JWil
O-State.com S.I.D
Oklahoma State 2004: A solid year, but...
By Justin Wilmeth
O-State.com Senior Columnist
What if?
That was a popular question floating throughout Stillwater this past summer.
What if Oklahoma State can’t replace the triplets?
What if the team has to rely on defense to win games?
What if the Cowboys can’t get back to a bowl game?
What if the replacements to the triplets on offense don’t make an immediate impact?
Those were just some of the ponderings flowing out of the practice field like black gold bubbling out of the ground.
After last year’s uber-successful season – a 9-4 mark with a wild game against Ole Miss in the Cotton Bowl – many in Orange Country wondered just how well this 2004 campaign would go for the Pokes.
After all, it’s hard to replace the core of your offensive unit. Quarterback Josh Fields, tailback Tatum Bell and wideout Rashaun Woods. The trio proved to be lethal as it was truly a “pick your poison” situation. Stack the box to stop Bell? Okay. Woods eats single-coverage alive. Double up the backfield to stop the pass? Okay. Let Bell gain 11 yards on a run.
It was that “shoot’em up and blow’em up” offense that took the Cowboys to their first New Year’s Day bowl since the mid-1940s.
But both Woods and Bell were seniors and were snapped up by the National Football League. Woods went in the first round to San Francisco and Bell in the second to Denver. Fields, only a junior, decided to take the baseball money and was drafted in the first round by the Chicago White Sox.
So the Cowboys went into Spring drills with no returning starter at the first wideout position, tailback or QB. That’s a tough situation to recover from. Many teams would have trouble winning after losing all that. Ole Miss, which beat the Cowboys 31-28 in Fair Park, lost Eli Manning and went 4-7 in 2004. (Then their head coach was fired, which still makes little sense.) So it was safe to say many OSU fans had a tempered outlook regarding 2004. The consensus was that anything from 6-5 to 8-3 would be a success, considering what was lost.
And the Cowboys managed to fill all three of those major holes. Turns out, Donovan Woods (QB), D’Juan Woods (WR) and Vernand Morency (TB) didn’t miss a beat in replacing the key cogs who left.
The result? A 7-4 regular season and the school’s third-consecutive bowl trip for only the second time in history.
The thing is, OSU could have easily ended up 10-1. The Cowboys suffered some close losses, and while the fans are happy with the season, there’s still many asking “what if?” about this up-and-down, enigmatic season.
So how did they get there? Let’s take a look. Below are some quick takes on all the OSU games from 2004. Hopefully they’ll each be informative, yet not too time-consuming. We’ll just hit the big stuff in each game.
Okay Mr. Peabody, it’s time to take a trip in the Way Back Machine all the way to September of 2004. A simpler time. A time when boys would be boys and girls would be girls. A time when... ah hell, let’s just get into this already.
Game 1 – Sept. 4th
UCLA Bruins
PASADENA, Ca. – It was the first game of the season and many had pegged it as the “turning point” game of the season. Looking ahead at a killer Big 12 slate, fans and pundits alike felt that the season-opener at the Rose Bowl would be vital if the Pokes were to bowl for the third straight season. It would be a decent test for OSU, as the Bruins had been up and down in recent seasons, but still had top talent scattered on its roster.
With coaches wanting to protect their redshirt freshman Woods, the gameplan was simple: Run, run and run. Like Montezuma’s Revenge, without all the beans. While Woods had a great SportsCenter moment (an eight-yard touchdown run which concluded with a leap over a Bruin defender for the score), the star of the day was Morency, yet another excellent tailback for Tailback U.
The junior from Florida racked up a whopping 261 yards and two scores, driving the way to a 31-20 win over the Bruins. Woods was only 2-of-8 for 25 yards through the air. It was the Cowboys’ first opening-season road win since a 36-26 win at Tulsa in 2000.
Game 2 – Sept. 11th
Tulsa Golden Hurricane
STILLWATER – Playing Tulsa is always risky. It’s really a no-win situation. Win, and it was supposed to happen. Lose, and it’s a huge shocker. And for the Golden Hurricane, it’s a big game for them. It’s their chance to knock off a team that didn’t recruit some of those players for one reason or another. It’s probably a bit like Ohio State playing Ohio or Akron: Hard for the Buckeyes to get up for, but for the Zips or Bobcats, it’s their Super Bowl. It’s that way in the OSU-Tulsa series, which always seems to have a bit of a “Twilight Zone” feel, as inferior Hurricane teams sometimes have found a way to beat the Cowboys.
And when the Hurricane scored on its opening drive to take an early 7-0 lead, OSU fans had to wonder what they were in for that day. Tulsa hadn’t won in Stillwater since 1951, but some of the recent games in Tulsa have been downright scary.
