Pokes Cane Tulsa, Enter Polls
Usually, when a hurricane is coming it’s not safe to take to the air.
However, when the Golden Hurricane rolled into the Sea of Orange last Saturday, that’s exactly what the Oklahoma State offense did. Brandon Weeden unleashed the Air Raid offense that OSU fans have been waiting to see as the Cowboys caned Tulsa, 65-28.
Justin Blackmon's Hurricane prevention methods helped OSU storm to a lopsided 65-28 victory. (Photo by James Shammerhorn of OStatePhoto.com)
Weeden only played for two and half quarters, but amassed a total of 409 yards through the air on 23 of 32 passes attempted. The Junior QB notched 6 touchdown passes, 3 of those to favorite target Justin Blackmon. Blackmon finished with 6 catches for 174 yards. Weeden’s passes took multiple flight paths, connecting with 13 different receivers, as they navigated the Hurricane defense with ease all night.
Kendall Hunter raced out to 59 yards on just 11 carries early in the game and then rested his legs for the onslaught of the impending Big XII season. Joseph Randle put in some work grounding out 72 yards on just 12 carries (6.0 yards per). Jeremy Smith also got in on the action with 6 carries for just over 30 yards.
OSU now has the nation’s #1 rated passing offense, #2 rated scoring offense, and #2 rated total yardage offense. The Cowboys are 29th in rushing in the nation after turning to the air game against Tulsa.
The Orange Crush defense dominated Tulsa’s athletic offense early, before the reserves began to work their way into the lineup. The defensive highlights included 3 pass interceptions, 1 sack and 3 tackles for losses.
OSU makes their season debut in the ESPN Coaches Poll at #25. In the AP and the ESPN Power Poll, the Pokes are ranked #32. A win against Texas A&M after a bye week should put the Pokes in everyone’s Top 25 and silence the nay-sayers in the media who said OSU would finish dead last in the conference.
By the way, Jerrod Johnson and the Aggies narrowly escaped disaster last week in College Station by scoring three 4th quarter TDs for a 27-20 comeback win against measly Florida International. They too have a bye week before coming to the Boone for a nationally televised ESPN game with the Cowboys. More on Texas A&M in next week’s Know The Foe post.
For now, the Cowboys will enjoy the calm after the storm and then get to work preparing for Big XII football.
It doesn’t get any better than that.
