(Stillwater) -- Oklahoma State got everything they wanted on September 5th. A showpiece of a new stadium opened with a signature win over an SEC power, and a defense that can play, apparently with the best.
Granted, one win over a Georgia team that is not the same team they were a year ago does not a season make, but it's exactly what the Pokes and the long suffering fan base had hoped for.
As well as things ended for the Cowboys, 24-10 winners over the Bulldogs, the game opened with Georgia opening the season with an 80 yard drive that ended with a 4 yard touchdown pass from 5th year senior rookie quarterback Joe Cox to Michael Moore.
Cowboy fans had to be worried at that point about whether the new defensive coordinator had managed to make any improvement in the Cowboys porous defense, ranked in the bottom of the Big 12 and national rankings last season. From that point on, the Cowboys gave their best defensive performance in years, perhaps decades, and held the Bulldogs to 257 total yards and forced three turnovers. By the way, they were FORCED turnovers...jarring hits forced two fumbles, and one interception.
Th Dawgs would only manage another field goal the entire contest.
The 24 points the Cowboy offense put up was the lowest output in a victory for some time for OSU, but it was enough for a two touchdown win. This wasn't Valdosta State. This was 13th ranked Georgia, which easily whipped the Cowboys in Athens two seasons ago, en route to an SEC title. It was the biggest nationally televised game of the opening Saturday of the college football season. It wasn't a sellout, but it was still a record crowd.
For the man the stadium is named after, it was a very special day, as evidenced by Mr. Pickens embrace of Head Coach Mike Gundy moments after final seconds ticked off the clock.
It was like Christmas, nobody wearing orange wanted the day to end.
It would be hard to shake the luster from such a special occasion, perhaps a turning point for the program that has had difficulty sustaining success. But a loss before the Texas game might certainly do it, and OSU will have to guard against any sort of letdown, especially this week against Houston.
The Cougars led OSU at halftime a year ago, and manhandled Northwestern State (La.) 55-7. Cougar QB Case Keenum threw for 359 yards Saturday, and could well be more of a test for the new found confidence of the Cowboys secondary than Joe Cox, who made only his 2nd start for Georgia.
Kickoff Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium is at 2:30, and will be televised by FSN.
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