Oklahoma State University Athletics
Barry Sanders Story
August 26, 2008 | Cowboy Football
Barry Sanders Story
By Tom Dirato
Tom Dirato was beginning his eighth season as color analyst on the Cowboy Radio Network in 1988. He spent 24 years in that role and called 274 Oklahoma State football games during that time. He worked 10 years with both Bob Barry and Bill Teegins and four seasons with Dave Hunziker. He hosted 291 football coaches shows (radio and television) for four different coaches—Jimmy Johnson., Pat Jones, Bob Simmons and Les Miles. He retired from the Oklahoma State athletic department two years ago after serving as Director Of Radio and Television for 24 years.
Chuck Konrad knew better. In fact, special teams coaches stayed after him all week during kicking periods. The message was clear...be smart. Don't get caught up in the challenge and lose focus.
Maybe Konrad didn't truly believe what he had seen on film. Or, perhaps he was still excited over his 49-yard field goal that put Miami of Ohio on top after the opening drive of the game. Or, maybe he underestimated the strength of his leg on this hot, humid September night in Stillwater. Whatever the reason, the rout was on 14 seconds later.
Konrad's high, lazy, end –over-end kick floated into the waiting arms of Barry Sanders at the goal line. The Wichita Comet, as his coach Pat Jones liked to call him, hit a seam at about the 20-yard line, blew past two defenders near the 35, gave a slight juke to a safety five yards later and cruised untouched into the northwest corner of the Lewis Field end zone to take away all the momentum the Redskins had grabbed thanks to their 12-play, 48-yard scoring drive that took 4:06 off the clock.
“I wish I could have that opening kickoff back,” Konrad would say later. “But, Sanders is just a great return man. After he ran that first one back for a touchdown, I really didn't try to kick away from him. But, I was trying to keep the ball on the ground.”
For the record, that was Sanders' third 100-yard kickoff return in the space of 13 games. Ironically, he opened the 1987 campaign with a similar cross-country TD jaunt against Tulsa. He did it again nine games later in Lawrence, Kansas.
As I made my way through the Oklahoma State locker room to line up post-game guests, I stopped by Sanders' cubicle first. As always he was reluctant to talk on the radio about himself, but, given the opportunity to brag about his teammates brought out the best in one of the most humble student-athletes to ever wear an OSU uniform.
‘I knew we could do it,” he offered when asked about the kickoff return. “The guys up front did a great job. That's why I had success. I saw a big, gaping hole and knew I had it once I got by the safety.”
Pat Jones was perhaps the least surprised that Sanders, who in '88 would go on to rewrite the OSU, Big Eight and NCAA record books, would go the distance one more time.
“He led the country in kickoffs last year,” the Cowboy head coach said. “I don't think there is any secret to how dangerous he really is. He does the same things from scrimmage.”
Oklahoma State scored three touchdowns before that first quarter came to an end and rolled to a 52-20 win, the first of 10 victories in '88. Although Oklahoma State had also won 10 games the year before, it could be argued that this was the greatest year in Cowboy football history. In addition to the 10 wins, the Cowboys won five of seven Big Eight outings for the second straight season, ran roughshod over Wyoming in the Holiday Bowl, and, of course, watched their brilliant tailback-return specialist run away with the Heisman Trophy. Not bad for a high school player who was not the recruiting target for Oklahoma State coaches when they visited Wichita North.
Perhaps lost in that win over Miami of Ohio was the fact that Sanders also rolled up 178 yards on 18 carries and scored twice, once on an 89-yard run, which is still the sixth longest running play in school history. His list of records is amazing some 20 years later. Despite the spread offenses of today, Sanders' numbers are staggering. He made 300-yard rushing games (four in 1988) almost seem common place, especially when everyone on the defense knew who was carrying the football. In '88 alone, Sanders piled up 2,850 yards rushing and scored an incredible 42 touchdowns—five in a three-quarter Holiday Bowl performance.
He was part of Oklahoma State's version of the triplets. Quarterback Mike Gundy and All-American wideout Hart Lee Dykes made the Cowboy offense in '88 virtually unstoppable. Overshadowed in that opener against Miami of Ohio was the fact that Gundy, who is in his fourth season as Cowboy head coach, became the school's all-time passing leader that night. He passed Rusty Hilger with a 246-yard effort.
Dykes hauled in seven passes for 175 yards as the beleaguered Redskin defense gave up 548 yards—an average of almost nine yards a snap.
Heading into the '08 season, Gundy is still OSU's career passing leader with 7,997 yards and he sits atop the total offense chart with 7,749 yards. Dykes holds down the second spot when it comes to career receiving with 3,171 yards on 203 receptions, while Sanders' 3,556 rushing yards rank fourth on OSU's career list.
“They couldn't tackle him (Sanders) in college and didn't tackle him very much in the NFL,” Jones, who later spent a number of years as an assistant in the National Football League, said.
As I look back on that night, there were a few comments that came out of that post-game show that certainly turned out to be a preview of things to come.
Jones (on the offense); “I don't think there is any secret that we can make things happen very rapidly. I don't think we were as sharp as we need to be in two weeks against Texas A&M.”
Sanders (on A&M): “As far as I'm concerned, they are one of the better teams in the country. I have to play better.”
Gundy (on point production): “I expect us to put points on the board. But, team goals are more important to me than anything I achieve individually.”
Then, there was this telling observation from Redskin coach Tim Rose:
“When we came here in 1985, we knew OSU was good then. But, the offense they put on the field tonight is much better than the one in '85. Their speed and talent was too much for us. They will be a problem for every team on their schedule.”
How big a problem? Well, that '88 offense averaged 43 points and over 500 yards a game. The Cowboys scored 60 or more points on two occasions and cleared the 50-point hurdle in the first three games of the campaign.
The win over Miami of Ohio was a spectacular start to a season that will always be regarded as one of the most spectacular in school history. At the time, we just didn't realize how spectacular 1988 would turn out to be
