Cowboys admit to knowing little about opponent

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -- Oklahoma State football players were quizzed Monday on what they knew about their next opponent, Southwest Texas.

Good thing the test wasn't graded.

A couple of players nailed the Division I-AA team's name (Bobcats) and hometown (San Marcos), but none could guess the team's conference (Southland) or speculate on how the Cowboys might handle certain Bobcat players or setups.

"We haven't had our scouting report yet," said OSU coach Bob Simmons, explaining that his players would get their first real look at Southwest Texas during an evening tape-watching session.

The Bobcats are coming off a 19-13 overtime loss Saturday to Division I-AA Cal State Northridge. Simmons said the team will present a spread offense with lots of different sets, but that their most dangerous element has nothing to do with schematics.

"This is their statement ballgame," Simmons said, citing the incentive a team from a lower division has in beating a more well-known opponent.

Talk at the weekly media conference Monday also focused on another relative unknown: Oklahoma State's offense, which after seasons of underachieving racked up 413 yards in a 36-26 win over Tulsa Saturday.

"For once the offense was the limelight of the team," OSU offensive tackle Josh Lind said. "We should have put a lot more points up than what we did."

In the Tulsa game OSU jumped out to a 21-0 first quarter lead, before the Golden Hurricane battled back to within 21-19 in the second quarter.

OSU was led by the 187-yard rushing performance of tailback Reggie White, a senior starting in his first game for the Cowboys.

Senior quarterback Tony Lindsay also threw for 166 yards and 3 TDs.

OSU defensive end Zac Warner said the offense picked up the slack for some defensive miscues that allowed Tulsa to make the game close.

"We gave up some big plays and some kind of stupid mistakes that really cost us some points," Warner said. "That's something we can go out there and take care of."

He said the debut performance of the offense crafted by new OSU offensive coordinator Del Miller was a welcome change from last season, when many blamed an inability to move the ball as the reason for the team's 5-6 record.

"Sometimes the offense (last season) didn't get it done and we felt like we had to come out there and stop them and get our offense back on the field," Warner said. "We still want to do the same -- get our offense back on the field, and hopefully they can just sustain some more drives and get some more wins."

COWBOY NOTES: There is no planned television coverage of the Southwest Texas-OSU game scheduled for a 7 p.m. Saturday kickoff.

...Simmons said defensive end Juqua Thomas will play Saturday despite getting six stitches after cutting his hand on the helmet of a Tulsa player last Saturday. ...Cornerback Alvin Porter, who missed the Tulsa game because of an NCAA review of his academic record, will practice this week but is still questionable for the Southwest Texas game, Simmons said. The coach said a committee is reviewing the senior's academic progress.