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Cowboys And Cyclones Under Friday Night Lights
Mike Gundy has the Oklahoma State Cowboys two games away from a shot at the BCS title. You can count Bill Hancock among the fans cheering them along.
Oklahoma State heads out on the Big 12 highway this Friday with a prime-time affair against the Iowa State Cyclones. Early college football odds were scattered from 24½-27, the early consensus at Oklahoma State -26½.
Don Best Sports' Kenny White sent his initial total out at 66, exactly what Oklahoma State scored by itself last week.
Hancock, the BCS executive director, is a rah-rah machine right now behind both the Cowboys and LSU Tigers. If both schools win out to finish the regular season undefeated, they'll meet in New Orleans next January for the big enchilada and give the BCS folks another easy matchup to show their system is working.
Should either lose a game, there's going to be a lot of debate about which one-loss school should play in the BCS Championship. If both drop a game, all hell is likely to break loose.
This is a potential look-ahead game for Gundy and his guys, but don't count on it for a couple of reasons. The Cowboys have been facing the same prospect of thinking too much about their Dec. 3 home date with Oklahoma just about the entire season, but especially since Oct. 22 when the Sooners were upset on their turf by Texas Tech. Oklahoma State has responded by taking out Baylor, Kansas State and Texas Tech by a combined 167-75 tally.
Secondly, the game against the Sooners isn't on the immediate horizon. The Cowboys will have a week off between this battle with the Cyclones and Oklahoma's visit to Stillwater.
The only looking ahead by Oklahoma State this past week was done by the backups who were wondering when Gundy might pull the first stringers at Lubbock. The Cowboys, who were laying 19½, raced to a 49-0 lead over Texas Tech at the half and never looked back in a 66-6 rout. Brandon Weeden played pitch-and-catch with his receivers, completing 31-of-37 tosses for 423 yards and five scores.
A bigger story against the Red Raiders was the Oklahoma State defense. Seth Doege and Tech entered the game 11th in the nation in total yardage, but were held under 300 yards for only the second time this season and never scored, the Red Raiders' lone points courtesy of their defense.
Weeden has certainly deserved his share of the spotlight all season, and the defense was remarkable last game. Almost lost in the Cowboys' climb to No. 2 in the BCS – No. 4 in the latest Don Best Linemakers Poll – has been the play of running back Joseph Randle. The sophomore is seven shy of the 1,000-yard rushing mark and has gotten into the end zone personally more often than all but one player in 2011, Wisconsin's Montee Ball. Randle has scored 14 touchdowns the last four weeks alone, 12 of them carrying the rock.
It would seem impossible for Iowa State not to give the Cowboys more of a fight than the Red Raiders put up last Saturday. The Cyclones should have a vocal crowd behind them for a rare national prime-time broadcast from Jack Trice Stadium. Paul Rhoads' club also needs two wins among the final three games to become bowl eligible.
Getting just one win the rest of the way will be tough enough. Iowa State finishes the 2011 schedule on the road at Oklahoma and Kansas State.
The Cyclones have had two weeks off since escaping with a 13-10 win at home as 14½-point favorites against Kansas, one of the worst teams in the FBS ranks. Oklahoma State manhandled the Jayhawks in early October, 70-28, the Cowboys scoring half of their points in the opening quarter.
Iowa State's defense ranks 90th in the country allowing 420 yards per game, and it has yet to face the likes of the Cowboys or Sooners who rank 3-4 nationally in total offense.
Oklahoma State has been a money machine on the road this year, covering the spread in all five away contests. The Cyclones are 2-3 ATS at home.
The Cyclones will get leading receiver Darius Reynolds back for this game after the senior was suspended for the Kansas game. Oklahoma State is not reporting any new injuries.
Mostly clear skies give way to clouds and a 20 percent chance of showers in Ames during the evening hours on Friday. The thermometer is expected to be in the mid-to-upper 40s when ESPN begins its broadcast at 8:00 p.m. (ET).
