The Daily O’Collegian

There were many positives for Oklahoma State Saturday in the conference opener against the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

The main ones included the overall performance of the offense, the improvement of the defense in the second half and the fact the team secured a victory.

The Offense: The Cowboys were impressive offensively from the start. In the first half, tailbacks Dantrell Savage and Kendall Hunter ran wild.

Savage had 91 yards to go along with a touchdown. Hunter had 74 rushing yards, highlighted by a 46-yard touchdown run.

By the end of the game, they accounted for 238 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

Quarterback Zac Robinson was a key component of the rushing attack; as well. He accounted for 62 yards, including a 48 yard touchdown run in the first half. He finished with 116 yards and two touchdowns.

The Cowboys were effective through the air also. Robinson passed for 211 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receivers Adarius Bowman, Jeremy Broadway and Dez Bryant combined for 15 receptions, 174 yards and two touchdowns. Tight end Brandon Pettigrew was in the mix as well, ending with an impressive 54 yard touchdown run. After the game, Pettigrew described his touchdown catch.

“The linebacker bailed and left me in a hole, and Zac got it to me. It was meant probably to be a five, six, seven yard play, but somehow I made a play,” Pettigrew said. “He had good position on the ball, but I guess long arms helped me out.”

The offense finished with 610 total yards, including 366 total rushing yards and 244 total passing yards. Robinson, Savage and Hunter each had more than 100 yards, which marked the first time three players rushed for more than 100 yards.

The Defense (second half performance): Although the defense allowed 282 total yards in the second half, it made plays in several key situations, holding Tech scoreless on six of eight possessions in the second half.

The stops included two forced fumbles and a failed Raider fourth down conversion attempt.

The highlight was the final play of the game when Graham Harrell’s pass in the end zone fell incomplete, dashing Tech’s hope for a victory celebration at Boone Pickens Stadium.

Linebacker Patrick Lavine talked about the adjustments made at halftime.

“Coach came in at halftime and told us what they were doing was very simple,” Lavine  said. “He pretty much broke it down and told us it was little things and that we were pretty much beating ourselves.

“Once he explained that to us, we went out in the second half and put ourselves in position to win the game.”

The Victory: The fact that the Cowboys won was the most important thing of all. After two disappointing performances against Georgia and Troy, the win gave the Cowboys a new sense of confidence.

“We’re as excited as we can be because this was a big win for us. It was a moral victory, and it boosted our intensity,” defensive end Nathan Peterson said. “ A lot of people gave up on us after last week, and we had a great, long, hard week of practice and we really worked hard this week.”

Unfortunately, not everything was positive for the Cowboys on Saturday. The defense was the main negative in the conference opener.

The Defense (first half performance/ total yardage allowed): The defense struggled in the first half, allowing Texas Tech to score on five of its first six possessions, accounting for 35 points. In addition, it gave up 436 total yards, including 388 passing yards in the first half and was annihilated by Tech wide receivers Michael Crabtree and Danny Amendola, who accounted for 18 receptions, 288 passing yards and three touchdowns combined.

The worst statistic of all is the fact that the defense gave up a total of 718 yards, the most in school history. In addition, Tech quarterback Graham Harrell passed for 646 yards, which is the fourth-highest in NCAA history.

Fortunately, the defense bounced back in the second half and will use the improvement to build confidence and momentum for the future.

“ It’s important for us to finish the ballgame. This is absolutely something we can build from,” Peterson said.