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OSU overpowered
Gundy: the Sooners ''had a little too much firepower on offense.''
  
By BILL HAISTEN World Sports Writer
Published: 11/30/2008  2:23 AM
Last Modified: 11/30/2008  2:29 AM

Gundy: the Sooners ''had a little too much firepower on offense.''



STILLWATER This crazy Bedlam game Saturday's 61-41 triumph for third-ranked Oklahoma at Boone Pickens Stadium perfectly defined the state of the Oklahoma State football program.

While the OSU offense can compete at the highest level, the defense has not kept pace.

Against the Sooners, the Cowboys averaged 7.0 yards per play and finished with 452 total yards, but the defense simply could not make the plays necessary for 11th-ranked OSU to record what would have been a nationally televised upset. It was the sixth consecutive Bedlam setback for the Cowboys.

"(OSU players) are very emotional right now justifiably so," Cowboy coach Mike Gundy said.

In the 103rd Bedlam game, 102 points were scored. It was the greatest combined Bedlam scoring total in series history. During a second-half span of 18 minutes and 55 seconds, the teams scored a combined eight touchdowns.

The previous highest Bedlam scoring total was 89 points in 1977, when the Sooners prevailed 61-28.

Twice during Saturday's fourth quarter, the Cowboys trailed by only three points at 37-34 following Dez Bryant's 17-yard touchdown catch, and at 44-41 when Perrish Cox scored on a 90-yard kickoff return.

But when the Cowboys were desperate for a stop by their defense, it didn't happen.

In the final seven minutes, OU surged to victory with three scoring possessions (two touchdowns and a field goal). After punting three times during the first period, the Sooners got points on each of their eight subsequent possessions. The Cowboy defense did inherit some tough situations as the offense committed three turnovers.

"We were down a number of times and fought back," Gundy said. "(The Sooners) had a little too much firepower on offense. . . . Some of their (offensive linemen) just wore us down a little bit.

"We've got to move on and take a few days to get over this. Latter part of next week, start bowl practice and move to the next step."

OSU (9-3 overall, 5-3 Big 12) will not learn its bowl destination until Dec. 7. It is believed that the Cowboys most likely are in line for the Holiday Bowl in San Diego and the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio.

The Cowboys' only losses this season were dealt by teams that at the time were ranked No. 1 nationally (Texas), No. 2 (Texas Tech) and No. 3 (OU).

For the fourth time in seven weeks, the Oklahoma State defense was matched with an opponent led by a quarterback who came in as a Heisman Trophy candidate. In road games, OSU had beaten Missouri's Chase Daniel while losing to Texas' Colt McCoy and Texas Tech's Graham Harrell.

This time, it was Oklahoma's Sam Bradford.

In a general sense, Bradford was very good 30-of-44 passing, 370 yards, four touchdowns. On third-down plays, he was brilliant.

At one point, Bradford had completed 10-of-12 third-down passes for 173 yards. He occasionally was pressured on his 44 pass attempts, but was not sacked or intercepted.

The Cowboys finished the regular season with a total of only 13 sacks.

OSU entered Bedlam with a national ranking of No. 105 in pass defense. That deficiency was a huge factor as the Sooners scored the most points by a visiting opponent since Aug. 31, 1995, when OSU's Bob Simmons era began with a 64-21 loss to Nebraska.



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

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Rhymeister, Tulsa (11/30/2008 11:39:19 PM)
I thought Ok State played well but that ill-advised first pick by Robinson took a lot of the wind out of OSU's sails, esp after the defense put up a 3-and-out and had Bradford very confused all the way to the start of the second half.

But they have to get better on defense to do the things they want to do, which is win Big 12 championships and content for nat'l titles. On the other hand the offense needed to play error free which they did not as that put more pressure on the defense...
 

 
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