Brandon Pettigrew’s NFL Combine diary
By Scott Wright
The Sporting News had former Oklahoma State tight end Brandon Pettigrew offer his thoughts on last week’s NFL Scouting Combine in a diary of sorts.
Very interesting and worth the time to read what he had to say: Pettigrew’s Draft Diary
Did OSU dodge a bullet by not getting the top recruit in the country?
Yeah, seems like a crazy question, right? But check out ESPN’s upcoming Outside the Lines (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/otl/index) which is all about “package deals” and features point guard John Wall.
Dwon Clifton, the brother of Wall’s AAU coach joined Baylor’s staff over the summer, and the hiring has created waves with the NCAA. Wall still hasn’t committed to a college yet — apparently Memphis, Kansas and Duke are all still in the running in addition to Baylor — but if Wall ends up at Baylor one has to think the NCAA’s already-raised eyebrows are going to go way, way up.
You have to think Travis Ford is glad this isn’t his mess to deal with while he’s trying to win basketball games in late February.
by andrea cohen
Connecting the dots…
So, ran across an interesting story today.
By now you’ve read that OSU baseball player Dylan Brown intends to join the football team. Brown was an all-state wide receiver in high school in Florida. And let’s not kid ourselves, OSU needs all the options at wide receiver they can get.
But perhaps the most interesting thing about Brown, who I know very little about, is who his high school quarterback was.
Anyone care to take a guess?
Anyone?
That’s right, Robert Marve, the former Miami quarterback that’s looking for a new home and OSU just happens to be at the top of his short list. Marve told ESPN that he and Brown have talked but that the QB wasn’t going to pick a school just based on having a buddy there.
Marve also told ESPN that he’s been working out and throwing to Seattle Seahawks WR Logan Payne, a former University of Minnesota player who lives near him.
- Ryan Sharp, Asst. Sports Editor
Quite a Wednesday for OSU in the state of Texas
Wednesday night was a HUGE night for Oklahoma State basketball in the state of Texas. Not only did the men keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive by beating Tech, but the women appeared to come back from the dead — or at least back from a coma of sorts.
The OSU women’s 58-52 win over No. 12 Texas improves the Cowgirls’ record to 15-9, 4-7. I realize that doesn’t sound great, but in the Big 12 and with the schedule that the Cowgirls have remaining (highly winnable games include Tech, Kansas and Nebraska at home), it means OSU still has a shot to get to the magic number of seven wins in conference.
This is big, big news for a lot of reasons. The biggest might be that Andrea Riley needs to get her suspension over with this March. The junior will be suspended for OSU’s next NCAA Tournament game for slapping an LSU player during last year’s Sweet 16. If the Cowgirls don’t make the Tournament, she will have to sit out the first game of the NCAA Tournament her senior year (the NIT doesn’t count, so if OSU makes the NIT this year she will be able to play but still have to sit out next year). It would be awfully unfortunate for the best women’s player in school history to have to sit out of that game her senior year.
In Lubbock the men’s team did something kind of similar by beating Tech — gave seniors Terrel Harris and Byron Eaton hope that they will play in an NCAA Tournament game their senior years.
Many prognostications (including Joe Lunardi on ESPN) have the Big 12 getting just four teams in the Tournament. Right now the Cowboys are sitting in seventh place, but the three teams above them all have just one more conference win. If OSU can win its remaining games at home (Baylor, K-State and Texas) and win at bottom-dwelling Colorado, their chances look pretty decent at this point.
by andrea cohen
Terrel Harris wasn’t kidding …
about being back from a vacation. The senior has scored 6 of OSU’s first 8 points here in Lubbock. He’s also guarding my favorite Red Raider, John Roberson, and the point guard hasn’t scored yet and has a turnover.
OSU leads 8-5 with 15:39 to play and a timeout. So for the first time in a while, OSU hasn’t gotten off to a terrible start.
Muonelo, who didn’t start, is in the game for OSU now in place of Page. OK, back in action.
Starting rotation rotates.
Greetings from an eeeempty United Spirit Arena where we have yet another new Oklahoma State starting lineup. This time junior Obi Muonelo, who played just 12 minutes in Saturday’s win over Iowa State, is the odd man out as Keiton Page gets his second straight start.
Other quick info:
-Not kidding about the attendance. 4,000 max.
-OSU in black unis for just the third time this season.
by andrea cohen
OSU’s receiver dilemma: For better and worse
By Scott Wright
As you saw in Sports Monday, I wrote about Oklahoma State’s suddenly depleted group of receivers.
