Published: August 30, 2008 10:46 pm         

Right direction

• Cowboys kick off season by routing Cougars in Seattle

SEATTLE — Oklahoma State will go into its second week of the 2008 football season undefeated.

OSU topped Washington State, 39-13, on Saturday at Qwest Field in front of 50,830 fans. The Cowboys pressed WSU early, holding their opponent scoreless at the half but earning 15 points for themselves.

Washington State’s first score came in the third quarter when senior Gary Rogers completed a 9-yard pass to senior Brandon Gibson for a touchdown. However, sophomore Wade Penner missed his extra-point kick.

O-State was quick to silence the roaring crowd as junior Perrish Cox returned the following kickoff 90 yards for an answering touchdown, making the score 18-6 after sophomore Dan Bailey connected on his extra-point kick.

OSU scored twice more in the fourth quarter when junior Zac Robinson rushed for a 1-yard touchdown and when sophomore Kendall Hunter rushed 10 yards for another score.

Coach Mike Gundy said it was not a typical game for his offense.

“It was an unusual game offensively,” he said. “We spent most of the game on the 20-yard line. I don’t know that we’ve been in a situation like that in a number of years.”

He added that the defense was particularly good Saturday. The Cowboys held WSU to 196 total offensive yards, and in the first half, the Cougars could only muster 51 yards on 28 plays.

“Defensively, I thought our team played really, really well early,” Gundy said. “When we were having a difficult time punching it in inside the 10, our defense continued to rise to the occasion.”

Gundy mentioned last week that Qwest Field was said to be the loudest stadium in the NFL and Washington would have about 55,000 fans. He said the noise was an issue for only a little while.

“It’s loud down there,” Gundy added. “I don’t know that we’ve played anywhere it was this loud. Offensively, the line and Zac really had to concentrate and that did limit some of the checks that we could make because of the noise.

“It got loud when they scored (for the first time), but when Perish returned that kickoff, it made a big difference and changed the momentum back to our side.”

Co-offensive coordinator Trooper Taylor said the team did well but it still has some work to do.

“The thing we have to do is eliminate the turnovers and what we call the stupid penalties, where you can’t jump offsides, you can’t miss a line, things like that,” he said. “And once we get those things honed on and worry about fixing us, we’re going to be OK.”

Robinson completed 20-of-27 passes for 193 yards and rushed for nine. Hunter carried the ball 23 times for 107 yards, and Dez Bryant was the club’s leading receiver with 90 yards on seven grabs. Orie Lemon led the Cowboys with 10 tackles and Andre Sexton added nine.

“That’s all that matters — we got the win,” he said. “Offensively we struggled at times, but the defense picked us back up, so it was good to see them playing well, but we definitely have some things to work on offensively.”

     

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