Tulsa World: Offense steamrolls Houston after halftime

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Offense steamrolls Houston after halftime

By JOHN KLEIN Senior Sports Columnist
Published: 9/7/2008 2:20 AM
Last Modified: 9/7/2008 3:33 AM

STILLWATER — When Oklahoma State got it going, it really got going.

If you were waiting to see just how good the Cowboys could be on offense, you got an eyeful in the second half of a runaway victory over Houston.

"It just kind of snowballed on them," said OSU coach Mike Gundy.

The Cougars took advantage of three OSU turnovers for a halftime lead. Then, the Cowboys exploded. Really exploded.

Super sophs Dez Bryant and Kendall Hunter were literally unstoppable in a half to be remembered as the Cowboys pounded Houston with a dizzying array of offense in a 56-37 victory Saturday night at Boone Pickens Stadium.

"It was a good night," said Gundy. "Obviously, it was much better in the second half."

The Cowboys, who had been erratic in the first six quarters of the season, were unstoppable for much of this game.

The Cowboys, playing in the expanded stadium for the first time, gave the largest crowd in three years (45,001) plenty to cheer for.

"That was great to see all of that orange and the new end zone so full," said Gundy.

After digging a 16-7 hole, OSU scored seven touchdowns on seven straight possessions.

It could have been eight. O-State was at the Houston 1 and elected to take a knee rather than score at the end of the game.

"We didn't necessarily struggle (in the first half), we just made mistakes," said Gundy.

The Cowboys gained 699 yards (they were at 701 before taking the knee in the final seconds). That's the second-highest total in school history and the most since Barry Sanders was running wild in Stillwater.

OSU ran for 379 yards, led by Hunter's 210. Keith Toston had 78 and Beau Johnson got 66. The Cougars simply could not stop the Cowboys from running.

"People know we believe in running the ball around here," said Gundy. "The running game always looks good when you have guys that can make people miss."

In addition, the Cowboys were lethal in the air. Zac Robinson threw just 21 passes but his 14 completions averaged nearly 23 yards per catch.

Houston never really stopped the Cowboys. OSU's mistakes cost it at least two more TDs in the first half.

But, in the end, it really didn't matter.

As good as Houston was at finding holes in the OSU secondary, thanks to scrambling quarterback Case Keenum, it wasn't nearly enough to hang with the high-octane Cowboys.

All of that offense, added to the three turnovers, meant OSU punted just once.

Once O-State got the jitters out, it was a wipeout.

These was nothing cheap about the way OSU was scoring after halftime. Houston gave OSU a short field just once, off a fumble.

Otherwise, these were long distances in a short amount of time.

The first four times the Cowboys got the ball in the second half, they ran up 274 yards in just 20 plays (nearly 14 yards per play).

OSU's drives went for 80, 75, 31, 86, 82 and 62 yards before Bryant returned a punt 71 yards for a 56-30 lead with about seven minutes left in the game.

Bryant, with 236 yards receiving, and Hunter, with 210 yards on the ground, became the first Cowboys to catch and run for over 200 yards in the same game.

Once OSU finally quit dropping the ball and throwing interceptions, this became a runaway rout.

The Cowboys never looked comfortable on defense against Houston's new offense modeled after Texas Tech. That may be the case for Houston opponents all season.

Keenum ran OSU ragged with his scrambles. As a result, Houston had plenty of offense for most games. They got 483 yards, 387 in the air. Most of that came after Keenum avoided the rush, bought extra time and found open receivers.

Proving that Houston really wants to be a Texas Tech clone, the Cougars threw 62 passes (35 completions). That kind of offense is usually enough to win most games. And, in Conference USA, that should keep the Cougars in the league race.

But the Cowboys offense, figuring to be one of the nation's best again this year, was in stride after digging themselves a nine-point hole in the first half.

Once OSU started hanging onto the ball, those yards translated to points and the rout was on. By JOHN KLEIN Senior Sports Columnist

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