Oklahoma State Cowboys Run Past Grambling State

Originally Published: Sep 26, 2009 9:46 PM CDT

Gerald Goodridge
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

STILLWATER, Oklahoma – The Oklahoma State program lobbied their fans to sell out the game against the Grambling State Tigers.

The record 56,901 fans in attendance were treated to a dominating offensive performance by the Cowboys, who topped the Tigers 56-6.

“That’s a good win for us tonight,” said Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy. “We were able to use some players that don’t have a lot of experience that stepped up and made some plays.”

In the week leading up to their matchup with Grambling State, Oklahoma State faced questions about their running game, specifically the lack of a 100-yard rusher this season.

The Cowboys responded with 321 rushing yards on 43 attempts for an average of 7.5 yards per carry.

Freshman running back Jeremy Smith became only the third running back in school history to top 100 yards in his debut. His 160 yards performance did not go unnoticed by the senior leaders on the team.

“That is Oklahoma State’s future,” said senior running back Keith Toston. “He is a good running back. We knew that since the first day we saw him running in two-a-days.”

Despite the strong performance offensively, the Cowboys once again had turnover problems. OSU quarterbacks Zac Robinson, Alex Cate and Brandon Weeden collectively threw two interceptions and lost two fumbles.

“Those are errors that we need to eliminate in order to continue to push forward throughout the season,” said Gundy.

Defensively, the Cowboys bounced back from two poor performances, especially against the pass. They limited Grambling State to less than five yards per play on offense and forced two turnovers. Oklahoma State defenders recorded 10 tackles for loss, three of which were sacks.

“We have made some strides and improved in a lot of areas that we needed to work on in the past,” said senior linebacker Patrick Lavine. “We played the game that we needed to play.”

After a week off, the Cowboys travel to College Station, Texas to take on the Texas A&M Aggies.