Cowboys Must Move On Without Signature Win

Sunday, September 2nd 2007, 6:57 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Oklahoma State had spent months anticipating its chance for a program-building win, a statement that the Cowboys were ready to re-emerge on the national scene.

After coming home from Georgia without that signature victory, they must move on and await the next opportunity to make that big splash.

``It's no different than any other year. You play a game, you get ready for the next one,'' Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said Sunday, a day after the Cowboys' 35-14 loss to No. 13 Georgia.

In the run-up to the season, Gundy had spoken about how frequently Cowboys fans asked him at offseason events whether his team would be able to pull off the big win. Last week, he said it was ``a big game'' and ``not just another game.''

But now his team must shrug it off like any other loss.

``I think the offense was below average and didn't make enough big plays, and I think the defense played average and just has to tackle better,'' Gundy said of his team's performance.

Oklahoma State was shut out in a half for the first time since Texas overcame a 28-12 halftime deficit to beat the Cowboys 47-28 on Oct. 29, 2005 _ a span of 17 games.

Gundy thought Georgia had similar talent as Oklahoma and Texas teams he'd faced in the past, but he said the difference was in the teams' toughness _ the same area he cited after the Cowboys' first loss a season ago to Houston.

``I don't think we got worn down,'' Gundy said. ``I think they were just more physical than we were. They had more physical tackling than we did.''

The Cowboys now must bounce back to face Florida Atlantic on Saturday before their next road test at Troy on Sept. 14, and their next chance for a statement win comes after Big 12 play starts Sept. 22 against Texas Tech.