But here’s a little deeper look inside the situation as spring practice creeps closer. The Cowboys are better off than it appears on the surface. And worse off, too.
The Better
* Damian Davis caught 19 passes in 13 games last season. Yes, he had two big touchdown catches at Missouri and made a couple other crucial plays during the season, but it’s not like losing someone who accounted for 45 catches and 500 yards.
* Right now, OSU will have 19 receivers and tight ends on the roster this fall, assuming there’s no more attrition or additions. So depth isn’t necessarily an issue.
* One intriguing addition could come from the running back spot, where it has been speculated that redshirt freshman Travis Miller could be tested as a slot receiver. He played some receiver in high school and impressed coaches last August as a running back, leading them to toy with the idea of playing him as a true freshman despite strong depth at the position.
* OSU coaches didn’t know who their No. 2 wideout would be last September, either. They knew who they hoped it would be, but there wasn’t much on-field proof to fall back on. Yet they turned out fine.
* Dez Bryant isn’t expected to take part in spring practice, which opens up a good chunk of reps for other receivers to get extra work.
The Worse
* Davis developed into the most reliable wide receiver opposite Dez Bryant. His numbers weren’t huge, but he’ll be missed. And his absence might be more significant on the plays other than the 19 when he caught the ball. He was perhaps the best downfield blocker among the receivers.
* Among the 19 receivers and tight ends on the roster, there’s very little experience. There’s a difference between having depth and having viable depth. Right now, OSU has depth. We probably won’t know until August or later if it has depth it can trust in games.
* In most of their big games, the Cowboys had tight end Brandon Pettigrew to rely on as a secondary receiving option, like the Texas game. While he wasn’t a home run threat, he could catch the ball well and move the chains. Most importantly, he was a reliable and known commodity entering the season. There isn’t one of those on the roster right now to complement Bryant and it’s unlikely the coaches identify one before Georgia arrives at Boone Pickens Stadium Sept. 5.
Sparse crowd in Austin
We’ve under 2 minutes from tip and I’m telling you, the Erwin Events Center is EMPTY. This makes the recent Gallagher-Iba Arena crowds look great. I conferred with my press row neighbors and nobody thinks it’s even 1/3 full in here.
by andrea cohen
Ford apologizes, again
The issue was the first thing Ford addressed on the pre-recorded show, which was broadcast on The Cowboy Radio Network, KSPI-93.7. Ford also went on the Sports Animal in
On the pregame show with John Holcomb and Dave Hunziker Ford said he’s spoken to the team about it at length, and said “it’s something I’m not going to tolerate out of myself.”
by andrea cohen
OSU and the top 10, Pettigrew and the draft, and more
By Scott Wright
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach revised his preseason Top 25 for the 2009 football season following NFL early entries and recruiting signing day.
He has the Cowboys No. 10, again giving the Big 12 South three top-10 teams in the preseason.
Of OSU’s opponents, three are in his top 15, wtih OU No. 2, Texas No. 3 and — most interestingly to me — Georgia No. 14.
OSU’s Holiday Bowl opponent, Oregon, comes in at No. 12. Here’s the full top 25, along with Schlabach’s team-by-team comments.
RealGMfootball.com offers this piece dissecting both the draft status of OSU tight end Brandon Pettigrew, and the value of tight ends in the draft overall.
Some loved it, some hated it, but OSU’s decision to move the Colorado game to a Thursday night was a polarizing move. And it seems to be the beginning of a trend in the Big 12 — not just moving games to Thursday, but moving them anywhere to get more television exposure.
Nebraska and Missouri announced that they’re moving their game to a Thursday night. Now Texas and Texas Tech are moving their Nov. 7 meeting to Saturday, Sept. 19, where it will compete with a much weaker set of games, mostly pairing major programs with non-conference cupcakes. Here’s the story from the Dallas Morning News.
That decision impacts OSU, too. Texas Tech will now have a bye Nov. 7, the week before it visits Boone Pickens Stadium. OSU is at Iowa State Nov. 7.
Former Oklahoma State player and coach Josh Henson will be making a return to Stillwater this fall. According to the Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune, Henson is leaving Les Miles’ staff at LSU to become the co-offensive line coach at Missouri. Missouri comes to Boone Pickens Stadium Oct. 17.
And lastly, here’s an interesting interview and story done by the Des Moines Register on Wilbanks Smith, the Oklahoma A&M player in 1951 who hit Drake’s Johnny Bright in what became a well-known incident, primarily because many people tied the incident to race. Smith was white and Bright was black.
