Big performance pushes OSU to top of Big 12 rushing chart
Published: 11/8/2009 10:50 PM
Last Modified: 11/10/2009 9:20 AM
Saturday's 34-8 at Iowa State did more than just push Oklahoma State's record to 7-2 overall and 4-1 in the Big 12.
It reestablished the Cowboys as the Big 12's top ground-game team.
Entering the Iowa State game, OSU was fourth in the league in rushing. The Cyclones were the leaders at 200.3 yards. The Cowboy average was 179.1. When the teams met on Saturday, it was a mismatch in every sense – and particularly in the ground game. OSU rushed for 331 yards. Iowa State rushed for 54.
On the strength of its best rushing performance of the season, OSU vaulted from No. 4 to No. 1 on the Big 12 chart. The Cowboy average surged to 196.0 yards per game. The Cyclone average dropped to 185.7 and its ranking to No. 3.
The Cowboys are bidding for their fourth consecutive rushing title. If Keith Toston (206 yards at Iowa State) continues to run so effectively and Kendall Hunter becomes more involved, OSU has a good shot at pulling it off. The next two opponents are Texas Tech (eighth in the league in rush defense) and Colorado (ninth).
And then the question becomes this: In the Nov. 28 Bedlam clash at Norman, can Oklahoma State rush for at least 150 yards against Oklahoma? The Sooners have several problems, but its run defense is superb. OU allows only 86.8 yards per game and 2.7 per attempt.
The Cowboys and Sooners each have eight quarters of football remaining before Bedlam, but an extremely prominent match-up already is obvious. Can Toston and the Cowboys rush for chunks of yardage on Owen Field?
-- Bill Haisten
Written by
Bill Haisten
Sports Writer
