Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Host Missouri State Saturday
September 08, 2008 | Cowboy Football
Missouri State at Oklahoma State
Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008 :: 6:05 p.m. Central Time
Boone Pickens Stadium (60,000 capacity)
TV: Fox College Sports(Kevin Eschenfelder and Richard Baldinger)
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker, John Holcomb and Robert Allen)
Internet: okstate.com
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Three For Three
The Oklahoma State Cowboys (2-0) will look to post their fourth 3-0 start in five seasons Saturday night when they host the Missouri State Bears (0-1) at Boone Pickens Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6:05 p.m. OSU will follow up the MSU game with its first open week of the season before hosting Troy on Sept. 27. The Cowboys are coming off a 56-37 win over Houston.
Air Waves
Fox College Sports will originate a telecast from Boone Pickens Stadium for the first time when it arrives in Stillwater for the Missouri State game. Calling the game for FCS will be Kevin Eschenfelder (play-by-play) and Richard Baldinger (analyst). The game marks OSU's second television appearance in the first three weeks of the season. Eleven of OSU's 13 games during the 2007 season were televised and seven were picked up by TV in 2006.
BRYANT IS NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Oklahoma State sophomore wide receiver Dez Bryant is this week's recipient of the Walter Camp Foundation's National Offensive Player of the Week honor. Bryant exploded in the Cowboys' 56-37 win over Houston on Saturday, catching nine passes for 236 yards and three touchdowns and returning a punt 71 yards for a touchdown. With 16 catches for 326 yards and three touchdowns through two games this year, Bryant is fast emerging as one of the most dangerous offensive weapon in the country so far this season, Bryant has been involved in six plays of 29 yards or longer and is averaging 20.2 yards per touch through two games.
Scouting The Bears
Missouri State enters the Oklahoma State game 0-1 on the season. The Bears dropped their opener last week, 35-27, to Washburn. Missouri State, of the Football Championship Subdivision, is 14th nationally in total offense (433 yards per game) with MSU quarterback Cody Kirby ranking fourth in the FCS in total offense (314 yards per game).
The Series
Oklahoma State leads the all-time series with Missouri State, 5-0. All of the meetings have come since the 1993 season. The last meeting came in the 2006 season opener when the Cowboys prevailed in a 52-10 decision. While OSU has four lopsided wins in the series, the Cowboys also had a close call with the Bears in 1996 as Oklahoma State escaped with a 23-20 overtime decision. All five of the previous meetings have taken place in Stillwater.
Last Time
Oklahoma State's last game against the Missouri State Bears came Sept. 2, 2006, in the season opener for both teams. The game got off to a bang when true freshman Perrish Cox ran back the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown. That return helped propel OSU to a 38-0 halftime lead and the eventual 52-10 win. OSU outgained the Bears, 443-334.
The New Shoe
The win over Houston served as Oklahoma State's unveiling of seating for the new west end zone project of Boone Pickens Stadium. The result was a crowd of 45,001 fans. It was the largest home crowd for Oklahoma State since Oct. 29, 2005, when OSU hosted Texas before 48,035 fans. It was the largest crowd for a season opener since 2004 when the Cowboys and Tulsa played before 47,307 fans.
What Three Means
Oklahoma State has opened a football season with a 3-0 record 17 times prior to the 2008 season. Fifteen of those 3-0 starts eventually resulted in winning records and 12 of those teams went on to win at least seven games and nine of those 3-0 squads landed in bowl games. OSU got off to 3-0 starts in 2005 and 2006 under Mike Gundy.
Speaking Of Offense
Oklahoma State's staggering offensive performance against Houston included a streak of seven straight possessions resulting in touchdowns (OSU had no punts and no turnovers in the second half). The scoring streak ended with Oklahoma State taking a knee on first and goal from the Houston one-yard-line on the game's final play.
• OSU piled up 699 yards of total offense, the second highest total in Oklahoma State history. That number is topped only by the Barry Sanders-led Cowboys of 1988, who had 717 yards against Kansas.
• The Cowboys had 402 yards and 42 points in the second half alone.
• After falling behind 16-7 late in the first half, Oklahoma State scored 28 points in a span of just 7:36 on the game clock.
• Oklahoma State's 56 points represented its highest point total in a home opener since hitting Wichita State with 59 points in the 1974 season opener.
• Two Cowboy running backs, Kendall Hunter and Keith Toston, averaged at least 9.5 yards per carry and as a team OSU gained 7.4 yards per rush and 9.7 yards per snap.