But that first score was all the Tulsa offense could get until late in the game, as OSU rolled to a 38-21 victory which was 38-7 until the ’Cane scored twice late after OSU had shut down shop.
The OSU offense started to spread its passing wings and Morency continued to run down the gridiron like a train behind schedule. He rushed for 178 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries. For the young Woods, he only threw for 70 yards on 3-of-8 passing, but one was a 48-yard strike to Chijuan Mack which helped the Cowboys take a big lead early.
Game 3 – Sept. 18th
Southern Methodist Mustangs
STILLWATER – Anyone remember the death penalty Southern Methodist suffered in the 1980s? The NCAA shut them down for a season because of rampant violations. The next season, SMU had to take another year off because it couldn’t field a team. The Mustangs never recovered.
Why mention this in 2004? Because they’re still feeling the after-effects. OSU rolled to a 59-7 victory. The Cowboys scored like a high school athlete on prom night. Woods threw two touchdown passes on 6-of-11 scoring and 99 yards, while adding a rushing TD on the ground. Morency had 18 rushes for 121 yards and one score.
The Cowboys did lose in this game, however. Cornerback and star returner Darrent Williams was effectively lost for the season to a broken arm. In this game, he flexed his special teams prowess, putting together 215 return yards. On defense, he had a 25-yard fumble return.
Game 4 – Oct. 2nd
Iowa State Cyclones
STILLWATER – Another easy early-season game. It was also the first time ever in the history of Big 12 play the Cowboys opened their conference slate at home.
The Pokes got on a roll in the second quarter, scoring 23 points and never looking back. Morency rushed for 143 yards and two touchdowns on 28 rushes. The progress with Woods behind center continued, as he threw for 139 yards with one TD and one interception on 7-of-14 passing. His brother D’Juan had good day as well, receiving four passes for 78 yards and a score. Tight end Billy Bajema caught three passes for 76 yards.
The Cowboys won, 36-7. But for the second straight game, OSU lost a key defender for the season. Defensive End Nathan Peterson suffered a knee injury, which would prove to compromise the defensive line later in the year, as Peterson – only a true freshman – was already becoming a playmaker.
Game 5 – Oct. 9th
Colorado Buffaloes
BOULDER, Colo. – This game was over after the third play.
Oklahoma State was on its own 44-yard-line when the Cowboys handed the ball off to Morency. He caught a few blocks and found a couple of holes and was off to the races. And 56 yards later, the Cowboys were up 7-0 on the road and that was pretty much that.
What followed was a string of flashing offensive plays for OSU and defensive gaffes by the Buffaloes. OSU rolled to a 42-14 victory.
Morency strung together his seventh-straight 100-yard rushing game (dating back to 2003), going for 170 yards on 27 carries and two touchdowns. Woods threw for 193 yards on 8-of-11 passing with three touchdowns and one interception.
The crazy stat of this game? CU put together 445 yards of offense, yet only scored two touchdowns. The ultimate in “bend but don’t break” for the OSU defense, which would be much maligned the rest of the season.
Game 6 – Oct. 16th
The Biggest Homecoming Celebration in America
Texas A&M Aggies
STILLWATER – This was a game many Cowboys (and seemingly the coaches and players as well) simply overlooked.
It was hard not to overlook the Aggies. No. 16 OSU had jumped out to a 5-0 start and the Aggies were ranked at No. 23 in the polls and sported a 4-1 record, but many inside the conference felt the Aggies weren’t for real. Their 2003 season was a joke and the only tough test they had up to this point was against Utah. The Utes thrashed the Aggies, 41-21.
But something was up with this game from the start. The Cowboys had prided themselves on not making a bunch of turnovers or committing stupid penalties. But on the opening kickoff, the Cowboys started down a slippery slope, committing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after downing the ball in the end zone and then tossing the ball into the facemask of an Aggie player.
And it only went downhill from there. Morency – who hadn’t fumbled all season – lost the ball twice in the first quarter, one of those leading to an A&M score. The Aggies scored touchdowns on three of its next four possessions in the first half – one of them being a backbreaking Hail Mary pass that was tipped in the end zone and caught by Aggie DeQwan Mobley to up the score to 27-6 at the half. This was immediately after OSU quarterback Woods ran in for a touchdown to cut the lead to 20-6.
But that Hail Mary was the end of it for OSU. The Aggies added a touchdown and a field goal to go up 36-6 before the Cowboys mounted a late rally in the fourth quarter to cut it to the final score of 36-20. Morency had 118 yards and a score on 28 carries.
