Cowboys roll in offensive coordinator's debut

NCAA Football Betting Lines

09/06/2010 -

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -Oklahoma State uber-booster Boone Pickens spoke for most fans of the Cowboys before their season opener Saturday night against Washington State.

``I'm anxious to see what we've got in the way of an offense,'' Pickens said, noting the offseason hiring of Dana Holgorsen as the Cowboys' new coordinator and play-caller.

Pickens undoubtedly came away satisfied as Oklahoma State rolled up 544 yards in a 65-17 rout of the Cougars. But even after Oklahoma State didn't commit a turnover, had only four penalties and posted its highest-scoring season opener since 1916, Holgorsen said the Cowboys remain far from a finished product.

``We've just got to get better at operating the offense,'' Holgorsen said. ``Whatever they give us, we've got to be able to take it.''

Holgorsen came to Oklahoma State with quite the reputation. He helped Mike Leach construct Texas Tech's frenetic offense before spending the last two years at Houston, where he turned that program into an offensive force. But with four new starters on Oklahoma State's offensive line, a 26-year-old quarterback who hadn't started a football game in nine years, and a mostly inexperienced receiving corps, he wondered how quickly the Cowboys could master his intricate offense.

Early on, quarterback Brandon Weeden looked a bit shaky, acknowledging he had ``jitters.'' Then tailback Kendall Hunter took over. Hunter, a third-team All-America selection in 2008, was severely limited last season by an ankle injury. But he looked like his former self against Washington State, carrying 21 times for 257 yards - the 12th-best single-game total in school history - and four touchdowns.

``When you average 11 yards a carry, you probably ought to give it to him,'' Holgorsen said.

Hunter left the game after the Cowboys' first series of the second half or he could have threatened Barry Sanders' school record of 332 yards, set against Texas Tech during his Heisman Trophy season in 1988.

``I am trying to protect (Sanders) a little bit,'' quipped Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy, who played with Sanders that season. ``We'll see if he'll buy a club-level suite if we protect his record.''

Joking aside, Weeden said that Hunter's success running the ball keyed the Cowboys' success in the passing game ``and made things a little easier for me.'' Weeden, a former New York Yankees minor league baseball player, completed 22 of 30 passes for 218 yards and three touchdowns, all to Justin Blackmon, before giving way to freshmen backups Clint Chelf and Johnny Deaton.

``We're going to do whatever,'' Weeden said. ``I'll throw it five times a game or I'll throw it 50 times a game. It doesn't matter to me as long as we come away with a win.''

Except for Blackmon, who had eight catches for 125 yards, no other receiver stood out for the Cowboys. Josh Cooper had five catches, but for only 31 yards. Bo Bowling had three catches for 30 yards. Seven other players had at least one catch for Oklahoma State, but Holgorsen didn't sound pleased.

``We've got a long ways to go on offense,'' he said. ``I thought Brandon managed the game well. I thought we took care of the ball well. Obviously, Kendall, they had a hard time tackling him, and then we had at least one deep threat in Blackmon. I'm happy with those three guys, but ... we are still looking for about another six guys to step up and become real players.''

The Cowboys did have an offensive twist not expected with Holgorsen - on a handful of plays, they used a full-house backfield, with three running backs joining Weeden behind the line. Holgorsen smiled when asked about that. He said he and another assistant hatched the scheme this summer during a staff outing.

``It gives you a different way to run the football and use a play-action pass,'' Gundy said Sunday. ``I think it's taking advantage of the personnel we have and using it to the best of our ability.''Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

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Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

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