Tulsa World: Cowboys hold off Colorado, 31-28

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Cowboys hold off Colorado, 31-28

OSU quarterback Brandon Weeden throws a pass to Josh Cooper in the fourth quarter against Colorado during Thursday's game. Weeden threw for 168 yards and two touchdowns in his second half start. STEPHEN HOLMAN/Tulsa World

By BILL HAISTEN World Sports Writer
Published: 11/19/2009 7:37 PM
Last Modified: 11/19/2009 11:52 PM

Sports Editor Mike Strain’s blog: Quick thoughts immediately after OSU's win. Flashing back to Weeden's high school days.

STILLWATER – On Senior Night at Boone Pickens Stadium, Oklahoma State was saved by a 26-year-old sophomore.

As of last week, Brandon Weeden was No. 3 on the Cowboys’ quarterback depth chart. As of Thursday night, he was the biggest reason why 12th-ranked OSU rallied from a 21-10 deficit to conquer Colorado 31-28.

Weeden threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes, connecting with running back Keith Toston on a 47-yarder and with wide receiver Justin Blackmon on a 28-yarder.

With 5:21 left to play, OSU linebacker Patrick Lavine stripped the football from Colorado tailback Demetrius Sumler. Cornerback Perrish Cox recovered for OSU, and the Cowboys held on to prevail in spite of a mistake-filled performance.

“Never a dull moment, huh? It was quite an effort by our team,” OSU coach Mike Gundy said. “We made a number of mistakes tonight. We made how many turnovers? We made so many, I stopped counting.”

In spite of four turnovers, Oklahoma State has recorded six conference victories for the first time in school history. In advance of next week’s Bedlam test at Oklahoma, the Cowboys — in spite of numerous injuries and the Dez Bryant suspension — are 9-2 overall, 6-1 in the Big 12.

Cowboy quarterback Zac Robinson was sidelined with a bruised shoulder. Junior Alex Cate got the first start of his career, and it didn’t go well. During the first half, Cate was 0-of-9 passing with an interception.

Through two poorly played quarters, Colorado led 14-10. Gundy made what turned out to be a pretty important halftime adjustment — to go with Weeden at quarterback.

An Edmond native and a former pitcher in the New York Yankee and Los Angeles Dodger organizations, Weeden was 10-of-15 passing for 168 yards.

Before finding Blackmon for what turned out to be the winning touchdown, Weeden converted on two critical throws. On third-and-11 from the OSU 26-yard line, he passed to tight end Justin Horton for a gain of 18 yards. And on third-and-9 from the OSU 45, Weeden lofted a 27-yard toss to Hubert Anyiam.

When Weeden was asked whether he was surprised by his ability to rally the Cowboys, Weeden replied, “To be honest with you, no. I’m more of a game-type player.”

The decision to start Cate ahead of Weeden, Gundy said, “falls on me as the head coach. (Cate) deserved the chance to go out and play. At halftime, we felt like needed a spark. Brandon did a nice job. He did play well.”

Toston had a big night on the ground, running 30 times for 172 yards. In the process, he became the 13th OSU back to reach the 1,000 mark in single-season yards. His total stands at 1,130.

In the first game he ever played at Boone Pickens Stadium, as a first-year freshman in 2006, Cox scored on a kickoff return. And in the final game he will play at Boone Pickens Stadium, he scored on a 67-yard punt return, giving the Cowboys an early 7-0 lead over Colorado.

The Oklahoma State defense totaled four sacks and limited the Buffs to 251 total yards. The Cowboys are seventh nationally in rushing defense. Colorado rushed for only 13 yards.

Those were the highlights. Among the setbacks was Toston’s lost fumbles on OSU’s first offensive play of the game, Kendall Hunter’s lost fumble and Cox’s muffed punt that was recovered by the Buffaloes.

On three occasions, the Cowboys gambled on fourth-down plays. They were 0-of-3. With 3:14 left to play, on fourth-and-1 from the Buffaloes’ 39, Weeden rolled to his left and was dropped for a loss of 3 yards.

“Terrible,” Gundy said of OSU’s fourth-down failures. “It’s poor coaching.”

For Colorado (3-8, 2-5 Big 12), sophomore quarterback Tyler Hansen threw two touchdown passes and junior QB Cody Hawkins threw one. In the fourth quarter, Brian Lockridge scored on a 98-yard kickoff return, giving the Buffs a 28-24 advantage.

Weeden answered by driving Oklahoma State 73 yards and passing to Blackmon for the victory-clinching touchdown.

“I was really proud of our players and coaches for the way they competed,” Colorado coach Dan Hawkins said. “But it’s a tough loss.”

Bill Haisten 581-8397

bill.haisten@tulsaworld.com

By BILL HAISTEN World Sports Writer

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COMMENTS

Reader comments for this story have been moved to the most updated version of the story, now under the headline "OSU football: Backup power," which was published on 11/20/2009. So far, 67 comments have been made.

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