Longhorns Pick Off Cowboys

STILLWATER – Halloween night is going to be one that Zac Robinson will want to forget. Oklahoma State entered Saturday night’s nationally televised showdown with Texas hoping to prove it was a contender in the Big 12 South but Robinson threw four interceptions in the 41-14 loss – the most lopsided loss at home since 2005 – in front of a record-setting crowd of 58,516 at Boone Pickens Stadium.

The 27-point loss is the worst for the Cowboys since Colorado won 34-0 at Boone Pickens Stadium on Oct. 1, 2005, in Mike Gundy’s fourth game as head coach.

Robinson struggled from the first time the Cowboys touched the ball against the Longhorns, ranked as the 10th best passing efficiency defense in the nation entering the game.

The Oklahoma State quarterback completed his first pass of the night - and led the Cowboys on a 14-play drive that ended with a missed field goal – but his next seven attempts fell incomplete. But several of those were incomplete because his receivers dropped passes right in their hands, including what would have been a touchdown to Hubert Anyiam in the first quarter when Texas only lead 3-0.

But after the rough start it didn’t get much better the rest of the evening. Robinson had thrown only 22 interceptions in 874 passing attempts during his Cowboy playing career prior to Saturday night (an average of one every 39.7 passes). But he was picked off four times while attempting 28 passes against the Longhorns, and two of those were returned for touchdowns.

Texas cornerback Curtis Brown stepped in front of Robinson’s pass for Dameron Fooks in the second quarter and returned it 77 yards for a touchdown to give the Longhorns a 17-0 lead. Then, early in the third quarter, UT safety Earl Thomas intercepted Robinson’s pass for Hubert Anyiam and returned in 31 yards for the TD to make it 34-7.

"Zac Robinson is our quarterback, and we're going to stick with him. It just didn't work out very well for him tonight. He made a few mistakes but it's important that he keep his head high and he keeps playing," Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy said.

"He's a good quarterback and a good player, he just had a tough night."

Robinson was 15-of-28 passing for 143 yards with the four interceptions. He did throw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Justin Blackmon in the fourth quarter but it too little too late.

The Cowboys actually outgained the Longhorns 277 yards to 275, but five costly turnovers were the difference.

"I hate that we didn't give Texas our best effort. I think they're a really good football team," Gundy said. "When you turn the ball over and make that many mistakes against a team that's got that much ability, it's very, very difficult to win the game.

"And when you get behind by more than two scores it makes it very difficult to execute on offense and defense because to a certain extent you become one dimensional," Gundy continued. "You have to become a little bit more aggressive on defense and then on offense the clock is working against you and it takes you out of your game plan a little bit."

OSU scored late in the first half when running back Beau Johnson took it in from the 1-yard line to cap an eight-play, 84-yard drive, pulling the Cowboys within 17-7 with 2:18 until halftime. But that was too much time for Texas quarterback Colt McCoy as he drove the Longhorns the length of the field and found Malcolm Williams with an 11-yard touchdown pass with just nine seconds remaining.

The Longhorns then took the opening kickoff of the second half and marched down the field before settling for a 40-yard field goal by Hunter Lawrence which increased the Texas lead to 27-7.

The Cowboys, 6-2, will look to rebound next Saturday when they travel to Iowa State, which saw its record drop to 5-4 after suffering a 35-10 loss at Texas A&M on Saturday.