Injured QB Zac Robinson expected back for Sooners
Only one thing is stopping the Oklahoma State Cowboys from a shot at a berth in the Fiesta Bowl and the first BCS bowl in school history.
The Oklahoma Sooners.
The No. 11 Cowboys will invade Norman Saturday with perhaps their best team in more than a decade and certainly since Mike Gundy became head coach.
OSU safety Markelle Martin is ready for the Bedlam matchup with OU.
“It’s a fun atmosphere with the fans,” Martin said. “You feed off the fans and it’s just one of those things you just can’t wait because you know it’s going to be exciting.”
It’s hard to win at Norman during the Bob Stoops’ era. Stoops only two losses at home in 11 years have been to Texas Christian and Oklahoma State.
OSU fans think this is the year for loss No. 3.
If Texas wins its last two games against Kansas and Texas A&M and then wins the Big 12 Championship (probably against Nebraska or Kansas State), then OSU has a shot at the Fiesta Bowl. To be considered, a team must have nine wins (OSU is 9-2) and be ranked in the top 14 in the final BCS rankings.
“We hear about the chance (of a BCS berth), but we try not to listen to it,” said OSU wide receiver Justin Blackmon. “We try to take it a game at a time. You can’t overlook anybody or else you’re going to get beat.”
That task may be complicated by injuries to starting quarterback Zac Robinson, the career offense leader at OSU. Robinson suffered a concussion and a bruised shoulder against Texas Tech almost two weeks ago and did not play in a narrow 31-28 win over struggling Colorado (3-8, 2-5 in the Big 12) in Stillwater last Thursday night.
“His head is clear, somewhat, and his shoulder is sore,” OSU coach Mike Gundy said Friday about Robinson. “It’s a combination of both of those.”
Third-team quarterback Brandon Weeden rescued OSU from an 11-point second half deficit against the Buffs after backup Alex Cate went 0-9 passing and failed to move the team.
“I know there will be some talk about Alex Cate not playing real well,” Gundy said. “And he really didn’t play that well, he understands that. He had some situations that didn’t go his way. He’s very much part of this team, and he’s worked very hard. He deserved the right, and he had an opportunity to play. He’s been in this program a number of years, and we felt like he was next in line so he’s who we went with. That falls on me.
“At halftime, we felt like we needed a spark, so we made the change and put Brandon in. Brandon made some nice plays for us. He put us in position and gave us a chance to win the game, which we did.”
Robinson is expected to start against Oklahoma with Weeden probably in the wings should a problem occur. Weeden was 10 for 15 for 168 yards and two scores in the second half.
Gundy was pleased with Weeden’s work.
“He did play well,” Gundy said. “Surprised may be the right word. He’s shown signs of that, but he just hasn’t been out there enough. The last time he was out there was against Grambling, and the game was somewhat put away. You’re not really sure how a young man is going to react. He performed pretty well. He ran around and made a couple plays when protection broke down. Obviously, he gave us a chance to win the game.”
OSU has had to weather the loss of several key players for a number of games. Those include linebacker Ori Lemon (knee surgery), tight end Jamal Mosley (transfer), tailback Kendall Hunter (foot), Offensive tackle Brady Bond (ankle) and wide receiver Josh Cooper (ankle). All American split end Dez Bryant was declared ineligible for the rest of the season for lying to NCAA investigators about a meeting with Deion Sanders.
Cate and freshman wide receiver Tracy Moore became the 19th and 20th different Cowboys to start a game on the offensive side of the ball for OSU this season. It was the first-career start for both players.
Senior running back Keith Toston became the 13th different Cowboy to top 1,000 rushing yards in a season. He has 1,130 yards rushing on the year. OSU has now had a 1,000-yard rusher 18 times in its history.
The Cowboys have now had a 1,000-yard rusher in three-straight seasons for just the second time in school history. Preceding Toston were Kendall Hunter (1,555 yards in 2008) and Dantrell Savage (1,272 in 2007). Prior to that trio, OSU had three consecutive 1,000-yard rushers in 2002-03-04 (Tatum Bell in 2002 and 2003, Vernand Morency in 2004).
With 172 yards on the ground against Colorado, Toston also notched his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the season and the seventh of his career.
Adding even more to Toston’s accomplishments, he moved into the top 10 on OSU’s career rushing chart and into the top five on the school’s rushing touchdown list. He now has 2,637 career rushing yards (10th) and 27 rushing touchdowns (tied for fifth).
Perrish Cox’s 67-yard punt return for a touchdown in the opening quarter was the second punt return touchdown of his career (the other was in 2007) and his sixth career kick return for a touchdown.
Gundy is now 36-25 in his career and 2-1 all-time against Colorado. OSU is now 19-26-1 in the all-time series against Colorado. In improving to 9-2 on the season, OSU reached the nine-win mark for the ninth time in school history.
Gundy becomes just the second coach in OSU history to lead multiple teams to nine wins. The Cowboys were 9-4 under Gundy in 2008. Pat Jones guided OSU to 10-2 campaigns in 1984, 1987 and 1988.
Against Colorado, OSU wore all black uniforms (pants, jerseys) in a game for the first time since the 1994 season.
Before the Colorado game, OSU was ranked third in the country in allowing their quarterback to be sacked. The Cowboys were No. 7 in rushing defense, allowing only 89 yards per game.
Last year, OSU lost to OU 61-41 in Norman. Two turnovers proved costly as the Cowboys ran up 452 yards of total offense plus 228 kick return yards. The Sooners were able to convert 12 of 18 third downs and two of two fourth down conversions to pull away at the end of the game.
But this year, Oklahoma doesn’t have the services of Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Sam Bradford, who is recovering from shoulder surgery and All-American tight end Jermaine Gresham (out with knee surgery). Bradford passed for 370 yards against OSU in 2008 and Gresham caught nine passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns.
Robinson countered with 254 yards passing (17 of 26) for three touchdowns but one interception. Bryant had six catches for 91 yards and two touchdowns.