The best thing to come out of this game for OSU? The emergence of Donovan Woods as a legit passing threat. His late-game throwing gave the Cowboys a faint chance to get into a game they were never in, though the effort fell short. But still, 202 passing yards and a touchdown on 15-of-26 passing gave Pokes’ fans a glimpse of what he was capable of through the air.
Game 7 – Oct. 23rd
Missouri Tigers
COLUMBIA, Mo. – After the “Aggie-vation” that was Homecoming in Stillwater, the Cowboys ventured North to take on Missouri on its Homecoming.
It was a huge game for OSU. Lose, and say goodbye to any chance of battling Oklahoma and Texas for the Big 12 South Division title. But a win here would balance out the surprising loss to A&M.
The first 29 minutes of the game in Columbia was forgettable for OSU. The Tigers jumped out to a 17-0 lead on the strength of two Brad Smith touchdown passes, while the Cowboys’ offense was less effective than a pet rock guarding a front yard.
But then Woods led the offense on an 80-yard drive in only 50 seconds, connecting with brother D’Juan in the end zone to put the score at a more-manageable 17-7 halftime deficit.
The Tigers wouldn’t score in the second half. But the Cowboys kept charging.
OSU managed to tie the score at 17 going into the waning minutes of the game. The key moment of this game hinged on a third-and-4 situation in Tigers’ territory. Woods once again connected with his brother, this time a 27-yard reception which kept the Cowboys alive. Then true freshman kicker Jason Ricks booted a 28-yard field goal to take a 20-17 lead with under a minute in the game. Woods finished with 110 yards and one touchdown on 7-of-13 passing. Morency had 177 yards on 31 carries.
This game was a statement game. At the time, Mizzou was favored to win the North and OSU was thought to be in trouble after losing to A&M. This game launched the Cowboys’ momentum into the stratosphere going into the Bedlam showdown against Oklahoma.
Game 8 – Oct. 30th
Bedlam
STILLWATER – If Prentiss Elliott had arms about six inches longer, Oklahoma State would have likely defeated the Oklahoma Sooners for the third time in four years.
The Cowboys answered an early OU score by scoring two touchdowns in the second quarter. Donovan Woods took in a QB sneak to tie the score at 7 apiece and then OU punter Blake Ferguson fumbled into the end zone, where Cowboy Grant Jones fell on it to put the Cowboys up, 14-7.
At that point, the fans in orange were feeling a repeat of 2002, where OSU jumped out to a 35-6 lead before winning 38-28.
But this time, OU had a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback who stepped up and answered the Pokes. Jason White twice connected with wideout Mark Bradley to put the Sooners up 21-14 at halftime.
But the show was only starting to begin. The Sooners came out of the gates in the third quarter and scored on a 50-yard touchdown return. (NOTE: Many Oklahoma State fans believe multiple blocks to the back were not called on this play.) But then Woods launched a 39-yard touchdown pass to Prentiss Elliott to bring the Cowboys back to within seven points. Woods finished the day with 202 yards through the air and a touchdown on 8-of-20 passing.
But then Adrian Peterson ran for an 80-yard score to put OU up 35-21, again seemingly shutting the door on OSU.
At that point, it looked to be it for the Cowboys. But not so. Morency answered the rushing gauntlet thrown down by Peterson (who had 255 yards and a score on 33 carries). He ran for two touchdowns (one apiece in the third and fourth quarters) and 96 yards on only 17 carries. (It was his first non-100-yard rushing game all season.)
So the final drive of the game had the Cowboys starting on their own 19 with 2:44 left. The drive resulted in a missed 49-yard field goal which was pushed about a foot or two left of the uprights. But what was even more painful was the bomb pass from Woods to Elliott that just went off the tips of his fingers in that drive. Elliott was on about the Sooners’ 5-yard-line and lost his footing while attempt to catch the ball.
In the end, Elliott just missed it and OSU just missed a chance to beat hated Oklahoma.
GAME 9 – Nov. 6th
Texas Longhorns
AUSTIN, Texas – If there was ever a game that came right off the storyboard of a Twilight Zone premise, this was it.
Imagine if you will...
...A football team on the road... A place it hasn’t won at in almost 60 years... A giant lead gone in the blink of a quarter. For the Oklahoma State Cowboys, it was a trip to the state capital of Texas, with a sidetrack through The Twilight Zone...
It was like that for OSU. It was a game not many expected the Cowboys to win, but after the game, it was more surprising in how they lost it.
Five of the first six scores in the game were OSU touchdowns. The first half was a total throttling of the Longhorns in every facet of the game. With halftime almost upon the teams, the Cowboys were up big, 35-7.
Then came The Twilight Zone twist.
Texas quarterback Vince Young directs a drive just before the half which leads to a score and a 35-14 deficit at the end of two quarters.
