Simmons glad to get late start

STILLWATER, Okla.--Oklahoma State on Saturday night will be the next-to-last Division I-A school to open its season, which is fine with coach Bob Simmons.<br><br>Simmons said that with just one week of

Friday, September 8th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

STILLWATER, Okla.--Oklahoma State on Saturday night will be the next-to-last Division I-A school to open its season, which is fine with coach Bob Simmons.

Simmons said that with just one week of two-a-day workouts, the extra week to prepare is beneficial.

"A lot of our kids probably wanted to play last week," he said. "But when you look at what we've done in practice and watch film and see some of the same kids make the same mistakes, that week gave us another opportunity to try to iron out things."

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OFFENSE UNVEILED:@ Saturday's game against Tulsa will provide an opportunity, finally, for Oklahoma State fans to see the much-talked-about new offense installed by coordinator Del Miller.

Fans who hoped to get a peek were disappointed during the Cowboys' only public scrimmage of fall workouts. Miller admitted that day that he showed little of what is in the playbook.

He also says the offense will unfold from week to week.

OSU linebacker Dwayne Levels said fans should like what they see.

"They're just really going to be entertained," he said. "It's a very exciting, wide-open offense. They haven't run half the stuff they're capable of. I'm like everyone else, just waiting to see what they're going to do."

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NEW LOOK:@ The Tulsa football team is wearing new uniforms this season.

The helmets are metallic blue with gold Tulsa script and a gold stripe down the middle. At home, the Hurricane will wear gold jerseys with blue trim, and gold pants with blue trim.

For the road opener last week, Tulsa wore white jerseys with blue trim.

This marks the first significant uniform change for Tulsa since 1991.

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THIS 'N' THAT:@ The Sept. 9 opener is the latest for Oklahoma State since 1993, when the Cowboys opened on Sept. 11 against Southwest Missouri State. Since 1958, the latest opener for OSU was in 1961, when the Cowboys played Iowa State on Sept. 23. ... Saturday will mark the 16th time in the past 17 years that OSU has opened with a night game. ... Oklahoma State's captains are quarterback Tony Lindsay, offensive lineman Josh Lind, defensive tackle Zac Akin and cornerback Alvin Porter. ... Tulsa took 22 freshman to North Carolina last week, including 14 true freshmen. There were only 17 seniors on the opening game travel roster.