By George Watson l AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

Expanded Game Day Coverage

The last thing the Oklahoma State football team could afford to do – on the road against the No. 2 team in the nation – was fall behind by more than a touchdown.

And for awhile, it looked as though the eighth-ranked Cowboys would actually be the ones making Texas Tech play from behind. That advantage lasted all of 21/2 minutes and died in the first quarter, and from there OSU’s worst fears came to fruition.

Like so many other teams who have tried and failed, the Cowboys simply didn’t have the defense to stop the Red Raiders or enough offense on the road to keep up with them, resulting in a 56-20 loss at Jones AT&T Stadium.

“We never could slow them down and get them out of their rhythm,” OSU head coach Mike Gundy said. “Then once they got us to a certain point we became one-dimensional on offense and that is not our strength. When you get behind as far as we did and become one-dimensional it makes it that much more difficult.”

Oklahoma State’s defense came into the game allowing 357 yards per game, which ranked 64th nationally and third in the Big 12 Conference, just eight yards behind Texas Tech. But the Cowboys couldn’t contain the nation’s No. 2 overall offense and top-ranked passing attack as the Red Raiders amassed 629 yards.

Other than a fumble on Tech’s first series that resulted in Oklahoma State’s first touchdown, the Cowboys were never able to contain the Red Raiders.

“We got hit with a wakeup call,” OSU linebacker Patrick Lavine said. “Usually our defense this season has made some plays, created some turnovers and tonight we weren’t able to do that. No one stepped up.

Never were the struggles more evident than on two key drives, which covered 97 yards in the first half and 96 yards in the fourth quarter. The first one gave Tech a 21-7 lead early and was the third of what would be seven straight scoring drives. The second one put Tech up 49-20 with just under nine minutes left in the game.

Oklahoma State was most successful moving the ball offensively while in the hurry-up offense. The problem was consistency. Two straight drives after the initial OSU touchdown and three of the Cowboys’ final four drives ended in either punts or the end of the first half.

The Cowboys finished with 368 yards of total offense, 144 yards fewer than their season average. Quarterback Zac Robinson finished with 16 of 28 passing for 182 yards and no touchdowns, and standout receiver Dez Bryant had just four catches for 86 yards.

“Obviously they played well offensively tonight and we needed to match them point for point, and we didn’t do that,” Robinson said. “You have to give them credit because they played well and when we tried to get things going they shut us down a little bit.”

And when tight end Brandon Pettigrew – who torched Tech’s defense for the game-winning 54-yard touchdown last year in Stillwater – fumbled at midfield on OSU’s first drive of the second half, it became a hill too steep to climb.

“Obviously we got dominated in all three phases of the game,” Gundy said. “We lost this game as a group and I thought we got outcoached and out played. Playing on the road you have to find ways to get them to stop, but we never slowed them down and the momentum continued to build.”

North

Conference All Games

W L PF PA W L PF PA

Missouri 4 2 237 153 8 2 452 236

Kansas 3 3 204 221 6 4 345 282

Nebraska 3 3 188 213 6 4 338 291

Colorado 2 4 87 187 5 5 194 281

Kansas State 1 5 163 253 4 6 353 345

Iowa State 0 6 126 244 2 8 254 340

South

Conference All Games

W L PF PA W L PF PA

Texas Tech 6 0 296 158 10 0 479 222

Texas 5 1 245 164 9 1 443 207

Oklahoma 5 1 315 184 9 1 514 236

Okla. State 4 2 221 158 8 2 428 245

Texas A&M 2 4 184 261 4 6 270 359

Baylor 1 5 130 201 3 7 267 296

Saturday’s Results

Texas 45, Baylor 21

Colorado 28, Iowa State 24

Nebraska 45, Kansas 35

Oklahoma 66, Texas A&M 28

Missouri 42, Kansas State 24

Texas Tech 56, Oklahoma State 20

Saturday’s Games

Texas at Kansas, 11:30 a.m.

Texas A&M at Baylor, 3 p.m.

Missouri at Iowa State, 5:30 p.m.

Oklahoma State at Colorado, 7 p.m.

Nebraska at Kansas State, TBA

To comment on this story:

george.watson@lubbockonline.com 766-2166

jeff.walker@lubbockonline.com 766-8735