Cowboys seek to become eligible for bowl

Friday, November 22nd 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) _ In order to become eligible for a bowl game for the first time since 1997, Oklahoma State must inflict yet another bruise on the battered Baylor football program.

The Bears (3-8, 1-6 Big 12) will be playing their final game for coach Kevin Steele, who was fired Nov. 3. With a loss Saturday _ the Bears are four-touchdown underdogs _ Steele would be 9-36 in his four seasons, with one conference victory.

The Bears haven't had the talent to compete in the Big 12. But opposing coaches haven't questioned how sound the Bears are, or how hard they play, which Steele said is a result of his players believing in the process.

``From Day One, we said we're going to build this thing right,'' Steele said. ``No matter how hard it gets, we're going to keep doing the right thing the right way, we're going to work hard and we're going to try to just keep on plugging.

``If you do the right thing long enough with the right people, the right attitude, good things will happen.''

Not many good things have happened for the Bears, who have been outscored 271-30 in the past six games, three of them shutouts. They rank last in the conference in scoring, rushing and turnover margin, and next-to-last in total offense and points allowed.

They face an Oklahoma State team that has won three of its past four games to get to 5-5 overall, 3-3 in the Big 12. Last week, the Cowboys scored 55 points in a victory over Kansas, their highest total of the season.

In that game, Josh Fields threw for 354 yards and a school-record six touchdowns. Three of his TD passes went to Rashaun Woods, who leads the league with 1,171 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns.

Those two have been complemented by tailback Tatum Bell, who has run for 100 or more yards in three of the past four games.

``They've got things kind of rolling in the right direction there,'' Steele said. ``That's what you try to do offensively, you try to get a running back, a big-play receiver and a quarterback who can make plays, and they appear to have that.''

Oklahoma State's last bowl season was five years ago, when the Cowboys played in the Alamo Bowl and finished 8-4. They haven't had a winning season since then, but would be assured of at least a .500 finish in the regular season by winning Saturday.

Beating Baylor would give Oklahoma State the six victories needed to be considered for a bowl, something coach Les Miles said is vital to the process of turning the program around.

``I hope that the stands will be full, that there is orange from side to side and that we come out as if this is a very important game,'' he said. ``For us it is, and I hope we play it that way.''