Tulsa World: Bryant's injury felt by all

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Bryant's injury felt by all
The All-American exits with knee injury, but still sets pair of bowl records

Dez Bryant leaves the field with head team physician Dr. Val Gene Iven after a first-half injury Tuesday. Bryant caught 13 passes for 167 yards. Shane Bevel/Tulsa World

By MATT DOYLE World Sports Writer
Published: 12/31/2008 2:28 AM
Last Modified: 12/31/2008 2:38 AM

SAN DIEGO — A fog rolled into Qualcomm Stadium as the final seconds ticked off Oklahoma State's 42-31 Holiday Bowl loss to Oregon.

It was symbolic. Without Dez Bryant, OSU's offense was in a fog at crucial points in the loss to the Ducks.

Bryant was an impact player all season, and Oregon couldn't slow down the consensus All-American wide receiver in the first half.

But after an undisclosed left knee injury late in the first half, and after tweaking it again early in the fourth quarter, Bryant was sidelined. And so was the Cowboy offense.

Bryant set a Holiday Bowl record for receptions and receiving yards with 13 for 167 yards and a touchdown.

"That don't mean nothing," Bryant said. "I'd rather have a 'W' than that."

On his 13th reception, the sophomore standout reinjured his knee. The 31-yard reception on the first play of the fourth quarter helped set up Zac Robinson's 1-yard touchdown run that gave the Cowboys a 31-28 lead.

Bryant ran off the field gingerly after Robinson's touchdown. He was not on the field for OSU's next two possessions and participated in just a couple of plays on OSU's final drive.

"Obviously Dez is Dez. He's a special player," said Robinson. "Him getting hurt, hurt us a little bit. When he came back in, he wasn't moving like the same Dez."

Bryant admitted after the game he was less than 100 percent in the second half. He first got hurt with four minutes left in the first half after catching a 7-yard pass at the Oregon 25. On the catch, Bryant's right foot slipped on the Qualcomm Stadium and his left knee got twisted back.

At that point, he had nine catches for 110 yards. But as Robinson said, he did not appear to be the same explosive player after halftime as he was all season.

Bryant finished the season with 87 catches. But there is a great disparity between his reception total and the second-highest reception total for an OSU wide receiver (Damian Davis' 19).

Still, OSU coach Mike Gundy refused to use Bryant's health as an excuse.

"I'm not going to say that it doesn't affect the team when Dez goes down," Gundy said. "But we have other guys that need to step up and make plays."

Matt Doyle 581-8316
matt.doyle@tulsaworld.com By MATT DOYLE World Sports Writer

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Imaman, (12/31/2008 2:55:44 PM)

Boy those Ducks could really hit. That safety fella looked like Ronnie Lott out there. Hats off to them, they came to play and showed the boys how its done. I like Gundy telling it like it is too, the Oregon boys were just more physical, the cowboys need that kind of toughness to be a great team.

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