Sophomore receiver Dez Bryant stiff-arms an A&M defender during OSU’s 56-28 victory Saturday. Bryant is second in the Big 12 in all-purpose yards with 178.4 yards per game, trailing only Missouri’s Jeremy Maclin. Bryant leads the conference in punt return yards and is second in receiving yards.
Coach Mike Gundy heard the crowd, and he heard Dez Bryant in his ear saying the same thing.
“We had to calm [Bryant] down some [Saturday],” Gundy said.
“Dez gets a little upset when you don’t throw it to him every play, and I hear people in the stands saying, ‘Throw it to Dez,’ so a lot of people agree with him.”
The crowd had good reason for calling for Bryant, a sophomore receiver, to get the ball during OSU’s 56-28 victory against Texas A&M on Saturday night.
OSU moved up to No. 17 in the Associated Press poll Sunday after another game where Bryant stole the show.
He finished the day with five catches for 106 yards and three touchdowns and a 78-yard punt return for a touchdown.
Overall, Bryant touched the ball eight times — eight times, four touchdowns.
The Cowboys (5-0, 1-0 Big 12) will take that ratio any day of the week.
Bryant’s rising reputation could be seen in the attention he got from the Aggies (2-3, 0-1).
OSU entered the game with Kendall Hunter leading the No. 1 rushing offense in the nation, but A&M changed its normal defensive scheme to focus instead on Bryant.
“A&M had played a lot of man coverage coming into this game,” Gundy said. “I am going to guess they probably played five snaps of it tonight.”
Co-offensive coordinator Gunter Brewer said one of the reasons for the scheme change is because of OSU’s young superstar.
“If someone double-teams Dez all game long, it’s hard to get a ball to a guy,” Brewer said. “You can take a receiver out the game if you work hard. You say, ‘I am not going to let that guy beat you,’ and that’s basically what they were trying to say tonight.
“When we got the man-to-man coverage, you saw what happened. He is a tremendous athlete, and he has done some great things, and he can go out there and get the ball when it’s thrown to him.”
For the season, Bryant has 27 catches for 550 yards and nine touchdowns. The most receiving touchdowns a Cowboy had last year was Adarius Bowman’s eight.
Bryant’s punt return was also the longest by a Cowboy since R.W. McQuarters had an 82-yarder against Northeast Louisiana in 1997.
Bryant’s first touchdown catch came on a slant over the middle where he skirted past a defender and walked into the end zone.
He then struck late in the first quarter, this time with the punt return. Bryant fielded the punt, spun off a crowd of Aggies and bolted up the sideline for a 78 yard return for the score.
Sportscenter made the play No.1 on its list of Saturday’s top plays.
Bryant would go on to catch two more touchdown catches, the last being where he put a punishing move on a defender and burned him in the corner of the end zone.
“He gave him a double move,” co-offensive coordinator Trooper Taylor said. “He gave him a look back, ‘I am not going there, I am going here.’ He watches tape of NFL guys, and Santana Moss did that to the Dallas Cowboys.
“If he sees it on tape, he can go out and do it exactly like that.”
Although a receiver calling for the ball might invoke negative connotations, such as Terrell Owens, quarterback Zac Robinson said he loves the fact that he has a guy who always wants to make a play.
“That’s what you want from any good receiver,” said Robinson. “Every good receiver wants the ball, and that’s what you like to see.
“All the time he is like, ‘Man, I got him every single time.’ Obviously he is a great player.”
Loading ...
All Articles