Published: November 13, 2008 11:40 pm         

Pokes can’t afford stumble against CU

Oklahoma State football fans still reeling from last week’s 56-20 whipping at the hands of Texas Tech can take heart.

The Cowboys have come a long way this year, given the fact they are in the neighborhood of 17-point favorites to beat Colorado.

There have been seasons in which OSU wouldn’t have been favored by 17 points against air, much less against a Big 12 opponent on the road.

The fact OSU gave up a bushel of yards and peck of points against the high-powered Red Raiders was no surprise. What was shocking was the fact the go-go Cowboys managed only 20 points and 368 total yards.

Granted, Tech’s defense is better than it has been in the past, but it is amazing the Red Raiders put the clamps on a Cowboy offense averaging around 500 yards per game.

OSU’s hopes of a Big 12 South title and a berth in the conference championship game are all but gone, but the Cowboys have plenty to play for Saturday night in the thin air of Boulder.

The Pokes will be vying for their ninth win of the season, which would be only the seventh time in school history a Cowboy football team had achieved that mark.

In spite of the Tech defeat, Mike Gundy still has his Cowboys going in the right direction. OSU has won 10 of its last 13 games and is 12-5 in its last 17 contests.

A loss to Colorado would be a giant step back this program doesn’t need to take. It is imperative the Cowboys’ take advantage of a CU defense that is ranked above OSU’s in terms of total yards (fourth to the Pokes’ sixth), but is ninth against the rush.

CU is tops in the league against the pass, but the only decent team among the top five in that defensive category in the Big 12 is Oklahoma.

On offense, Colorado is 11th in the league in rushing and passing, 12th in scoring, so the Cowboy defense should be able to take out its frustrations after being scorched by Graham Harrell and the Red Raiders for 629 total yards.

Then they will have two weeks to prepare for the fun, the festivities and the non-stop trash talking that is Bedlam.