The Cowboys never scored again, while the Longhorns scored six touchdowns in the second half.
Final score: 56-35. The first half was Oklahoma State dominating every part of the game. The second half was Texas doing the same thing to OSU, only better.
It might be the worst loss in Oklahoma State football history. And there’s been plenty of bad losses in the past.
This was just the weirdest game of the century and no amount of explanation could ever justly define that. As for stats, Morency rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries, while Woods had a good night, throwing for 224 yards and a touchdown on 12-of-18 passing.
Game 10 – Nov. 13th
Baylor Bears
STILLWATER – No matter how bad the season, Oklahoma State is expected the beat Baylor, much like Ohio State is expected to beat Northwestern. Oh wait, sorry.
But typically, Northwestern is a lot like Baylor: An overmatched private school playing with a bunch of state school bullies it has little chance against. (Baylor had a stunning upset much like Northwestern over Ohio State, beating Texas A&M in overtime.)
That pretty much sums up Baylor’s life in the Big 12. And this weekend wasn’t any different. Not much to say here: OSU rolls to a 49-21 win. The Cowboys ran its offense through backup tailback Seymore Shaw, who racked up 172 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries subbing for Morency, who was injured. Woods went 8-for-15 for 164 yards and two touchdowns through the air, but also rushed for 73 yards and a score on 11 carries. Brother D’Juan had 73 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Game 11 – Nov. 27th
Texas Tech Red Raiders
LUBBOCK, Texas – Happiness is Lubbock in your rearview mirror. And never ever going back.
Even if OSU had won this game, many Cowboys would feel that way. It’s undescribable what a desolate town that place is. Unfortunately for fans who made the trip, not only did they have to go to Lubbock, they were sent home with a loss.
This game was an enigma to say the least. The offense – which had been rolling most of the last half of the season – was nowhere to be found. But the defense – which had been posted on a missing persons board with the Stillwater Police Department – had kept the Cowboys in the game until the fourth quarter.
The first half was the exact opposite of what everyone expected. It figured to be a shootout early, but wasn’t. Through the first half, the vaunted Texas “Playstation” Tech offense only mustered one touchdown on the iffy OSU defense. The Cowboys only managed a pair of field goals to go into the lock room at the half down 7-6.
Field goals were all OSU’s offense could rack up on the Red Raiders. Kicker Jason Ricks tacked another three points on the board for the Cowboys, giving them a 9-7 lead. But Tech answered with a touchdown drive to go up 14-9.
While the OSU offense was nowhere to be found, the Cowboys’ D made a big play which resulted in a score when defensive back Jamie Thompson intercepted Tech’s Sonny Cumbie, taking it back 68 yards for a touchdown which put OSU up 15-14.
But in the fourth quarter, the overmatched Cowboy defense finally folded. Tech put up a field goal and two touchdowns in the last eight minutes to win the game, 31-15. Woods was off and under-used, passing for only 60 yards on 6-of-9 passing while Morency had another solid game, rushing for 114 yards on 23 carries.
In closing...
This was a transition season for Oklahoma State football. After the loss of the triplets, no one was quite sure how the Cowboys would fare offensively. As the stats show, OSU did fairly well on offense, with a thunderous running game led by Morency and a passing game which slowly developed under redshirt freshman Donovan Woods. Also, D’Juan Woods stepped into big brother Rashaun Woods’ shoes, putting up similar numbers from Rashaun’s first season as a full-time starter at wide receiver.
Because of the successful replacements at wideout, tailback and quarterback, Oklahoma State was able to adjust better than expected this season. Going on the road and beating Colorado and Missouri were big accomplishments for this young team, which only featured three starting seniors on offense and three on defense, as well as senior punter Cole Farden. So it’s easy to see this was a young team.
In the end, 7-4 is about where many OSU fans thought the Cowboys would finish. But it’s not the 7-4 they expected, because games against Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech were winnable games. A few things change in those games and the Cowboys are 10-1.
Even so, 2004 was a solid season for OSU and advances its recent trend of turning the program into a winning one. This will be only the second time in school history OSU will play in a third-straight bowl game. The Cowboys also fought hard against BCS heavyweights OU and Texas. (Though the UT game is still a big mystery to many in orange.)
And the Cowboys have a chance to end the season on a high note. Many down here believe beating Ohio State in the Alamo Bowl might be one of the biggest wins over a program not named Oklahoma in its entire history. While it remains to be seen if the Cowboys will beat the Buckeyes, the 2004 season has been one to build on for the future. A future, Oklahoma State fans hope, which will be filled with conference titles and BCS bowl game berths.