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Mike Gundy has the Oklahoma State Cowboys two games away from a shot at the BCS title. You can count Bill Hancock among the fans cheering them along.
Oklahoma State heads out on the Big 12 highway this Friday with a prime-time affair against the Iowa State Cyclones. Early college football odds were scattered from 24½-27, the early consensus at Oklahoma State -26½.
Don Best Sports' Kenny White sent his initial total out at 66, exactly what Oklahoma State scored by itself last week.
Hancock, the BCS executive director, is a rah-rah machine right now behind both the Cowboys and LSU Tigers. If both schools win out to finish the regular season undefeated, they'll meet in New Orleans next January for the big enchilada and give the BCS folks another easy matchup to show their system is working.
Should either lose a game, there's going to be a lot of debate about which one-loss school should play in the BCS Championship. If both drop a game, all hell is likely to break loose.
This is a potential look-ahead game for Gundy and his guys, but don't count on it for a couple of reasons. The Cowboys have been facing the same prospect of thinking too much about their Dec. 3 home date with Oklahoma just about the entire season, but especially since Oct. 22 when the Sooners were upset on their turf by Texas Tech. Oklahoma State has responded by taking out Baylor, Kansas State and Texas Tech by a combined 167-75 tally.
Secondly, the game against the Sooners isn't on the immediate horizon. The Cowboys will have a week off between this battle with the Cyclones and Oklahoma's visit to Stillwater.
The only looking ahead by Oklahoma State this past week was done by the backups who were wondering when Gundy might pull the first stringers at Lubbock. The Cowboys, who were laying 19½, raced to a 49-0 lead over Texas Tech at the half and never looked back in a 66-6 rout. Brandon Weeden played pitch-and-catch with his receivers, completing 31-of-37 tosses for 423 yards and five scores.
A bigger story against the Red Raiders was the Oklahoma State defense. Seth Doege and Tech entered the game 11th in the nation in total yardage, but were held under 300 yards for only the second time this season and never scored, the Red Raiders' lone points courtesy of their defense.
Weeden has certainly deserved his share of the spotlight all season, and the defense was remarkable last game. Almost lost in the Cowboys' climb to No. 2 in the BCS – No. 4 in the latest Don Best Linemakers Poll – has been the play of running back Joseph Randle. The sophomore is seven shy of the 1,000-yard rushing mark and has gotten into the end zone personally more often than all but one player in 2011, Wisconsin's Montee Ball. Randle has scored 14 touchdowns the last four weeks alone, 12 of them carrying the rock.
It would seem impossible for Iowa State not to give the Cowboys more of a fight than the Red Raiders put up last Saturday. The Cyclones should have a vocal crowd behind them for a rare national prime-time broadcast from Jack Trice Stadium. Paul Rhoads' club also needs two wins among the final three games to become bowl eligible.
Getting just one win the rest of the way will be tough enough. Iowa State finishes the 2011 schedule on the road at Oklahoma and Kansas State.
The Cyclones have had two weeks off since escaping with a 13-10 win at home as 14½-point favorites against Kansas, one of the worst teams in the FBS ranks. Oklahoma State manhandled the Jayhawks in early October, 70-28, the Cowboys scoring half of their points in the opening quarter.
Iowa State's defense ranks 90th in the country allowing 420 yards per game, and it has yet to face the likes of the Cowboys or Sooners who rank 3-4 nationally in total offense.
Oklahoma State has been a money machine on the road this year, covering the spread in all five away contests. The Cyclones are 2-3 ATS at home.
The Cyclones will get leading receiver Darius Reynolds back for this game after the senior was suspended for the Kansas game. Oklahoma State is not reporting any new injuries.
Mostly clear skies give way to clouds and a 20 percent chance of showers in Ames during the evening hours on Friday. The thermometer is expected to be in the mid-to-upper 40s when ESPN begins its broadcast at 8:00 p.m. (ET).
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