Tulsa World: Bryant no longer surprises Cowboys

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Bryant no longer surprises Cowboys
Making dazzling plays is commonplace for receiver.

By BILL HAISTEN World Sports Writer
Published: 11/28/2008 2:27 AM
Last Modified: 11/28/2008 2:42 AM

Making dazzling plays is commonplace for receiver.

STILLWATER — While television viewers might have marveled at Dez Bryant's one-handed touchdown catch in the Nov. 15 Colorado game, and while Boone Pickens Stadium occupants might have been dazzled by his SportsCenter-top-play punt-return touchdown against Texas A&M on Oct. 4, his coaches and teammates say they've seen many comparable feats.

"Nobody on our team is surprised when Dez does something like that," Oklahoma State co-offensive coordinator Gunter Brewer says. "We see it all the time on the practice field. He's an unbelievable athlete."

Bryant, OSU safety Ricky Price said recently, is "a freak of nature."

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops: "Dez Bryant is a great player. A great, great athlete. One of those special guys that you really have to be aware of."

If the 11th-ranked Cowboys have a chance to topple the third-ranked Sooners in Saturday's Bedlam showdown, "we have to score touchdowns," OSU co-offensive coordinator Trooper Taylor said. "We won't win the ballgame if we have to kick field goals."

For touchdowns, OSU relies heavily on the 6-foot-2, 215-pound Bryant, a sophomore who is one of three national finalists for the Biletnikoff Award, given annually to the best wide receiver in college football.

With 18 TDs (16 on receptions on two on punt returns), Bryant is seventh nationally in scoring.

With 111.1 receiving yards per game, he leads the Big 12 and ranks fourth nationally. His season totals: 68 catches, 1,222 yards (18.0-yard average).

"Dez has had pretty good statistics for having two (defenders) on him for the last six weeks," Cowboy coach Mike Gundy said. "He still gets upset at times because he wants the ball all the time, and that's fine. He'll settle down 10 seconds later."

On punt returns, Bryant leads the Big 12 and ranks third nationally with a 17.9-yard average. In home games, he has averaged 22.6 yards on punt returns.

"If I do make a big play on special teams, (the Sooners) probably won't kick it to me again," Bryant said. "But if they kick it to me, I'm down to make a big play."

A product of Lufkin (Texas) High School, Bryant capped his freshman season with a nine-catch, 117-yard, two-touchdown performance against Indiana in the Insight Bowl.

"For other guys, it's a gradual thing — the adjustment from high school to college football," Taylor said. "Dez came in here with great strength and the confidence that he could compete right away."

This year, Bryant has become a big-play specialist. Against Houston, he had TD catches of 39, 29 and 74 yards, along with a 71-yard punt-return touchdown. He finished with 236 receiving yards. Against Texas A&M, he had three touchdown catches and scored on a 78-yard punt return.

Against Baylor: 11 catches, 212 yards, two TDs.

Against Iowa State: four TDs, 171 receiving yards.

Against Colorado, Bryant scored the first road-game touchdown of his career — and he did it on the most difficult catch of his career. On a third-and-9 play, while on a crossing pattern, Bryant needed only his right hand to collect a high and hard-thrown Zac Robinson pass.

"It's not just that Dez has really big hands, and he does have really big hands," Brewer said. "It's that he has really good hands."

Bryant sped beyond the reach of Colorado defenders and dived into the end zone for the 29-yard touchdown.

"The first day I saw (Bryant) on campus was over here on the grass practice field, and he didn't look like a freshman," OSU athletic director Mike Holder recalls. "(Running back) Kendall Hunter was throwing him some passes, and Kendall obviously is not a quarterback. The first one was way over Dez's head, out of his reach, but he reached up and caught it with one hand. It kind of looked like (former OSU All-American) Hart Lee Dykes.

"I'm just a fan, but I see Hart Lee Dykes as having been a bigger version of Dez Bryant. Dez is just a sophomore, but he's done some pretty special things since he's been here. And I love his smile. He's usually in a good mood — unless you're not throwing the ball to him."

In road games against Missouri, Texas and Texas Tech, Bryant was neutralized. Shadowed on most plays by both a cornerback and safety, he did not score and averaged only 12.2 yards per catch.

With defensive backs who so effectively guarded and tackled Texas Tech's receivers last week, Oklahoma will make it a priority to stifle Bryant's productivity on Saturday.

Comparing Bryant to Texas Tech's Michael Crabtree (another Biletnikoff finalist), Sooner defensive coordinator Brent Venables said, "I think both of them are terrific players. They're beasts and make it very difficult to defend."

Bill Haisten 581-8397
bill.haisten@tulsaworld.com By BILL HAISTEN World Sports Writer

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