Justin Wilmeth is the Senior Columnist for O-State.com. He can be reached via email at [email protected]
By Justin Wilmeth
O-State.com Senior Columnist
What if?
That was a popular question floating throughout Stillwater this past summer.
What if Oklahoma State can’t replace the triplets?
What if the team has to rely on defense to win games?
What if the Cowboys can’t get back to a bowl game?
What if the replacements to the triplets on offense don’t make an immediate impact?
Those were just some of the ponderings flowing out of the practice field like black gold bubbling out of the ground.
After last year’s uber-successful season – a 9-4 mark with a wild game against Ole Miss in the Cotton Bowl – many in Orange Country wondered just how well this 2004 campaign would go for the Pokes.
After all, it’s hard to replace the core of your offensive unit. Quarterback Josh Fields, tailback Tatum Bell and wideout Rashaun Woods. The trio proved to be lethal as it was truly a “pick your poison” situation. Stack the box to stop Bell? Okay. Woods eats single-coverage alive. Double up the backfield to stop the pass? Okay. Let Bell gain 11 yards on a run.
It was that “shoot’em up and blow’em up” offense that took the Cowboys to their first New Year’s Day bowl since the mid-1940s.
But both Woods and Bell were seniors and were snapped up by the National Football League. Woods went in the first round to San Francisco and Bell in the second to Denver. Fields, only a junior, decided to take the baseball money and was drafted in the first round by the Chicago White Sox.
So the Cowboys went into Spring drills with no returning starter at the first wideout position, tailback or QB. That’s a tough situation to recover from. Many teams would have trouble winning after losing all that. Ole Miss, which beat the Cowboys 31-28 in Fair Park, lost Eli Manning and went 4-7 in 2004. (Then their head coach was fired, which still makes little sense.) So it was safe to say many OSU fans had a tempered outlook regarding 2004. The consensus was that anything from 6-5 to 8-3 would be a success, considering what was lost.
And the Cowboys managed to fill all three of those major holes. Turns out, Donovan Woods (QB), D’Juan Woods (WR) and Vernand Morency (TB) didn’t miss a beat in replacing the key cogs who left.
The result? A 7-4 regular season and the school’s third-consecutive bowl trip for only the second time in history.
The thing is, OSU could have easily ended up 10-1. The Cowboys suffered some close losses, and while the fans are happy with the season, there’s still many asking “what if?” about this up-and-down, enigmatic season.
So how did they get there? Let’s take a look. Below are some quick takes on all the OSU games from 2004. Hopefully they’ll each be informative, yet not too time-consuming. We’ll just hit the big stuff in each game.
Okay Mr. Peabody, it’s time to take a trip in the Way Back Machine all the way to September of 2004. A simpler time. A time when boys would be boys and girls would be girls. A time when... ah hell, let’s just get into this already.
Game 1 – Sept. 4th
UCLA Bruins
PASADENA, Ca. – It was the first game of the season and many had pegged it as the “turning point” game of the season. Looking ahead at a killer Big 12 slate, fans and pundits alike felt that the season-opener at the Rose Bowl would be vital if the Pokes were to bowl for the third straight season. It would be a decent test for OSU, as the Bruins had been up and down in recent seasons, but still had top talent scattered on its roster.
With coaches wanting to protect their redshirt freshman Woods, the gameplan was simple: Run, run and run. Like Montezuma’s Revenge, without all the beans. While Woods had a great SportsCenter moment (an eight-yard touchdown run which concluded with a leap over a Bruin defender for the score), the star of the day was Morency, yet another excellent tailback for Tailback U.
The junior from Florida racked up a whopping 261 yards and two scores, driving the way to a 31-20 win over the Bruins. Woods was only 2-of-8 for 25 yards through the air. It was the Cowboys’ first opening-season road win since a 36-26 win at Tulsa in 2000.
Game 2 – Sept. 11th
Tulsa Golden Hurricane
STILLWATER – Playing Tulsa is always risky. It’s really a no-win situation. Win, and it was supposed to happen. Lose, and it’s a huge shocker. And for the Golden Hurricane, it’s a big game for them. It’s their chance to knock off a team that didn’t recruit some of those players for one reason or another. It’s probably a bit like Ohio State playing Ohio or Akron: Hard for the Buckeyes to get up for, but for the Zips or Bobcats, it’s their Super Bowl. It’s that way in the OSU-Tulsa series, which always seems to have a bit of a “Twilight Zone” feel, as inferior Hurricane teams sometimes have found a way to beat the Cowboys.
And when the Hurricane scored on its opening drive to take an early 7-0 lead, OSU fans had to wonder what they were in for that day. Tulsa hadn’t won in Stillwater since 1951, but some of the recent games in Tulsa have been downright scary.
