OSU Cowboys Shocked At Troy

TROY, Ala. (AP) -- It was another one of those signature wins as<br/>Troy fights to gain respect seven years after moving to NCAA<br/>Division I-A, now the Bowl Subdivision.<br/><br/>A group of about 100

Saturday, September 15th 2007, 3:03 pm

By: News On 6

TROY, Ala. (AP) -- It was another one of those signature wins as
Troy fights to gain respect seven years after moving to NCAA
Division I-A, now the Bowl Subdivision.

A group of about 100 fans tore one goal post down just minutes
after the Trojans' 41-23 upset of Oklahoma State from the Big 12
Conference Friday night. It was reminiscent of the previous high
mark for Troy, a 24-14 upset win on Sept. 9, 2004 over then No. 17
Missouri at Troy.

"Tremendous effort, maybe the all-time greatest win in school
history," Troy head coach Larry Blakeney said of the win.

"This was a big win for the Troy family," said quarterback
Omar Haugabook.

It was also a big win for Haugabook, who passed for a
career-high 371 yards and a touchdown and ran for 49 yards and two
scores.

Troy (1-2) played an aggressive, emotional game in front of
their home crowd after opening the season with lopsided road losses
to No. 16 Arkansas and No. 5 Florida.

"We had tough games against Arkansas and Florida, but we came
together and played four quarters tonight," Haugabook said.

It was only the second win in 10 tries for the Trojans of the
Sun Belt Conference against a Big 12 opponent. Led by Haugabook's
passing and running, Troy outplayed the Cowboys throughout, gaining
562 total yards to 432 for Oklahoma State.

It was another bad day away from home for the Cowboys (1-2), who
are 2-9 in their last 11 road games. They had four turnovers and
had trouble all night keeping up with the speedy Troy offense.

Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy said the Cowboys were hurt
by Troy's fast start.

"We gave them the momentum at home and then they created
problems for us," Gundy said. "We knew of their past at home and
we thought we were prepared."

Gundy blamed the Cowboys' loss on three factors.

"We had more turnovers, we couldn't get to the quarterback and
we never established our run game," Gundy said.

Kendall Hunter ran 16 times for 125 yards for Oklahoma State.

The start of the game was delayed for 41 minutes because of
lightning as the remnants of Hurricane Humberto passed through the
area.

But the Trojans were not slowed by the delay and the wet field
as they took control in the opening minute and dominated the first
half.

On Oklahoma State's first play from scrimmage, Troy's Boris Lee
recovered a fumble by Keith Towston, setting up a four-play,
23-yard scoring drive for the Trojans. It was the first of two
fumbles by Towston that Lee would recover in the first half.
Haugabook threw 5 yards to Kennard Burton for the score with 13:53
left in first quarter.

Haugabook was unstoppable in the first half, passing for 223
yards, mostly from the shotgun in a no-huddle offense, and running
for another 33 yards. He said the fast start was key to the
Trojans' win.

"That was very important. In the first two games we started off
bad, with bad field position and not moving the ball very much on
offense," Haugabook said. "Tonight we showed that we are a great
offense and that we have a chance to be a great team."

The Trojans extended their lead to 13-3 late in the first
quarter on a 5-yard scramble by Haugabook to cap a 13-play, 79-yard
drive.

Early in the second quarter, Leodis McKelvin returned an
Oklahoma State punt 74 yards for a touchdown. It was the fifth
career punt return for a touchdown for McKelvin.

Oklahoma State narrowed the margin on a 4-yard scoring pass from
Zac Robinson to Brandon Pettigrew with 8:43 left in the half, but
the Cowboys could not sustain the momentum.

The Trojans followed with a 9-play, 80-yard drive that ended
with a trick play -- a 17-yard scoring pass by receiver Gary Banks
to Mykeal Terry.

Troy took the second half kickoff and drove 80 yards in 13 plays
-- scoring on a 2-yard run by Haugabook. The Trojans tacked on
another score late the in the third quarter on a 3-yard run by Sean
Dawkins.

The Cowboys tacked on two meaningless fourth-quarter scores on
1- and 2-yard runs by Julius Crosslin.

Gundy said the weather did not affect the play of the Cowboys.

"It rained on both teams," he said.