STILLWATER -- Saturday's Oklahoma State- Texas Tech football game will be remembered for a lot of things by the Cowboys and their fans.

The Pokes found themselves a quarterback, saw the return of their most important offensive player and watched a freshman running back act like he's been playing college football for years instead of weeks.

But most of all, Sept. 22 could go down as the day the Cowboys saved their 2007 season with a white-knuckle, come- from-behind, 49-45 win over the Red Raiders that featured some mind-boggling numbers by both teams.

And if ever there was a place that the clich?, "it's better to be lucky than good," was a perfect fit, it was this Big 12 Conference opener in front of 37,850 spectators at Boone Pickens' stadium.

Because if it wasn't for two lucky breaks -- a pair of gifts from the Red Raiders -- the Cowboys would be 1-3 and on the brink of collapse instead of 2-2 overall and 1-0 in the Big 12.

No matter how anyone tries to spin it, the Cowboys know they were fortunate as heck to win. But OSU was also due for a last-second game to go its way after being on the short end of several heartbreakers last season in the game's final minute.

Tech wide receiver Michael Crabtree personally handed the victory to OSU. The sure-handed redshirt freshman, who had a sensational game, dropped the potential game-winning touchdown pass when he was wide open in the end zone with 11 seconds left.

The inexplicable drop by Crabtree, who had 14 receptions for 237 yards and three touchdowns, came a series after a bonehead decision by Tech coach Mike Leach. With 2:44 left in the game and Tech holding a three-point lead and the ball and OSU down to one timeout, the pass-happy Leach kept right on throwing the ball instead of running it and running time off the clock.

Three incomplete passes later, OSU had the ball back and an opportunity to win it. It took sophomore quarterback Zac Robinson just one play to hit Brandon Pettigrew with a short pass that the junior tight end turned into a dazzling 54-yard, catch-and-run, game-winning touchdown.

It was the last of several exciting plays by Robinson, who was outstanding in just his second start. If he can avoid injury, Robinson left no doubt that he deserves the starting job the rest of the season after he rushed for 116 yards and two touchdowns while also throwing for 211 additional yards and to more scores.

Senior Dantrell Savage and freshman Kendall Hunter also rushed for more than 100 yards. Savage, who sat out OSU's disheartening loss at Troy because of a groin injury, proved when he's the offensive MVP as he jump-started the unit with 130 yards rushing.

And Hunter, who is a Savage clone in size and running style, looked more like a veteran than a true freshman with his nifty and powerful style while running for 113 yards.

The Pokes need Savage to stay healthy and for Robinson and Hunter to continue their rapid progress if they want to have a chance. It was obvious Saturday that OSU's struggling defense is going to force the Cowboys' offense to win a lot of high-scoring shootouts.

Thanks to Crabtree's drop and Leach's goofy play-calling, Tech lost even though the Red Raiders amassed 718 yards of total offense. That included quarterback Graham Harrell having the fourth-best performance in NCAA history when he shredded OSU's shaky secondary for 646 yards and five touchdowns.

"We won, they lost," said first-year OSU defensive coordinator Tim Beckman. "That's the way I look at it."

Uh, the offense won it, coach.

Beckman's defense improved in the second half, allowing only 10 points after putting OSU into a 35-28 hole at halftime. And it took every one of OSU's 610 yards of total offense to write a happy ending to what had been an embarrassing afternoon for the defense.

"They (defense) made the stops when they had to make them and that's why we won the game," OSU offensive coordinator Larry Fedora said. "That's the difference in the game right there."

No, it wasn't. The difference in the game was Crabtree dropping the ball, Leach letting his team down by his macho attitude of continuing to throw the ball and Fedora's excellent play-calling.

But Fedora, being a good team player, called the victory a "total team effort."

There is no way this OSU team can reach its preseason goal of winning the Big 12's South Division and going to a second straight bowl if the defense doesn't make drastic and immediate improvement.

"We have to get better," acknowledged Beckman. "It's a new defense and we've got a lot of things we're asking the kids to do.

"We've got to stop the pass better, and we've got to create a better pass rush."

If Beckman can't get that out of his defense, Saturday's amazing effort will be just one memorable win instead of a season-saving victory.