Tulsa World: Cowboys rise above loss to Red Raiders

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Cowboys rise above loss to Red Raiders

By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Columnist
Published: 11/16/2008 2:22 AM
Last Modified: 11/16/2008 3:18 AM

BOULDER, Colo. — Show up and Cowboy up.

That's what the curious among the 46,092 spectators at Folsom Field and a national television audience wanted to check out about Oklahoma State's football team here Saturday night.

Oh, there was no doubt that OSU would make an appearance for its Big 12 Conference contest against Colorado. It was the next game on the schedule.

But there's showing up and then there's Cowboy-ing up.

To those of you who are not OSU alums, fans or are simply not in the know, you may wonder what this Cowboy-up deal is all about.

Here's what it's about: OSU 30, Colorado 17.

To Cowboy up can mean a lot of things. Get up when you've been knocked down. When the going gets tough, prove you're tougher. Don't ever give up. Do the best with the hand you're dealt.

A week earlier, OSU had been knocked down like it hadn't been yet this season. And the huge question coming out of that 56-20 pasting at No. 2 Texas Tech was if the Pokes had been knocked out.

After all, their goal of a Big 12 title, born during last spring's practices and nurtured during the first nine exciting weeks of the season, died with that spanking in Lubbock.

So with this new, lower-expectations hand they held, would the Pokes deal with it? Or would they allow a mediocre Colorado team to deliver the final blow to a season that held so much promise just a few weeks earlier?

The answer came in the 13-point victory against the Buffaloes. This

band of OSU players demonstrated they understood totally what it means when they are told to Cowboy up.

Their goals may not be what they hoped and dreamed. But the win over the Buffs left the Cowboys with a whole lot more opportunities than would have been available had they allowed Colorado to turn the contest into a classic trap game for OSU.

Sometimes the toughest games to win are the ones you're expected to handle. Especially ones against a team like Colorado, which came in 5-5 overall and 2-4 in the Big 12 standings. But the Buffs were 5-1 at home, and were on an emotional high because they were saying goodbye to the 15 seniors who were playing their final home game. And if CU could upset No. 11 OSU and win in two weeks at Nebraska, they would be in excellent shape for a solid postseason bowl bid.

OSU wasn't the only team fighting to make sure its season ended the right way. And boy howdy, do these Cowboys have an opportunity now.

Their latest win improved them to 9-2 overall and 5-2 in the Big 12. It allowed them to become only the seventh team in school history to win nine games.

But 11 is the number the Cowboys have in mind now. A Bedlam win over Oklahoma Nov. 29 in Stillwater and a bowl victory would allow coach Mike Gundy's fourth team at OSU to become the first in history to win 11 games.

After the grit and talent they showed last night, it would be a mistake to count OSU out against the No. 5 Sooners (9-1, 5-1).

OSU's grit was demonstrated repeatedly against the Buffs. Unlike the Tech game, the Cowboys answered every challenge.

The prime example came when Colorado cut OSU's lead to 20-10 in the third quarter on a fluke play. On a fourth-and-10 at OSU's 29, it looked like the Cowboys had ended the drive when a Poke defender batted away quarterback Cody Hawkins' pass. But the tipped ball fell right into the hands of wide receiver Scotty McKnight for one of those goofy touchdowns that can break a team's spirit.

But OSU shrugged it off by putting together an eight-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that was capped by quarterback Zac Robinson's 12-yard run. The drive was kept alive when OSU tight end Brandon Pettigrew took a vicious hit on a pass pattern over the middle, but still held on for a 20-yard gain.

The Cowboys were also operating during part of that drive without tailback Kendall Hunter, who suffered a leg injury midway through the series. With backup Keith Toston also out, third-team tailback Beau Johnson picked up the load.

Robinson, Pettigrew, Hunter and wide receiver Dez Bryant delivered on offense when they were needed. And an OSU defense that was riddled by Tech's high-octane offense also played a huge role in the victory as the defenders held CU to 304 yards of offense and set up one touchdown with a fumble recovery.

So the offensive stars took over when they were needed. And a much-maligned defense fought back when most had counted them out after their beatdown at Tech.

That's the sign of a true team effort. Or in the case of OSU, it's a sign of players who know how to Cowboy up. By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Columnist

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