TULSA WORLD HOMEPAGE | Tuesday, February 09, 2010 | WIRELESS
CONTACT US | SUBSCRIBER SERVICES | SIGN IN SIGN OUT | MY PROFILE PAGE | MY ACCOUNT

Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on RSS
Sports Extra!
Follow us on ...
OU | OSU | TU | ORU | HIGH SCHOOLS | COLLEGE FOOTBALL | COLLEGE BASKETBALL | NFL | FANTASY | OUTDOORS | GOLF | PROS | ALL




SPORTS EXTRA BLOGS
    Sports Editor
Mike Strain
Sports Columnist
Dave Sittler
The Picker
Entertaining & Infuriating

LOCAL PROS

ALL SPORTS

PHOTOS & VIDEOS

OUTDOORS

FIND A STORY

EMAIL ALERTS

SOCIAL MEDIA

RSS FEEDS

CONTACT US
BUY PHOTOS & PAGES

TULSA WORLD

ADVERTISE ON SPORTS EXTRA



Newspaper View Newspaper View      Print this story Print      Email this story Email     
Share      Bookmark Bookmark

Big play flavor: OSU displays difference-making plays in spring game

OSU receiver Justin Horton stiff-arms defensive back Markelle Martin on his way to a touchdown in the third quarter of the Cowboys' Orange/White game on Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater. Horton caught the pass from running back Keith Toston on a trick play. STEPHEN HOLMAN/Tulsa World

 
By BILL HAISTEN World Sports Writer
Published: 4/19/2009  2:24 AM
Last Modified: 8/21/2009  9:17 AM

 STILLWATER — Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy described the Orange-White game as having been "a little bit vanilla," but there were a few big plays.

For the Orange squad, which capped OSU's spring-practice period with a 20-15 victory at Boone Pickens Stadium, running back Keith Toston threw a 42-yard, trick-play touchdown pass to tight end Justin Horton. For the White team, linebacker Donald Booker scored on a 43-yard, fourth-quarter interception return.

White linebacker Andre Sexton sacked Alex Cate for a safety. Orange wide receiver Hubert Anyiam caught a short Zac Robinson pass, broke to the outside, benefited from a nice block by redshirt freshman wideout Isaiah Anderson and rolled downfield for a 52-yard gain.

All-American wide receiver Dez Bryant did not play as he continues to recover from January knee surgery. Anyiam, a third-year sophomore, had his best outing of the spring — six receptions for 106 yards. No other wide receiver had more than two catches.

"(Anyiam) had a couple of drops that concern me a little bit, but that's part of the maturation process that he has to go through," Gundy said. "He's a guy we're counting on. He did make some plays when he had the ball in his hands."

Anyiam excelled in spite of having sustained a sprained thumb during the first quarter.

"After the (52-yard) play, I was asking who was on the left side of me because it was a good block," Anyiam said. "I told Isaiah it was a good block. It it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have made that play.

"I don't care how many yards I had. All that matters is that we won. But, yeah, I did have a pretty good day."

Gundy seemed less than thrilled with the play of his backup quarterbacks. For the White, Weeden was 15-of-25 for 102 yards. He connected with DeMarcus Conner for a 25-yard touchdown. For the Orange, Cate was 10-of-19 for 87 yards.

During most spring scrimmages, Weeden was more efficient and productive than he was on Saturday.

"I didn't think either (of the backup QBs) played particularly well," Gundy said. "I think at times they were under a good amount of pressure.

"For a while there, I thought Weeden was going to step up and take that (No. 2) role. (In the Orange-White game), I'm not sure that he did. We'll go through summer and let those guys compete."

Orange defensive end Jeremiah Price apparently didn't get the memo explaining that quarterbacks were not to be hit. Price twice whacked Weeden. The first sack resulted in a fumble.

"Jeremiah has had a good spring. Jeremiah is 267 (pounds) now. He played at 250 last year," Gundy said. "The offense is at a disadvantage in a spring game. You're playing offensive linemen who don't (usually) play a lot. There are going to be some sacks. But I will say that our defensive line is better."

A crowd of 12,000 watched Robinson, OSU's senior quarterback and the holder of the school record for total offense, play in three series. During his final series, Robinson connected with Anyiam for 16 yards and with tight end Wilson Youman for 17. Toston ended the 76-play drive with a 10-yard touchdown run, giving the Orange a 10-0 cushion.

"I think it was a great spring for us," Robinson said. "I think the defense got better. On offense, we were without a few guys, but it was good to see some guys step up and make plays. We're going to need them — guys like (redshirt freshman wide receiver) Justin Blackmon and all of those running backs we have."

A senior, Toston has never attempted a game pass while at OSU. His touchdown throw to Horton was slightly underthrown, but Horton was so open that it didn't matter.

"We ran the play and got the job done," Toston said. "It was a pretty ugly pass, but it got to him and he wound up scoring."

Said Gundy: "The coaches are notorious for putting in trick plays for the spring game. They're also notorious for stealing each other's signals. I saw some of that going on late in the game. The game was a little bit vanilla on both sides, just because (of the extensive involvement of inexperienced backups). But we let them execute some trick plays and have some fun."

Kendall Hunter, last season's Big 12 rushing leader, missed the Orange-White game to attend his sister's wedding in Texas.

For the White team, running backs Kye Staley and Beau Johnson rushed for a combined total of 67 yards. Redshirt freshman Travis Miller was the Orange rushing leader with 72 yards on 12 attempts. Toston netted 48 yards on four carries.

"We were excited about the plays that those some of those young guys made," Gundy said. "I was particularly pleased with the way our young running backs competed."

Because of weather warnings, the second half was played at a quick pace. Within minutes of the game's conclusion, a thunderstorm belted Stillwater.

Slide Show




To see all of the Tulsa World slide shows, go to tulsaworld.com/photos.
Bill Haisten 581-8397
bill.haisten@tulsaworld.com
By BILL HAISTEN World Sports Writer

Newspaper View Newspaper View      Print this story Print      Email this story Email     
Share      Bookmark Bookmark


COMMENTS 
      Add your comment Show: Most Recent Comment First

2 comments have been made for this team so far. Tell us what you think below!
Report Comment Reporting Comments

If you see a comment that violates our terms and conditions, please help us by clicking the "Report this Comment" link next to a comment. That will alert the web staff to review the comment. Thank you.  -- Web Editor Jason Collington
 

 
Some reader comments for this story were copied from "OSU shows off big play flavor in Orange-White game," which was published on 4/18/2009.
Report Comment
Dr. Strangelove, Tulsa (4/18/2009 11:41:05 PM)
It was fun, I thought our defense looked better, which accounted for some of the issues with the backups. I'm hopeful.
Report Comment
MexiMike, tulsa (4/19/2009 12:34:02 PM)
This is the second year in a row I left at halftime because of the weather. Ugh...
 

 
Add Your Comment 
In order to post a comment on this article, you must sign in to Tulsaworld.com. If you do not have a site account, you can create an account for free.

 
Post Your Comment
 



Home | About Tulsa World | Advertise With Us | Privacy | Usage Agreement | FAQ and Help | Contact Us | Today's Headlines
Copyright © 2010, World Publishing Co. All rights reserved.