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Two years ago when Oklahoma Sate welcomed Texas Tech to Stillwater, the Cowboys were 1-2, coming off of a devastating 41-23 loss at Troy and Zac Robinson was preparing to make his first home start as a quarterback.
How times have changed.
OSU beat the Red Raiders 49-45 that day, and it could be viewed as the turning point of the program under Mike Gundy.
Prior to that game, Gundy was 12-15. Since that game he has gone 20-9.
“That was a huge win for us,” Robinson said. “I think it definitely helped us out confidence-wise, beating a good team like that, being able to hold onto a game in the fourth quarter like we had blown in the past.”
Many of the Cowboys’ key players were sophomores in 2007, and Robinson said that game helped them turn the corner.
“I think it was definitely a big game for that season and now, looking back at what we’ve done since then, you could say that it was a turning point,” Robinson said.
Texas Tech (6-3, 3-2 Big 12) returns to Stillwater Saturday to face No. 19 Oklahoma State (7-2, 4-1 Big 12), and they will bring one of the nation’s best offenses.
The Red Raiders’ offense is very similar to the Houston attack, which gave the Pokes trouble earlier this season.
“We think that going against Houston has really prepared us and helped us get ready for this game,” defensive tackle Swanson Miller said.
“Because we know against Houston the main thing that really hurt us was the screen play and ever since then no one has been able to run the screen on us ever since that point.”
“We’ve been progressing as a defense and as a team each game ever since Houston and we’re just going to go out and fight hard,” Miller said.
A key against Texas Tech will be tackling, because the Red Raiders
throw so many short routes.
“Last year, when they pretty much picked us apart, if you look at several of the key plays it just came down to making a tackle in open space,” safety Andre Sexton said. “We’ve been faced with a lot of teams that put us in those situations this year and we just continue to get better as the season goes on.”
“It’s going to take everybody getting to the ball so if somebody misses, then somebody else is there so they’re not getting these extra yards after the catches.”
The Red Raiders defeated OSU last year in Lubbock, 56-20, which took the Cowboys out of the Big 12 title discussion and cost them a chance at a BCS bowl. The loss is still fresh in the mind of defensive tackle Derek Burton.
“They lit us up pretty good last year,” Burton said. “We got to learn from our mistakes and play a whole lot better this year.”
An OSU victory Saturday would keep its BCS hopes alive and continue the momentum that began two years ago.
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