Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State Post-Game Notes vs. Louisiana
September 03, 2011 | Cowboy Football
Sept. 3, 2011
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Oklahoma State Post-Game Notes vs. Louisiana
Boone Pickens Stadium – Stillwater, Okla. – Sept. 3, 2011
:: Oklahoma State is now 65-40-5 all time in season openers, including 6-1 under head coach Mike Gundy. The Cowboys last loss to open a season came in 2007 at Georgia.
:: OSU extended its record of winning home openers to 16 games, a streak that dates back to 1995.
:: In his seventh season at his alma mater, Mike Gundy is now 48-29, leaving him two wins shy of becoming the third coach in OSU history to reach 50 victories.
:: The Cowboys improved to 8-0 all time against Louisiana.
:: With 61 points against Louisiana, OSU reached the 60-point mark for the fourth time under Gundy. The Cowboys have now topped 50 points 13 times under their current head coach.
:: Saturday's attendance of 55,382 was the largest ever in a home opener at Boone Pickens Stadium (surpassing the 2009 opener vs. Georgia) and the fifth-largest crowd in OSU history.
:: Serving as OSU captains for tonight's game were quarterback Brandon Weeden, offensive lineman Grant Garner, safety Markelle Martin and safety Kyle Hale.
:: Five defensive players made their first-career starts for OSU tonight – linebackers Caleb Lavey and Alex Elkins, tackle Christian Littlehead, cornerback Justin Gilbert and safety Daytawion Lowe – while the Cowboys had a pair of first-time starters on offense in tackle Parker Graham and tight end Justin Horton.
:: Senior Wilson Youman saw action on both sides of the ball for the Cowboys, lining up as a tight end on offense and at defensive end on defense, and also contributed on special teams.
:: Junior offensive guard Lane Taylor saw his streak of consecutive starts come to an end at 24. He entered the game tied with safety Markelle Martin for the longest starting streak on the squad. Martin extended his streak to 25.
:: Sophomore cornerback Devin Hedgepeth recorded the first interception of his career in the first quarter.
:: Senior Justin Blackmon recorded the 13th 100-yard receiving game of his career with a 144-yard effort. However, his NCAA record streak of 100 yards with at least one touchdown ended at 12 games as he failed to find the end zone.
:: Junior Tracy Moore set career highs with seven catches for 112 yards, besting his previous highs of four catches (vs. Iowa State, 2009) and 55 yards (vs. Texas Tech, 2010).
:: Justin Blackmon and Tracy Moore both recorded 100-yard receiving games to mark the sixth time in OSU history two players have reached the century mark in the same game. Blackmon has been a part of four of those games.
:: Senior Josh Cooper's 15-yard touchdown reception extended his streak of games with at least one catch to 18.
:: Sophomore Joseph Randle recorded a career high with129 rushing yards. His previous best was 95 against Texas Tech.
:: Sophomore Jeremy Smith's rushing touchdown in the second quarter marks the fifth-straight game that the Cowboy tailback has rushed for a score.
:: Senior Brandon Weeden recorded the eighth 300-yard passing game of his career, extending his school record. His 388 yards were the ninth-highest single-game total in OSU history.
:: Weeden also moved into the fourth spot on OSU's career passing chart and into sixth place in total offense. He now has 4,912 passing yards, needing just 88 to become the fourth Cowboy to top the 5,000-yard mark, and is at 4,867 yards of total offense.
:: Senior Markelle Martin tied his career high with nine tackles. He also registered nine stops against Ole Miss in the 2010 Cotton Bowl.
:: A host of Cowboys played in their first-career games, including seven true freshmen (Josh Stewart, Ryan Simmons, James Castleman, Nico Ornelas, Desmond Roland, Jimmy Bean, Lyndell Johnson) and five JUCO transfers (Ryan Robinson, Alex Elkins, Michael Bowie, Caleb Thyer and Maurice Hayes). Others seeing the first action of their careers were Joe Aska Jr., Kevin Johnson, Teddy Johnson, Kye Staley, Daniel Koenig, Joe Okafor and Diamonte Wheeler.
