Cowboys rein in Tigers' streak

The defense did well against a strong opposing offense.

By Lenny Goldman
Oct. 14, 2008

Oklahoma State senior defensive backs T.J. Bell and Jacob Lacey smother Senior quarterback Chase Daniel during Saturday's game at Faurot Field. Daniel threw three second-half interceptions and was sacked twice in MU's 28-23 loss, which dropped the Tigers from No. 3 to No. 11 in The Associated Press college football poll.

(Click graphic to enlarge)

This was the clip they were going to play right before senior quarterback Chase Daniel accepted the Heisman Trophy.

Sixty-five yards ahead of him, and with two minutes and 35 seconds to craft the game-winning drive, the only question was if they would leave too much time for Oklahoma State to score.

This is the Chase Daniel who had led an offense that never went three-and-out, who completed 20 consecutive passes - a Big 12 record - and who had legitimate chances to play a game in which the ball never touched the ground.

But Saturday night he was shaky. He was human. He had made bad throws and read plays poorly, something most quarterbacks do. But not him.

The only people more shocked than the 68,349 fans packed into Faurot Field when he threw his third interception of the game, instead of the game-winning touchdown, were his teammates.

"I had no doubt," senior cornerback Castine Bridges said. "I knew he was going to score there. It just didn't work out that way. Everybody on the sidelines, we know when our offense gets the ball what they're capable of. I mean, they're lethal against any team."

The Tigers lost their first game of the season, 28-23, and now will have no room for error while continuing conference play.

After the game's opening drive, it was clear that Oklahoma State was going to challenge the home team. The Tigers had to settle for three points on their first drive after not being able to convert a third-and-one on the Cowboys' one-yard line. Tailback Derrick Washington took a direct snap back up the middle but couldn't gain a yard. The nation's top scorer coming into Saturday rushed for negative six yards on the first drive.

"We haven't made a fourth-and-one this year, and I wanted to come out with points, so that's what we did," coach Gary Pinkel said. "It's hard to figure out what's going to happen at the end of the game two minutes into it."

Washington's struggles continued through the entire game. He rushed for 11 yards on eight carries. Prior to this game, he was averaging 7.5 yards per carry.

"They were doing a bunch of stunts up front," Washington said. "They were twisting and blitzing at the line. We couldn't figure out what was going on."

Despite the lack of a rushing attack, Daniel was willing to put the weight of the loss on his shoulders.

"We were moving the ball, we were on our side of the 50 and I just can't make that throw," Daniel said. "It's as simple as that. There's no rocket science to it. There's no looking to what we should have done. I just should have made the throw."

On the defensive side of the ball, the Tigers held an Oklahoma State offense that had averaged 52.6 points per game to just 28, but several big plays for touchdowns was all they needed.

The Tigers went into halftime with a 10-7 advantage. But on the second play of the half, Cowboys sophomore running back Kendall Hunter took an option pitch 64 yards down the sideline for a quick score.

"I thought we did a lot of good things defensively against a really potent offense, there's no questions about it," Pinkel said. "But right at the beginning of the third quarter, they hit that speed option down the sideline, and that was a big play. That's something that you should play good enough defense that that shouldn't happen."

The upset loss will put even more pressure on the Tigers to steal a victory from No. 1 Texas next week in Austin.

"What we'll do tomorrow is like we always do, except your guts feel like they were torn out if you are a competitor, which those guys are and like I am," Pinkel said. "We'll evaluate everything, the lessons that we learned, and then we wake up Monday morning and focus on the task at hand. Obviously we're playing a great Texas team."

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Cowboys rein in Tigers' streak

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