But that first score was all the Tulsa offense could get until late in the game, as OSU rolled to a 38-21 victory which was 38-7 until the ’Cane scored twice late after OSU had shut down shop.
The OSU offense started to spread its passing wings and Morency continued to run down the gridiron like a train behind schedule. He rushed for 178 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries. For the young Woods, he only threw for 70 yards on 3-of-8 passing, but one was a 48-yard strike to Chijuan Mack which helped the Cowboys take a big lead early.
Game 3 – Sept. 18th
Southern Methodist Mustangs
STILLWATER – Anyone remember the death penalty Southern Methodist suffered in the 1980s? The NCAA shut them down for a season because of rampant violations. The next season, SMU had to take another year off because it couldn’t field a team. The Mustangs never recovered.
Why mention this in 2004? Because they’re still feeling the after-effects. OSU rolled to a 59-7 victory. The Cowboys scored like a high school athlete on prom night. Woods threw two touchdown passes on 6-of-11 scoring and 99 yards, while adding a rushing TD on the ground. Morency had 18 rushes for 121 yards and one score.
The Cowboys did lose in this game, however. Cornerback and star returner Darrent Williams was effectively lost for the season to a broken arm. In this game, he flexed his special teams prowess, putting together 215 return yards. On defense, he had a 25-yard fumble return.
Game 4 – Oct. 2nd
Iowa State Cyclones
STILLWATER – Another easy early-season game. It was also the first time ever in the history of Big 12 play the Cowboys opened their conference slate at home.
The Pokes got on a roll in the second quarter, scoring 23 points and never looking back. Morency rushed for 143 yards and two touchdowns on 28 rushes. The progress with Woods behind center continued, as he threw for 139 yards with one TD and one interception on 7-of-14 passing. His brother D’Juan had good day as well, receiving four passes for 78 yards and a score. Tight end Billy Bajema caught three passes for 76 yards.
The Cowboys won, 36-7. But for the second straight game, OSU lost a key defender for the season. Defensive End Nathan Peterson suffered a knee injury, which would prove to compromise the defensive line later in the year, as Peterson – only a true freshman – was already becoming a playmaker.
Game 5 – Oct. 9th
Colorado Buffaloes
BOULDER, Colo. – This game was over after the third play.
Oklahoma State was on its own 44-yard-line when the Cowboys handed the ball off to Morency. He caught a few blocks and found a couple of holes and was off to the races. And 56 yards later, the Cowboys were up 7-0 on the road and that was pretty much that.
What followed was a string of flashing offensive plays for OSU and defensive gaffes by the Buffaloes. OSU rolled to a 42-14 victory.
Morency strung together his seventh-straight 100-yard rushing game (dating back to 2003), going for 170 yards on 27 carries and two touchdowns. Woods threw for 193 yards on 8-of-11 passing with three touchdowns and one interception.
The crazy stat of this game? CU put together 445 yards of offense, yet only scored two touchdowns. The ultimate in “bend but don’t break” for the OSU defense, which would be much maligned the rest of the season.
Game 6 – Oct. 16th
The Biggest Homecoming Celebration in America
Texas A&M Aggies
STILLWATER – This was a game many Cowboys (and seemingly the coaches and players as well) simply overlooked.
It was hard not to overlook the Aggies. No. 16 OSU had jumped out to a 5-0 start and the Aggies were ranked at No. 23 in the polls and sported a 4-1 record, but many inside the conference felt the Aggies weren’t for real. Their 2003 season was a joke and the only tough test they had up to this point was against Utah. The Utes thrashed the Aggies, 41-21.
But something was up with this game from the start. The Cowboys had prided themselves on not making a bunch of turnovers or committing stupid penalties. But on the opening kickoff, the Cowboys started down a slippery slope, committing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after downing the ball in the end zone and then tossing the ball into the facemask of an Aggie player.
And it only went downhill from there. Morency – who hadn’t fumbled all season – lost the ball twice in the first quarter, one of those leading to an A&M score. The Aggies scored touchdowns on three of its next four possessions in the first half – one of them being a backbreaking Hail Mary pass that was tipped in the end zone and caught by Aggie DeQwan Mobley to up the score to 27-6 at the half. This was immediately after OSU quarterback Woods ran in for a touchdown to cut the lead to 20-6.
But that Hail Mary was the end of it for OSU. The Aggies added a touchdown and a field goal to go up 36-6 before the Cowboys mounted a late rally in the fourth quarter to cut it to the final score of 36-20. Morency had 118 yards and a score on 28 carries.
