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Dez-struction

Oklahoma State's Dez Bryant scores a touchdown as the Boone Pickens crowd celebrates Saturday. MIKE SIMONS/Tulsa World

 
By BILL HAISTEN World Sports Writer
Published: 10/5/2008  2:04 AM
Last Modified: 8/20/2009  9:56 AM


Listen to an interview with OSU coach Mike Gundy.
tulsaworld.com/sportsextra



Bryant scores 4 TDs to help crush Aggies



STILLWATER — During a Saturday night when the Oklahoma State offense was occasionally and uncharacteristically dysfunctional, wide receiver Dez Bryant was typically brilliant.

Bryant scored four touchdowns — three on pass receptions and one on a 78-yard punt return — as the 21st-ranked Cowboys remained undefeated with a 56-28 triumph over Texas A&M.

In the Big 12 opener for both teams, a Boone Pickens Stadium crowd of 51,147 saw the bumbling Aggies commit five first-half turnovers. OSU capitalized with a pair of defensive touchdowns, both on interception returns. End Ugo Chinasa scored on a 6-yarder and linebacker Patrick Lavine on a 22-yarder.

The Aggies dropped to 2-3 overall, 0-1 in conference play, while the Cowboys surged to 5-0 for only the eighth time in school history. OSU scored two defensive touchdowns for the first time since its 2001 victory at Baylor.

"In the first half, (the Cowboy defense) kept us in the game and kept the momentum from swinging in Texas A&M's favor," OSU coach Mike Gundy said. " I was really, really proud of the defense."

With quarterback Zac Robinson scoring a pair of rushing touchdowns, OSU ended a four-game losing streak against the Aggies. For the first time in 16 games, the Cowboys did not have at least one 100-yard rusher. Running back Kendall Hunter, the Big 12 rushing leader, finished with 90 on 21 carries. Gundy liked the ground-game effort of Robinson, who rushed for 66 yards.

"Our quarterback ran the football like he did when he was trying to win the job," Gundy said.

Next week, OSU faces an extremely difficult assignment — a trip to No. 4-ranked Missouri.

At first glance, a 56-point performance would seem impressive. But those who witnessed the nontelevised A&M-OSU game would testify that the Cowboy offense was only a shell of the unit that entered with national rankings of No. 1 in rushing and No. 3 in total offense.

Through four nonconference games, OSU averaged 562.5 yards. Against an A&M team that ranked 115th nationally against the run and 10th in the Big 12 in total defense, the Cowboys mustered only 401 total yards. The Aggies had 402 total yards, but they self-destructed with the first-half turnovers.

OSU was penalized 10 times for 85 yards.

On three of his five catches, Bryant scored a TD. He reached the end zone on receptions of 29, 23 and 21 yards. His highlight effort was the punt return. He escaped an Aggie tackle attempt at the OSU 32 and raced down the A&M sideline for the 78-yard touchdown. The dazzling play gave Oklahoma State a 21-0, first-quarter cushion.

In the fourth quarter, Perrish Cox's 57-yard kickoff return led to Bryant's 21-yard touchdown catch and a 49-21 Cowboy lead.

Bryant has scored 11 touchdowns this season — nine on pass receptions and two on punt returns. He is averaging 23.5 yards on punt returns.

A&M's Mike Goodson needed only eight attempts to run for 112 yards, but he got 80 on a first-quarter TD dash. Aggie quarterback Jerrod Johnson passed for 218 yards and twice connected with Ryan Tannehill for touchdowns.

The Cowboys went to the halftime locker room with a 28-7 cushion, but the score did not reflect an unexpected and glaring reality — that the Cowboy offense was mostly ineffective.

OSU managed only 146 first-half yards and only 3.1 yards per rush attempt. Before Saturday, the Aggies were terrible against the run. Against OSU, the Aggie defenders swarmed and punished ballcarriers.

Through the first three games of the season, the Cowboy defense had forced only three turnovers. Against Troy last week, OSU had three takeaways. During Saturday's first half, the OSU defense had five takeaways.

During the first seven minutes of play, Chinasa had the best sequence of his two-season career. He had a 35-yard fumble return, but OSU was unable to capitalize as Hunter was stuffed on a fourth-and-goal play from the A&M 1. Three plays later, Chinasa intercepted a tipped pass and scored on a 6-yard return.



Bill Haisten 581-8397
bill.haisten@tulsaworld.com



THE 5-0 COWBOYS



For the eighth time in school history, the Oklahoma State football program has a 5-0 start. A review of the Cowboys’ seasons in which they started 5-0 or better:

Year Start Record Bowl result
2004 5-0 7-5 Alamo Bowl loss: Ohio State 33, OSU 7
1997 6-0 8-4 Alamo Bowl loss: Purdue 33, OSU 20
1987 5-0 10-2 Sun Bowl win: OSU 35, W. Va. 33
1945 9-0 9-0 Sugar Bowl win:OSU 33, St. Mary’s (Calif.) 13
1944 5-0 8-1 Cotton Bowl win: OSU 34, TCU 0
1914 5-0 6-2-1 No bowl
1912 5-0 6-2 No bowl








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By BILL HAISTEN World Sports Writer

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Rhymeister, Tulsa (10/5/2008 9:06:51 AM)
Heard the OSU announcers talking about how Rob Glass (strength coach at Ok State) was raving how Dez Bryant did all his workouts with ease. Not sure if many people outside Stillwater know this but Glass is notorious for having brutal workouts for his athletes.

I have a friend who played basketball at Florida when Glass was there and he said hardly anyone could complete them they are so difficult!
 

 
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