Making the rounds on OSU football
By Scott Wright
A few OSU football items of discussion to keep you busy during the bye week:
– Oklahoma State is still looking for a quarterback or two in the 2009 recruiting class. The Cowboys’ latest commitment, Joe Mitchell of Katy, Texas, is listed as a QB by some recruiting services, but he’s most likely a safety or STAR linebacker at OSU. At 6-foot-3, 215, he seems perfect for that outside LB spot.
– In case you’re curious (because I was), “STAR” doesn’t really have a meaning. It’s just a term they used at Ohio State and Tim Beckman brought it with him when he came here. At most places, it’s just called “Will,” which is a nickname for the weakside linebacker spot.
– Mitchell and fellow commit Darius Hart, a junior-college defensive end, are both eligible to enroll at OSU in January. Mike Gundy expects to have several spots open for players who want to enroll early. Along with the four players who left the team before the season, a handful of current seniors are expected to graduate in December, David Washington, Jacob Lacey and Ricky Price among them. I’m trying to get a full list together and I’ll have that for you soon.
– I’ve been asked a few times about the possibility of Washington applying for a sixth year because of the broken leg he suffered last season against Troy. According to the NCAA rules, a football player sustaining a season-ending injury in the first three games of the season is eligible to apply. But when I asked Washington about it this week, he said he has been told he wouldn’t qualify. And even if he did, he said he didn’t know if he’d apply anyway. As fun as it is, college football is a lot of hard work.
– As for the rest of this week in the paper, I’ll be looking into the improvement of Orie Lemon at middle linebacker. There probably isn’t another player on the team who has developed as much as him this season. That story will come Thursday. On Saturday, I’ll look into the Cowboys’ 2009 recruiting class, what they’ve got, what they need and why this is already shaping up to be a successful recruiting class even though it lacks in numbers.
LIVE GAME BLOG: OSU at Colorado
signed, sealed, delivered
The six are official at OSU …
Ray Penn, Torin Walker, Roger Franklin, Reger Dowell, Fred Gulley and Karron Johnson.
Sitting waiting for practice to start I just had Terrel Harris look over the list and pick out his favorites. His picks were Ray Penn and Karron Johnson, whom he called “a beast.” He said he thinks Johnson might be one and done. Then as he kept going down the list he said, “All these dudes are good. Oklahoma State is gonna be good.”
I asked him if he wants to stay.
“I wish I could,” he said.
by andrea cohen
Luper can commiserate with Johnson
By Scott Wright
Oklahoma State running back Kendall Hunter was named one of 10 semifinalists for the Doak Walker Award Tuesday, which isn’t unexpected based on the sophomore’s performance this season.
The 5-foot-8, 195-pound scatback ranks fourth nationally in total rushing yards and yards per game at 1,332 in 10 games for a 133.2-yard average.
But Hunter’s inclusion on the Walker list wasn’t so expected in August, when the OSU running back situation appeared to be more of a committee job.
Keith Toston was expected to be the No. 3 back, coming off ACL surgery, then undergoing another minor knee surgery in August. But Toston has come back as strong as ever, leaving Beau Johnson to the No. 3 spot, which results in little action for the junior-college transfer.
But running backs coach Curtis Luper knows his pain.
“I’d like to get Beau more carries. He’s deserving,” said Luper, who was a running back at OSU in the mid-1980s. “He just happens to be sitting behind an All-American right now. I can empathize with that, because I sat behind a couple.
“We need Beau on this team and we need Beau to contribute. We’ll need him to win a game at some point. But Kendall Hunter, I think, is the best running back in the country and he’s earned his touches.”
Next season will be even more interesting.
Hunter will be a junior. Toston and Johnson will be seniors. Current redshirts Travis Miller and Kye Staley will be in the mix as well, along with incoming freshman Jeremy Smith from Tulsa Union.
There’s been some speculation around message boards about the strength of Smith’s commitment, but he doesn’t appear to be wavering, despite taking a couple of other visits. And there’s been some talk that the Cowboys might take another running back in the 2009 class. But don’t expect that, either. It’ll be tough enough to keep all six of those guys happy.
Pregame in Lubbock
By Scott Wright
They just replayed the game-winning touchdown of last week’s Texas Tech-Texas game.
