Cowboys Ring In 2008 In Style

Who knows what 2008 has in store but if the Oklahoma State football team’s performance on the last day of 2007 is any indication then it might just be the “Year of the Cowboy.” OSU’s offense, led by quarterback Zac Robinson, scored touchdowns the first five times it touched the ball in leading the Cowboys to an impressive 49-33 victory over Indiana in the Insight Bowl on Monday in Tempe, Ariz.

The Cowboys completed the season with a 7-6 record after winning their second consecutive bowl game in as many years under the direction of head coach Mike Gundy.

Robinson was selected as the Insight Bowl offensive player of the game after completing 24 of 34 passes for 302 yards and three touchdowns, and rushed for 70 yards and another pair of TDs for the Cowboys. The sophomore quarterback led scoring drives of 67, 53, 54, 57 and 63 yards in the first half as Oklahoma State took a 35-10 halftime lead.

The Cowboy quarterback drove his team 67 yards in just six plays the first time they touched the ball, after falling behind 3-0 when Indiana drove for a 43-yard field goal on the game’s opening drive. Robinson kept for 13 yards on the option, completed both of his passes on the drive which culminated with Dantrell Savage scoring on a 3-yard run.

It took the Cowboys just eight plays to go 53 yards on the next drive. Robinson was 3-for-4 passing o the drive, hitting freshman receiver Dez Bryant on a 24-yard touchdown pass to put the Cowboys up 14-3 with 4:38 left in the first quarter.

After the OSU defense forced a three-and-out series by Indiana, Robinson and the Cowboys went 54 yards in just six plays to put the ball in the end zone for a third time. The OSU quarterback scored the touchdown on a 7-yard keeper around the right end to make it 21-3.

Robinson and the OSU offense kept it rolling the next time the Cowboys got the ball. He completed 6-of-9 passes for 54 yards – including a 14-yard touchdown pass to wide open Adarius Bowman on a three-and-10 play – as the Cowboys went up 28-3.

He capped an eight-play, 63-yard touchdown drive with a 1-yard quarterback sneak on the Cowboys’ next possession to make the score 35-10.

The only time Indiana stopped the Cowboys in the first half was on the last possession when Robinson’s pass downfield to Bryant was intercepted inside the 15-yard line with just 10 seconds remaining. The Hoosiers knelt on the ball and decided to go in at halftime facing a 35-10 deficit.

The Cowboys put it on cruise control in the second half – with Robinson throwing his third touchdown pass of the game (and second to Dez Bryant) midway through the third quarter and senior Julius Crosslin scored the final touchdown of his collegiate career with less than a minute to play in the game – en route to finishing with a winning record.

Savage rushed for 100 yards – his 10th consecutive game to surpass the 100-yard mark – and Bryant caught a game-best nine passes for 117 yards and two TDs. Bowman finished his college career with six catches for 74 yards and one TD.

OSU senior linebacker Donovan Woods, the third of the three Woods brothers to play for the Cowboys the past nine years, was selected as the game’s defensive player of the game.