The best thing to come out of this game for OSU? The emergence of Donovan Woods as a legit passing threat. His late-game throwing gave the Cowboys a faint chance to get into a game they were never in, though the effort fell short. But still, 202 passing yards and a touchdown on 15-of-26 passing gave Pokes’ fans a glimpse of what he was capable of through the air.
Game 7 – Oct. 23rd
Missouri Tigers
COLUMBIA, Mo. – After the “Aggie-vation” that was Homecoming in Stillwater, the Cowboys ventured North to take on Missouri on its Homecoming.
It was a huge game for OSU. Lose, and say goodbye to any chance of battling Oklahoma and Texas for the Big 12 South Division title. But a win here would balance out the surprising loss to A&M.
The first 29 minutes of the game in Columbia was forgettable for OSU. The Tigers jumped out to a 17-0 lead on the strength of two Brad Smith touchdown passes, while the Cowboys’ offense was less effective than a pet rock guarding a front yard.
But then Woods led the offense on an 80-yard drive in only 50 seconds, connecting with brother D’Juan in the end zone to put the score at a more-manageable 17-7 halftime deficit.
The Tigers wouldn’t score in the second half. But the Cowboys kept charging.
OSU managed to tie the score at 17 going into the waning minutes of the game. The key moment of this game hinged on a third-and-4 situation in Tigers’ territory. Woods once again connected with his brother, this time a 27-yard reception which kept the Cowboys alive. Then true freshman kicker Jason Ricks booted a 28-yard field goal to take a 20-17 lead with under a minute in the game. Woods finished with 110 yards and one touchdown on 7-of-13 passing. Morency had 177 yards on 31 carries.
This game was a statement game. At the time, Mizzou was favored to win the North and OSU was thought to be in trouble after losing to A&M. This game launched the Cowboys’ momentum into the stratosphere going into the Bedlam showdown against Oklahoma.
Game 8 – Oct. 30th
Bedlam
STILLWATER – If Prentiss Elliott had arms about six inches longer, Oklahoma State would have likely defeated the Oklahoma Sooners for the third time in four years.
The Cowboys answered an early OU score by scoring two touchdowns in the second quarter. Donovan Woods took in a QB sneak to tie the score at 7 apiece and then OU punter Blake Ferguson fumbled into the end zone, where Cowboy Grant Jones fell on it to put the Cowboys up, 14-7.
At that point, the fans in orange were feeling a repeat of 2002, where OSU jumped out to a 35-6 lead before winning 38-28.
But this time, OU had a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback who stepped up and answered the Pokes. Jason White twice connected with wideout Mark Bradley to put the Sooners up 21-14 at halftime.
But the show was only starting to begin. The Sooners came out of the gates in the third quarter and scored on a 50-yard touchdown return. (NOTE: Many Oklahoma State fans believe multiple blocks to the back were not called on this play.) But then Woods launched a 39-yard touchdown pass to Prentiss Elliott to bring the Cowboys back to within seven points. Woods finished the day with 202 yards through the air and a touchdown on 8-of-20 passing.
But then Adrian Peterson ran for an 80-yard score to put OU up 35-21, again seemingly shutting the door on OSU.
At that point, it looked to be it for the Cowboys. But not so. Morency answered the rushing gauntlet thrown down by Peterson (who had 255 yards and a score on 33 carries). He ran for two touchdowns (one apiece in the third and fourth quarters) and 96 yards on only 17 carries. (It was his first non-100-yard rushing game all season.)
So the final drive of the game had the Cowboys starting on their own 19 with 2:44 left. The drive resulted in a missed 49-yard field goal which was pushed about a foot or two left of the uprights. But what was even more painful was the bomb pass from Woods to Elliott that just went off the tips of his fingers in that drive. Elliott was on about the Sooners’ 5-yard-line and lost his footing while attempt to catch the ball.
In the end, Elliott just missed it and OSU just missed a chance to beat hated Oklahoma.
GAME 9 – Nov. 6th
Texas Longhorns
AUSTIN, Texas – If there was ever a game that came right off the storyboard of a Twilight Zone premise, this was it.
Imagine if you will...
...A football team on the road... A place it hasn’t won at in almost 60 years... A giant lead gone in the blink of a quarter. For the Oklahoma State Cowboys, it was a trip to the state capital of Texas, with a sidetrack through The Twilight Zone...
It was like that for OSU. It was a game not many expected the Cowboys to win, but after the game, it was more surprising in how they lost it.
Five of the first six scores in the game were OSU touchdowns. The first half was a total throttling of the Longhorns in every facet of the game. With halftime almost upon the teams, the Cowboys were up big, 35-7.
Then came The Twilight Zone twist.
Texas quarterback Vince Young directs a drive just before the half which leads to a score and a 35-14 deficit at the end of two quarters.
