Oct. 4, 2009

Complete Release in PDF Format

No. 15/13 Oklahoma State at Texas A&M
Sat., Oct. 10, 2009 :: 11:40 a.m. CT :: Kyle Field (82,600 capacity)
TV: FSN National (Joel Meyers, Dave Lapham and Jim Knox)
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker, John Holcomb and Robert Allen)
Internet: okstate.com
Satellite Radio:Sirius Channel 219 and XM Channel 231
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The Big (12) Time
The No. 15 Oklahoma State Cowboys (3-1/0-0) launch their 14th year of Big 12 play this weekend when they travel to College Station to take on the Texas A&M Aggies (3-1/0-0). Kickoff is set for 11:40 a.m. at Kyle Field. The game will be televised nationally by Fox Sports Net with Joel Meyers calling the action, Dave Lapham providing analysis and Jim Knox reporting from the sidelines.

The Cowboys Lately
Oklahoma State enters Big 12 play with a 3-1 record. All four games to date have been played in Stillwater. OSU has won two in a row overall and has one of the more prestigious victories for the Big 12 this season with its 24-10 win over then-No. 13 Georgia in the opener.

Late Departure
The trip to Texas A&M is OSU's first road game of the season after the Cowboys opened the season with four straight home games. The game in College Station represents Oklahoma State's latest road opener since 1975 when the Cowboys traveled to Missouri for an Oct. 11 road debut against the Tigers.

The Series
Texas A&M leads the all-time series against Oklahoma State, 17-7. The Cowboys are, however, coming off their biggest victory in the series since the Barry Sanders years as OSU claimed a 56-28 win last season in Stillwater. It was OSU's most lopsided victory over A&M since 1988. The Aggies hold a 9-2 all-time advantage in College Station with the OSU road wins coming in 1983 and 2003. The Aggies hold a 4-3 series advantage over the last seven games.

Kyle Play
Oklahoma State's rare wins in College Station have become harbingers of good news for Cowboy football seasons. In 1983, the Cowboys were 34-15 winners at A&M in a matchup of Big Eight vs. Southwest Conference foes. That OSU team, coached by Jimmy Johnson, eventually finished 8-4 with a Bluebonnet Bowl championship. Those eight wins marked OSU's highest total in seven years. In 2003, OSU's 38-10 win in College Station helped propel the Cowboys to the Cotton Bowl and a 9-4 campaign under Les Miles. That nine-win total was the best by Oklahoma State in 15 years.

The Young And Redundant
Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Bill Young may be able to give tours of the Texas A&M campus by the end of the weekend. For the third straight year, Young will be bringing a defense to College Station. In 2007, Young and the Kansas Jayhawks were 19-11 winners over the Aggies. In 2008, Young was the defensive coordinator at Miami when the Hurricanes picked up a 41-23 victory at A&M.

Series Thoughts
The series between Oklahoma State and Texas A&M dates back to 1913 when the Oklahoma A&M Aggies defeated the Texas A&M Aggies, 3-0, in Stillwater. The teams met a total of eight times prior to 1980 and just 11 times before joining the Big 12 Conference. OSU was 2-1 against the Aggies in the 1980s with the lone loss coming in the 1981 Independence Bowl. OSU is 3-10 against A&M since the formation of the Big 12 Conference. During that span, OSU has dropped two overtime games to the Aggies and four of OSU's losses have been by a total of 10 points.

Missed It By This Much
How close has the A&M-OSU series been over the last seven meetings? During that time, the Cowboys have outscored the Aggies by a 221-217 count.

Last Year In Stillwater
The Cowboys are coming off a 56-28 victory over Texas A&M last season in Stillwater. The Cowboys jumped to a 28-7 halftime lead, scored two defensive touchdowns (one each by Ugo Chinasa and Patrick Lavine) and got four touchdowns from Dez Bryant in the victory. Bryant caught three touchdown passes and accumulated 106 receiving yards to compliment a 78-yard punt return for a score. The point total was the most ever by OSU against Texas A&M.

Big 12 Season's Greetings
The Cowboys are opening Big 12 play against Texas A&M for the second straight year and for the third time overall. OSU is 1-1 when opening against the Aggies. Barring television moves, OSU and Texas A&M are scheduled to open Big 12 play against each other every season through 2015.

The Debuts
Oklahoma State is 5-8 when opening Big 12 play, including a 2-7 record when opening on the road (that total includes a neutral field loss to Texas Tech in 1996 when the two teams met in Irving). Under Mike Gundy, the Cowboys are 2-2 in Big 12 openers. OSU will be opening Big 12 play on the road for the 10th time in the 14-year existence of the conference. The Cowboys are riding a brief two-game winning streak in conference openers with both of those wins taking place in Stillwater. Oklahoma State hasn't opened league play with a road win since a 1998 victory at Kansas. The only other time OSU opened Big 12 play with a road win came in 1997 at Iowa State.

The Road To Success
The trip to College Station marks the first road game for the Cowboys in 2009. Oklahoma State was 3-2 on the road last season, including a 2-2 record against Big 12 competition with wins at No. 3 Missouri and at Colorado and losses at No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Texas Tech.

Road Recovery
Under Mike Gundy, OSU lost seven of its first eight Big 12 road games. Over the last two seasons, though, the Cowboys are 4-4 in league road games. The last time Oklahoma State dropped a conference road game to a team outside the top 10 was 2007 in College Station when Texas A&M knocked off OSU, 24-23.

The More Orange The Better
It seems each week provides a new milestone at the ticket office for Oklahoma State. Through the first month of the season Oklahoma State has... • Set a new school record with 45,685 season tickets purchased.
• Set a new school record with more than, 11,400 student season tickets purchased.
• Set a new single-game attendance record vs. Georgia with 53,012 fans in attendance.
• Set another new single-game attendance record with 56,901 fans on hand for the Grambling State game.

Forty Something
Oklahoma State is coming off a 56-6 victory over Grambling State. That game marked the 17th time in 54 games under Mike Gundy that OSU eclipsed the 40-point mark and the eighth time OSU passed the 50-point mark.

The Next Wave
With an assortment of bumps and bruises accumulating through the first month of the season, OSU used the Grambling State game to unveil its kiddie corps of new players at the skilled positions. The results were impressive.
• True freshman running back Jeremy Smith, in the first game of his career, ran for 160 yards and a touchdown on just 15 carries for an average of 10.7 yards per rush. He became OSU's first 100-yard rusher since Kendall Hunter turned the trick at Colorado last season. Smith's total was the best ever by an OSU freshman in his first game. He had runs 69 and 51 yards.
• Sophomore receiver Dameron Fooks entered the game looking for his first career reception. He ended the contest with four catches for 81 yards and had touchdown catches covering 24 and 19 yards.
• True freshman receiver Tracy Moore, a teammate of Jeremy Smith at Tulsa's Union High School, has seen action in all four games this season. Against Grambling State, he had his first two career catches, including a 28-yard touchdown catch.
• Sophomore quarterback Brandon Weeden was 4-of-7 passing against the Tigers for 77 yards and two touchdowns. The former professional baseball player entered the game with one career completion.
• Redshirt freshman Isaiah Anderson's first career reception went for 23 yards.