And the 10,000 or so fans who arrived early let out the second-biggest cheer of the pregame.
The loudest came when Iowa kicked its game-winning field goal to beat Penn State, which was playing on the in-stadium big screen.
Alabama held on to win, which didn’t get played on the big screen, but there’s still a big shake-up in the national championship picture. Regardless, a one-loss team from the Big 12 South should be locked into the BCS title game.
So the game we’re about to watch will have some serious implications.
Not that it means anything, but Texas Tech is wearing black jerseys and white pants. Last week, the Red Raiders were in all black. Of course, Mike Leach doesn’t seem like the supersitious type anyway.
OSU-Tech in Dallas: Will it happen?
By Scott Wright
As I wrote about on Wednesday, there has been no change in the status of the OSU-Texas Tech series potentially moving to Dallas on a yearly basis starting next season.
Neither team wants to play a neutral-site game Nov. 14 for several reasons. The biggest being that the potential for lost ticket sales is great if one or both teams are having a mediocre year and are out of the running for anything significant by mid-November.
A game in September or October wouldn’t necessarily be impacted that way.
If the move doesn’t occur next season, it presents a unique situation for the Cowboys — eight home games.
That’s both good and bad. Every coach in America would love to have eight home games. Same goes for the merchants of Stillwater. But the struggling economy could put a pinch on some season-ticket buyers when an extra game added on.
In my opinion, don’t look for the OSU-Tech game to be played in Dallas next season. Probably not the season after, either. Maybe 2011.
There also have been some rumors circulating on the Internet that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was in Stillwater recently trying to convince OSU to move its 2009 season opener against Georgia to his new stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Actually, that idea had been discussed, but it originated at OSU and quickly died. OSU won’t take away one of the two biggest home games on the schedule next season.
On the other hand, don’t be surprised if either the Georgia or Texas games are treated the same way the OU game was this season, meaning there will be no individual ticket sales for one or both games. That announcement will come later.
And as for those Bedlam tickets this season, don’t plan on OSU breaking down and selling individual seats. Here’s a press release from OSU that came out Wednesday on the subject.
Lucas to OSU?
Never say never (especially when it comes to Jai Lucas) but after talking to a couple of people in the know last night I get the impression that Lucas-to-OSU is unlikely. The Cowboys have three verbal point guard commitments in the class of 2009, plus freshman Keiton Page. If all three of those guys sign (the fall period starts Nov. 12), I can’t imagine Lucas coming, too.
John Lucas II does have a relationship with Travis Ford, and it’s a close enough relationship that he knows about the guard situation.
by andrea cohen
Some post-exhibition thoughts …
I just got home from OSU’s exhibition opener and I keep thinking of things that are interesting but didn’t make the paper. So what better spot, right?
First, let’s talk attendance. The tickets scanned figure was just over 4,100. I’m not stunned — the weather was bad and to be honest I feel like people just aren’t all that fired up about OSU basketball at the moment. But for whatever reason it really was empty in Gallagher-Iba.
The plus side to these early, non-TV games for me is that the media gets to sit courtside. That means we get to hear every word out of Travis Ford’s mouth when he’s on the sideline, and that just happens to be highly entertaining.
Highlights: At one point he screamed to Keiton Page: “Keiton, you are not playing hard enough. You are not playing hard enough, son. Get intense.”
After he pulled James Anderson from the game he put both hands on Anderson’s shoulders and asked him, calmly, “What did you do wrong?” Anderson knew.
When Nick Sidorakis had a fast break in the last minute of the game, he slowed up to time his dunk perfectly. It brought an amused smilt to Ford’s face.
Ford does not sit. He speaks to every player when he comes off the court. He yells … a lot. It was fun to watch.
Also of note: Early on Ibrahima Thomas was banging around more underneath the basket, fighting for some offensive boards and truly trying to post up … Terrel Harris absolutely took over that game. If he can be that good consistently, OSU could be really good … Keiton Page made an insane four-point play, getting fouled hard and miraculously making a 3 from the corner. He had a pretty solid debut.
by andrea cohen
Another Lucas on the move
Doesn’t it seem like just yesterday that we were following the Jai Lucas recruiting saga? Well, it’s time for round 2. That’s right, John Lucas III’s little brother plans to transfer from Florida, the Gainesville Sun reports.
by andrea cohen