• OSU was an impressive 10-of-13 on third-down conversion attempts.
• OSU recorded the 22nd best rushing game (379 yards) and the 14th best passing game (320 yards) in school history against Houston.
• The Cowboys had four touchdown drives of less than four minutes and four TD drives of four plays or less.
Topping The Charts
Oklahoma State's 699 yards of total offense against Houston on Saturday represents the best single-game total in the NCAA this season, besting Oregon's 688-yard effort against Utah State.
Making History
Oklahoma State pulled off something historical against Houston. With Kendall Hunter rushing for a career-best 210 yards and Dez Bryant grabbing nine passes for 236 yards, the Cowboys turned a rare double/double. It marked the first time that OSU has achieved a 200/200 duo and just the fifth time in NCAA history that that particular double-double has been accomplished. The last two times that a 200-yard rusher and 200-yard receiver appeared in the same game came via Wisconsin twice in 2003. Pittsburgh turned the trick in 2000 and San Diego State became the first school with a 200/200 duo in 1995.
300-200-200
Oklahoma State's 200-yard receiver and 200-yard rusher was also accompanied by a 300-yard passing effort by OSU quarterback Zac Robinson (320 yards), making the Cowboys' showing against Houston only the fourth time in NCAA history that a quarterback threw for 300 yards, a running back ran for more than 200 yards and a receiver totaled more than 200 receiving yards. The list:
Sept. 6, 2008: Oklahoma State's Zac Robinson (320 passing yards), Kendall Hunter (210 rushing yards) and Dez Bryant (236 receiving yards) vs. Houston.
Nov. 15, 2003: Wisconsin's Jim Sorgi (380 passing yards), Dwayne Smith (207 rushing yards) and Lee Evans (258 receiving yards) vs. Michigan State.
Oct. 21, 2000: Pittsburgh's John Turman (332 passing yards), Kevan Barlow (209 rushing yards) and Antonio Bryant (222 receiving yards) vs. Boston College.
Nov. 4, 1995: San Diego State's Billy Blanton (328 passing yards), George Jones (208 rushing yards) and Will Blackwell (210 receiving yards) vs. New Mexico.
Dez Is Here
If sophomore receiver Dez Bryant was still a secret heading into the Houston game, consider the word now out. Bryant's 236 receiving yards against Houston represents the second best total in OSU history and the 15th best total in the country this season. His 311 all-purpose yards are fifth best in the country in 2008. That number was boosted by a 71-yard punt return against Houston. Entering the Missouri State game, Dez Bryant is all over the Big 12 leader board and nationally he appears on five top-20 charts.
• Bryant leads the Big 12 with 242 all-purpose yards per game. He ranks fifth nationally in that category.
• Bryant leads the Big 12 with 163 receiving yards per game. He ranks fourth nationally in that category.
• Bryant is second in the Big 12 and ninth nationally with eight catches per game.
• Bryant is third in the Big 12 and No. 19 nationally with 18.7 yards per punt return.
• Bryant is third in the Big 12 and No. 12 nationally with 12 points per game (tied with fellow Cowboy sophomore Kendall Hunter).
• In 14 career games, Bryant now has nine touchdown receptions, three 100-yard receiving games, and an average of 15.98 yards per reception.
• For the current season, Bryant is averaging 20.4 yards per reception.
The Other 200
Sophomore running back Kendall Hunter turned in the nation's fourth best rushing game of the 2008 season when he went for 210 yards on just 22 carries against Houston. He had touchdown runs covering 58 and 10 yards. Against the Cougars, Hunter averaged 9.8 yards per carry. More importantly, for his career, the Tyler sophomore now averages 6.7 yards per carry (on 152 totes). In the Houston win, Hunter crossed over 1,000 yards for his career (1,013 entering the Missouri State game). He joins Zac Robinson as active Cowboys with more than 1,000 career rushing yards. Those two could soon be joined by Keith Toston, who has 918 career rushing yards. Through two games, Hunter leads the Big 12 Conference and ranks No. 4 nationally with 158.5 rushing yards per game.
The Streak Continues
Kendall Hunter's two triple-digit rushing efforts to start the 2008 season have increased OSU's streak of 100-yard rushers to 13 games. OSU's last game without a 100-yard rusher was the second game of 2007 when no OSU back reached triple digits in the 42-6 win over Florida Atlantic.
