â€˜Spudâ€™ Considered A Steal By Oklahoma State Coaches

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) _ When Oklahoma State coaches recruited Kendall Hunter, they figured the 5-foot-8 tailback was destined for a redshirt. <br/><br/>That theory went out the window quickly, and the

Thursday, October 11th 2007, 3:23 pm

By: News On 6

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) _ When Oklahoma State coaches recruited Kendall Hunter, they figured the 5-foot-8 tailback was destined for a redshirt.

That theory went out the window quickly, and the freshman tailback ranks third in the Big 12 in rushing after his first five games.

``We thought he was a steal,'' Cowboys coach Mike Gundy said. ``We thought he was a very good player that probably got overlooked because ... he's not very big. When we got him, we were excited because we thought he has the ability to run fast straight ahead and go sideways and not lose a step where not very many guys can do that.''

Nicknamed ``Spud,'' Hunter has rushed for 441 yards and three touchdowns to trail only Nebraska's Marlon Lucky and Texas' Jamaal Charles in rushing average in the Big 12. His average of 7.7 yards per carry is the best in the league.

He's already moved past fumble-prone sophomore Keith Toston to become the primary backup for Oklahoma State starter Dantrell Savage, and he's still learning.

``There's still things where he's having to think and then react,'' offensive coordinator Larry Fedora said. ``As the season goes on and he gets more and more experience, I think he'll be able to just play, and he's doing that probably about 85 percent of the time right now.''

The Cowboys found relatively little competition for Hunter at John Tyler High School in Tyler, Texas, where he ran for more than 1,000 yards as a junior and 1,200 yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior.

``He could stop on a dime and make you miss,'' Fedora said. ``We thought he was going to be pretty special.

``I'm sure a lot of people didn't mess with Kendall just because of his size, because of his height. That's really never been a factor for me for a running back. If you look at most of them in the NFL, they're all pretty short.''

With Savage being slowed by a groin injury early in the season and Toston fumbling three times in 33 carries this season, Hunter is the leading rusher the nation's 10th-ranked rushing offense. The Cowboys rank second in the Big 12, behind Texas A&M.

``There's nothing that's changed in what we believe that Keith Toston can do, but what's happened is the two guys that are on the field right now are producing in just about every situation,'' Hunter said. ``It's hard for a guy to get back out there.''

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BLOCK TALK: If not for a personal foul penalty for roughing the punter, Oklahoma State would have had one last possession with a chance for a comeback in last week's 24-23 loss at Texas A&M.

But were the Cowboys really trying for the block? That's a question that Gundy doesn't want to answer.

``I don't want people to know when we line up whether we're going after a block or whether we're setting up a return,'' Gundy said.

Gundy said he believes opponents can't tell whether the Cowboys are going to go for a block simply by their defensive formation, but the secret would be out if he revealed whether the costly play was designed as a block.

``I'd prefer not to talk about specifics and Xs and Os and what we were actually doing,'' Gundy said. ``Obviously what happened is not what we wanted to happen.''

On the play with less than 2 minutes left, Quinton Moore got flagged for hitting Aggies punter Justin Brantly after he'd already kicked the ball away.

``Quinton went after the punt and felt terrible because he had done something we don't do. We don't leave our feet on punt block,'' Gundy said. ``That's not why we lost the game. There were several things that contributed late in the third quarter and fourth quarter that helped us lose the game. So, it's not his fault.''

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SEEING YELLOW: Oklahoma State is quickly becoming one of the most penalized teams in the country.

Through six games, the Cowboys have drawn 52 penalties for 457 yards, or 76.2 yards per game. Only seven of the 119 Football Bowl Subdivision teams have been penalized more yards than that.

But Gundy said he ``very seldom'' seeks a review from the Big 12 on what he believes are questionable calls.

``I'll be honest with you, it's probably a mistake on my part,'' Gundy said. ``I just have this feeling that everybody calls the best they can, and that why would somebody want to call holding when it's not holding? Or why would somebody want to purposely call something against one team or the other?''

Still, Gundy has been seen questioning calls on the field. Why not take the extra step?

``I don't just because I just feel like they have a job to do and they will make mistakes. I don't think there's any question that they're going to make mistakes,'' Gundy said. ``I don't have a problem with that.''

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TRICKY TOSS: The halfback pass that Oklahoma State used to score its first touchdown against Texas A&M had been a part of the playbook since training camp, and wasn't designed specifically for the Aggies defense.

``That's just a gut feeling that this is a good time to run it,'' Fedora said.

After he made the play call, though, Fedora thought his gut might have betrayed him.

``I wouldn't have advised the pass,'' Fedora said. ``To be honest with you, when he threw it I was like, `Oh, wow.' I didn't think it was going to end up good.''

With a poor vantage point from the skyboxes, Fedora thought at first that Savage's 29-yard pass to Adarius Bowman had been intercepted.

``I didn't know until the referee raised his hands,'' Fedora said.