Kendall Hunter and the Cowboy offense will look to get on track on Saturday to help the defense offset a Houston offense that averaged over 500 yards and 34.5 points per game in 2007.
After a victory against the Washington State Cougars last Saturday in Seattle, Oklahoma State is preparing for a different set of Cougars.
On Saturday, the Cowboys will take on the Houston Cougars with hopes of improving to 2-0. Once again the Cowboys won’t know much about their opponent’s game plan, with Kevin Sumlin going into just his second game as Houston’s coach.
In his first game, Sumlin’s Cougars beat Southern 55-3.
“Don’t really have much [tape] to watch,” coach Mike Gundy said. “There is not a lot to watch and evaluate other than athletic ability, I am going to guess that they didn’t really show a lot; it was 24-3 early in the second quarter and then 45-3 at the half, so there is really not a lot to break down.”
Sumlin was the co-offensive coordinator at Oklahoma. After coach Art Briles left Houston for Baylor, Sumlin was hired to coach the Cougars.
The OSU defense showed that it is an improved unit last week, holding Washington State to 13 points and 196 total yards, but the Cowboys face another test against a pass-happy team like Houston.
In 2006, the Cowboys lost to the Cougars 34-25 in Houston and gave up 509 yards of offense.
Against Southern, Houston quarterback Chase Keenum threw for 392 yards and five touchdowns in his first start. Receiver Mark Hafner caught seven balls for 103 yds and two touchdowns.
Defensive coordinator Tim Beckman said tackling will be key this week for the Cowboy defense.
“Houston has some very skilled football players,” Beckman said. “Their wide receivers run great routes and their running back is a hard runner. I think their quarterback has a great arm, and I thought the offensive line did an exceptional job against Southern.
“You will see the ball in the air quite a bit. Maybe a little sprinkle of Texas Tech, and little bit of Oklahoma; we just need to tackle and get off blocks and play our brand of football.”
The Cowboy offense had a slow start last week, where it failed to get into the end zone, instead settling for field goals.
“There were mistakes,” Gundy said. “Looking at the tape, seven out of 10 times it was a mistake made by one of the 11 players on the field, but its not something from an X’s and O’s standpoint that we can’t correct.”
Houston has a solid defense that finished at the top of Conference USA in 2007; from that defense, the Cougars return eight starters. Last Saturday, the defense held Southern to 35 yards rushing and 252 total yards. The Cougars were led by Marcus McGraw, who had 10 tackles.
For the Cowboys, Dez Bryant had seven catches for 90 yards against WSU, and Kendall Hunter rushed for 107 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
“Any time you have a guy that’s a go-to guy like Dez, you want to put more than one guy out on him and not let him beat you,” co-offensive coordinator Gunter Brewer said. “That’s our job to try and get him the ball.
“In the same sense, it opens it up for a lot of our other guys to make catches, and Zac is good enough to find the check down guy and get it to him.”
OSU has recruited players from around the country, but it has made a niche for itself in the city of Houston with 18 current players from the Houston area. The game will have many players going head-to-head with friends from high school.
“Yeah, it’s real fun to beat friends,” Dez Bryant said. “I know Christopher Pollack on their team; he is a real good friend, but I am going to enjoy playing against him.”
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