STILLWATER - Oklahoma State needed a game.
The players needed to play. The coaches needed to coach. The fans needed to cheer. Everyone needed a break from the daily barrage of wild accusations and nasty allegations in a Sports Illustrated series of stories about OSU football.
OSU coach Mike Gundy said the Cowboys were "ready to get on the field and play some football."
After a painful four days of anxiety and worry, Oklahoma State got back to football.
If the purpose of SI's stories was an immediate knockout of OSU football, it fell short.
Oklahoma State alumni and fans, bonding through a simple football game, filled Boone Pickens Stadium with 59,061 fans, the largest crowd in the history of the school.
"Tonight is good evidence," OSU President Burns Hargis said on the Cowboys Football Network just prior to kickoff. "The Cowboy Nation has really come together."
Then the Cowboys responded by winning big.
Oklahoma State quarterback J.W. Walsh came ready to go, pushing the Cowboys to scores on five of their first six possessions, staking a 31-0 lead early in the second quarter as OSU ran to a 59-3 victory over Lamar on Saturday night.
"I was very proud of the Oklahoma State people and fans," Gundy said. "They were awesome. It means a lot to our players."
It was back to some degree of normal for 12th-ranked O-State, now 3-0 on the season with an off week coming up.
"Just go out in front of our crowd and play a game," Gundy said.
The Cowboys, after dealing with print and internet accusations, looked sharp on offense and got out to the big lead. Defensively, OSU wasn't dominating but good enough to put the outmanned Cardinals in a big hole.
Walsh, who earned the starting position early in the opening game three weeks ago, threw for 141 yards in the first half and ran for another 37.
However, he did make a mistake just before halftime. Lamar intercepted a pass that went off an OSU receiver's hands that led to a field goal at the buzzer to trim the halftime lead to 31-3.
"We actually started out a little flat," Gundy said. "But we got it going."
The lead was 45-3 when backup quarterback Clint Chelf took over with about seven minutes to go in the third quarter.
The Cowboys tried a wide variety of combinations and personnel groupings in the second half, setting up an off week before a trip to West Virginia to open Big 12 play on Sept. 28.
"We were able to get a number of guys in there," Gundy said.
Oklahoma State does not play at home again until Kansas State visits on Oct. 5.
Gundy may say it was all about the football but Saturday was as much for O-State fans who have also endured a tough week.
The game didn't erase the memory of the mudslinging but for about three hours OSU got to celebrate the good things about college football.
The tailgate areas around Boone Pickens Stadium were packed up to four hours before the game. Old college friends, families and others came together to celebrate the reason college football remains one of the most popular sports in the country.
Many in the tailgate areas and those in the stadium listened to an interview with Hargis on the radio just before kickoff.
"We pride ourselves in running a very highly ethical program," Hargis said. "We play by the rules on and off the field."
Hargis once again promised OSU is taking the allegations, many refuted by those accused of wrongdoing, very seriously and will thoroughly investigate.
"I want them to know we're taking this very seriously," Hargis said.
Then, he added, "We'll get it resolved one way or other as quickly as possible."
Hargis and OSU athletic director Mike Holder have repeatedly said during the past week that every allegation will be investigated by the NCAA and an independent investigating firm hired by the school.
"If there is action needs to be taken, we'll do it," Hargis said. "If we've done something we shouldn't, we will act on it."
Hargis said he has been encouraged by the defense of the program by the major players on OSU's teams in the past decade.
That includes a very public defense of the program by quarterback stars Brandon Weeden and Josh Fields in the past week.
"The people who actually got you there are taking a very different stance (than the accusers)," Hargis said.
Also, just prior to the game, a video response to the Sports Illustrated series from OSU booster Boone Pickens, released earlier in the week, was played on the stadium's video boards. Fans responded with a long standing ovation.
If anything, it appears the series of articles, rather than causing dissension or doubt, seems to have galvanized OSU alumni and fans.
That is not always the case when a school is accused of widespread wrongdoing.
However, the speedy and firm response, along with a perception from around the country that the stories have painted an unfair portrait of the school's football program, seems to have united OSU.
Where this goes is anyone's guess.
But, for the first time this season at home and after a week of uncertainty, OSU celebrated with a simple football game.
Read John Klein's blog at
tulsaworld.com/johnklein
John Klein
The tone of Oklahoma State's response to allegations has been serious and determined.
Oklahoma State will be "drug through the mud," as several OSU officials privately admitted on Monday, but the long-term impact from an NCAA investigation is still very much uncertain.
