OSU Talking points
BY JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer
Wednesday, December 05, 2012
12/05/12 at 5:41 AM
What happened?
OSU has owned Baylor, winning six consecutive games and 15 of 16 in the series before falling 41-34 in a regular-season finale.
Was it Bedlam hangover that doomed the Cowboys?
Were they not prepared to play for whatever reason?
Here's a best guess on why Baylor was able to end OSU's hex: The Bears were better than the Cowboys at offensive skill positions.
Baylor quarterback Nick Florence is the national leader in total offense.
Baylor receiver Terrance Williams is the national leader in receiving yards.
Baylor running back and Oregon transfer Lache Seastrunk (178 rushing yards and a game-breaking touchdown run vs. OSU) was once among the nation's top recruits.
The Bears had more bullets than the Cowboys and it showed.
What happened, part II?
An everything-went-wrong weekend continued when, after a loss to Baylor, OSU failed to be rewarded with a bowl trip that is synonymous with a third-place finish in the Big 12 standings.
OSU and Texas tied for third place. The Cowboys were chosen by the Heart of Dallas Bowl, which had the No. 8 pick in the bowl pecking order. That means a lot of higher-echelon bowls looked at OSU and found a reason to go another direction. Ticket sales are obviously of huge importance to bowls, but wouldn't the Cowboys send more fans to Arizona or San Diego than the schools (TCU, Baylor) headed to those locales?
OSU will play a Jan. 1 bowl game on fertile recruiting ground. That's not a horrible thing if you can forget about the circumstances that led to it. But, Boone Pickens, who last year said he would launch a probe if the Cowboys didn't play in the BCS title game, might want to launch an investigation into whether anything could have been done to prevent his favorite team from plummeting on bowl selection day.
Something to watch
This is what Mike Gundy said after OSU's bowl pairing with Purdue was announced: "I'm sure Purdue is excited about being there. Bowl games are about competing. The teams that play well in bowl games are the ones that want to be there and really want to play one more game."
Purdue won three consecutive games at season's end to secure bowl eligibility. The Boilermakers are likely glad to be playing anywhere since they are fortunate that pads and helmets haven't already been turned in to the equipment manager.
How excited will OSU players be to play in the Heart of Dallas Bowl? The Cowboys played on a much bigger stage last season when they beat Stanford in the Fiesta Bowl. And they'll enter this bowl game on a two-game losing streak.
Senior defensive end Cooper Bassett was so emotional after the Baylor game that you could tell winning and losing means something to him. If Bassett's outlook is contagious - and he's a team leader - then his teammates will do more than go through the motions in Dallas.
Cowboys by the numbers
4,001: Passing yards accumulated by OSU in a season in which three quarterbacks started games.
31: Team-leading consecutive starts by linebacker Shaun Lewis. Cornerback Brodrick Brown's 38-game streak of starts was snapped against Baylor.
7: OSU extended its school record of consecutive bowl trips to seven.
4-2: OSU's bowl record under Mike Gundy.
OSU STATISTICS
|
OSU |
OPP |
| Scoring |
536 |
353 |
| Per game |
44.7 |
29.4 |
| First downs |
318 |
287 |
| by rushing |
138 |
106 |
| by passing |
163 |
158 |
| by penalty |
17 |
23 |
| Rushing yards |
2586 |
1687 |
| Avg. per game |
215.5 |
140.6 |
| Passing yards |
4001 |
3428 |
| Avg. per game |
333.4 |
285.7 |
| Offensive plays |
939 |
962 |
| Total yards |
6587 |
5115 |
| Avg. per play |
7.0 |
5.3 |
| Avg. per game |
548.9 |
426.2 |
| Kick returns-Yds |
43-1087 |
27-680 |
| Punt returns-Yds |
34-339 |
16-197 |
| Interceptions-Yds |
9-131 |
16-226 |
| Fumbles-Lost |
14-6 |
16-8 |
| Penalties-Yds |
76-715 |
76-553 |
| Punts-Avg. |
41-45.8 |
71-41.6 |
| 3rd downs |
81-172 |
73-200 |
| 4th downs |
6-13 |
14-27 |
| Sacks by-Yds |
22-153 |
10-56 |
Individual leaders
Y/A=Yards/attempt; Y/G=Yards/game
| RUSHING |
No. |
Yds |
Y/A |
Y/G |
TD |
| J. Randle |
257 |
1351 |
5.3 |
112.6 |
14 |
| J. Smith |
64 |
331 |
5.2 |
27.6 |
7 |
| J. Walsh |
49 |
277 |
5.7 |
30.8 |
7 |
| PASSING |
C-A-Int |
Yds |
Y/G |
TD |
| C. Chelf |
102-175-6 |
1391 |
198.7 |
12 |
| J. Walsh |
104-156-3 |
1478 |
164.2 |
11 |
| W. Lunt |
80-128-7 |
1096 |
219.2 |
6 |
| RECEIVING |
No. |
Yds |
Y/A |
Y/G |
TD |
| J. Stewart |
96 |
1154 |
12.0 |
96.2 |
7 |
| C. Moore |
31 |
500 |
16.1 |
41.7 |
5 |
| B. Jackson |
28 |
565 |
20.2 |
47.1 |
2 |
| J. Randle |
28 |
224 |
8.0 |
18.7 |
0 |
| A. Hays |
25 |
369 |
14.8 |
41.0 |
2 |
| PUNT RETURNS |
No. |
Yds |
Avg. |
TD |
| C. Moore |
20 |
145 |
7.2 |
0 |
| KICK RETURNS |
No. |
Yds |
Avg. |
TD |
| J. Gilbert |
30 |
792 |
26.4 |
1 |
| KICKING |
FG-A |
Long |
PAT |
| Q. Sharp |
25-31 |
51 |
65-65 |
| DEFENSE |
Tackles |
TFL |
Sacks |
INT |
FR |
| A. Elkins |
73 |
3.5 |
1.5 |
0 |
0 |
| D. Lowe |
68 |
2.5 |
1.0 |
2 |
0 |
| S. Gary |
65 |
1.0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| J. Gilbert |
57 |
2.0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| B. Brown |
57 |
1.0 |
1.0 |
0 |
0 |
| S. Lewis |
56 |
7.5 |
2.5 |
0 |
1 |
UP NEXT
Heart of Dallas Bowl: Oklahoma State (7-5) vs. Purdue (6-6)
11 a.m. Jan. 1 at Cotton Bowl
TV: ESPNU-253
Radio: KFAQ am1170
SCHEDULE
Tickets: tulsaworld.com/osusports
Sept. 1: vs. Savannah State W, 84-0
Sept. 8: at Arizona L, 59-38
Sept. 15: vs. La.-Lafayette W, 65-24
Sept. 29: vs. Texas L, 41-36
Oct. 13: at Kansas W, 20-14
Oct. 20: vs. Iowa State W, 31-10
Oct. 27: vs. TCU W, 36-14
Nov. 3: at Kansas State L, 44-30
Nov. 10: vs. West Virginia W, 55-34
Nov. 17: vs. Texas Tech W, 59-21
Nov. 24: at Oklahoma L , 51-48 OT
Dec. 1: at Baylor (FX-35) L , 41-34
Heart of Dallas Bowl
Jan. 1: vs. Purdue (ESPNU) 11 a.m.
Associated Images:
Oklahoma State's Shaun Lewis (11) and Ryan Simmons question a call as Baylor's Nick Florence scores a touchdown Saturday in Waco, Texas. MIKE SIMONS / Tulsa World
Oklahoma State's Cooper Bassett (80) tries to fire the team up before their game against Baylor. MIKE SIMONS / Tulsa World
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