The Cowboys never scored again, while the Longhorns scored six touchdowns in the second half.
Final score: 56-35. The first half was Oklahoma State dominating every part of the game. The second half was Texas doing the same thing to OSU, only better.
It might be the worst loss in Oklahoma State football history. And there’s been plenty of bad losses in the past.
This was just the weirdest game of the century and no amount of explanation could ever justly define that. As for stats, Morency rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries, while Woods had a good night, throwing for 224 yards and a touchdown on 12-of-18 passing.
Game 10 – Nov. 13th
Baylor Bears
STILLWATER – No matter how bad the season, Oklahoma State is expected the beat Baylor, much like Ohio State is expected to beat Northwestern. Oh wait, sorry.
But typically, Northwestern is a lot like Baylor: An overmatched private school playing with a bunch of state school bullies it has little chance against. (Baylor had a stunning upset much like Northwestern over Ohio State, beating Texas A&M in overtime.)
That pretty much sums up Baylor’s life in the Big 12. And this weekend wasn’t any different. Not much to say here: OSU rolls to a 49-21 win. The Cowboys ran its offense through backup tailback Seymore Shaw, who racked up 172 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries subbing for Morency, who was injured. Woods went 8-for-15 for 164 yards and two touchdowns through the air, but also rushed for 73 yards and a score on 11 carries. Brother D’Juan had 73 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Game 11 – Nov. 27th
Texas Tech Red Raiders
LUBBOCK, Texas – Happiness is Lubbock in your rearview mirror. And never ever going back.
Even if OSU had won this game, many Cowboys would feel that way. It’s undescribable what a desolate town that place is. Unfortunately for fans who made the trip, not only did they have to go to Lubbock, they were sent home with a loss.
This game was an enigma to say the least. The offense – which had been rolling most of the last half of the season – was nowhere to be found. But the defense – which had been posted on a missing persons board with the Stillwater Police Department – had kept the Cowboys in the game until the fourth quarter.
The first half was the exact opposite of what everyone expected. It figured to be a shootout early, but wasn’t. Through the first half, the vaunted Texas “Playstation” Tech offense only mustered one touchdown on the iffy OSU defense. The Cowboys only managed a pair of field goals to go into the lock room at the half down 7-6.
Field goals were all OSU’s offense could rack up on the Red Raiders. Kicker Jason Ricks tacked another three points on the board for the Cowboys, giving them a 9-7 lead. But Tech answered with a touchdown drive to go up 14-9.
While the OSU offense was nowhere to be found, the Cowboys’ D made a big play which resulted in a score when defensive back Jamie Thompson intercepted Tech’s Sonny Cumbie, taking it back 68 yards for a touchdown which put OSU up 15-14.
But in the fourth quarter, the overmatched Cowboy defense finally folded. Tech put up a field goal and two touchdowns in the last eight minutes to win the game, 31-15. Woods was off and under-used, passing for only 60 yards on 6-of-9 passing while Morency had another solid game, rushing for 114 yards on 23 carries.
In closing...
This was a transition season for Oklahoma State football. After the loss of the triplets, no one was quite sure how the Cowboys would fare offensively. As the stats show, OSU did fairly well on offense, with a thunderous running game led by Morency and a passing game which slowly developed under redshirt freshman Donovan Woods. Also, D’Juan Woods stepped into big brother Rashaun Woods’ shoes, putting up similar numbers from Rashaun’s first season as a full-time starter at wide receiver.
Because of the successful replacements at wideout, tailback and quarterback, Oklahoma State was able to adjust better than expected this season. Going on the road and beating Colorado and Missouri were big accomplishments for this young team, which only featured three starting seniors on offense and three on defense, as well as senior punter Cole Farden. So it’s easy to see this was a young team.
In the end, 7-4 is about where many OSU fans thought the Cowboys would finish. But it’s not the 7-4 they expected, because games against Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech were winnable games. A few things change in those games and the Cowboys are 10-1.
Even so, 2004 was a solid season for OSU and advances its recent trend of turning the program into a winning one. This will be only the second time in school history OSU will play in a third-straight bowl game. The Cowboys also fought hard against BCS heavyweights OU and Texas. (Though the UT game is still a big mystery to many in orange.)
And the Cowboys have a chance to end the season on a high note. Many down here believe beating Ohio State in the Alamo Bowl might be one of the biggest wins over a program not named Oklahoma in its entire history. While it remains to be seen if the Cowboys will beat the Buckeyes, the 2004 season has been one to build on for the future. A future, Oklahoma State fans hope, which will be filled with conference titles and BCS bowl game berths.
Justin Wilmeth is the Senior Columnist for O-State.com. He can be reached via email at [email protected]
