teams coordinator Joe DeForest told Saturday's crowd of more than 43,000 that they and Vernon would be the team's 11th man.
Florida Atlantic Last Week
While the Owls may have lost to Big 12 opponent Kansas 30-19, the game was much closer than the score indicated, and quarterback Danny Embick was impressive, to say the least. Embick threw for 299 yards and three touchdowns. The Owls actually led the Jayhawks 13-12 late in the third quarter before Kansas scored 18 unanswered points to ice the season-opening victory. Florida Atlantic had 299 passing yards and 70 rushing yards while allowing Kansas 177 passing yards and 201 yards on the ground. Embick was 20 of 28 in his FAU debut, and the Owls were also perfect on both fourth down conversion attempts.
