OSU football talking points

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The hits keep coming

And then you have this season. The snakebitten Cowboys have been hit hard by injuries to skill position players on offense. Starting quarterback Wes Lunt hasn't played since a Sept. 15 game against Louisiana. Jeremy Smith, who splits the rushing load with Joseph Randle, has one carry in the last two games.

Senior receivers Tracy Moore and Isaiah Anderson were injured during a game at Kansas and sat out last week's game against Iowa State. And J.W. Walsh, who excelled while filling in at quarterback for Lunt, sustained a season-ending injury Saturday.

"You feel for the young man," offensive coordinator Todd Monken said before adding that injuries are part of the game.

"Everybody is banged up. You just hope it's at the spots where you have some depth."

Monken reminded reporters that offensive lineman Jonathan Rush and receiver Hubert Anyiam sustained season-ending injuries in 2011, but the Cowboys had other players capable of playing those positions.

Monken said starting center Evan Epstein has been in and out of the lineup this season. "Luckily, (backup) Jake Jenkins has played really well."

Will OSU get any "bullets" back this week? Said Monken, "Maybe a couple of guys might be able to come back, but how well they will play, I don't know."

Numbers don't add up

OSU has allowed only three sacks this season.

And two Cowboy quarterbacks have sustained significant injuries.

Walsh's injury was season-ending, but it wasn't game-ending. He got hurt when he was sacked in the first quarter of a Saturday homecoming game against Iowa State and he shrugged off pain to play the remainder of the game.

Lunt hasn't played since Sept. 15, when he was injured on the sixth play of a home game against Louisiana. Lunt wasn't sacked.

He floated to the right and was hit in the lower leg when he threw a short pass.

"Wes' (injury) was more freak (occurrence) than anything because he was kind of rolling away and it wasn't anything special. They just kind of tackled him," Monken said.

"But that's just the nature of what you do. Every time a player has a collision at any position, that's what this sport is. It's a collision sport and you are going to lose certain players. You only have so many hits you can take. There are only so many times somebody can hit you before you go from being bruised to being hurt and that's part of it."

OSU ranks fourth nationally in sacks allowed (0.5 per game).

National leader Air Force hasn't given up a sack this season.

What's possible?

During Mike Gundy's weekly press conference, it was pointed out to him that only two Big 12 teams - Kansas State and OSU - control their own destiny in the league race.

Gundy's response? Easier said than done.

"I think the interesting concept with our league right now is that we would all agree that Kansas State is ahead of everybody," he said.

"I think Oklahoma has played pretty well lately. For the rest of us and the way we are playing, we have to limit our mistakes, play with effort and try to stay as healthy as possible. Offensively, it's all about making big plays and defensively it's about forcing turnovers."

If OSU can overcome quarterback injuries and a Saturday home game against TCU, the Big 12 teams that control their destiny will collide the following weekend in Manhattan, Kan.

The Big 12's TV partners want one more week's worth of evidence before choosing a kickoff time for the OSU-Kansas State game.

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UP NEXT

TCU (5-2, 2-2) at Oklahoma State (4-2, 2-1)

2:30 p.m. Saturday

TV: FSOK-27

Radio: KFAQ am1170

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2012 SCHEDULE

Sept. 1: vs. Savannah State W, 84-0 Sept. 8: at Arizona L, 59-38 Sept. 15: vs. La.-Lafayette W, 65-24 Sept. 29: vs. Texas L, 41-36 Oct. 13: at Kansas (FSOK-27) W, 20-14 Oct. 20: vs. Iowa State W, 31-10 Oct. 27: vs. TCU (FSOK-27) 2:30 p.m. Nov. 3: at Kansas State TBD Nov. 10: vs. West Virginia TBD Nov. 17: vs. Texas Tech TBD Nov. 24: at Oklahoma TBD Dec. 1: at Baylor TBD

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STATISTICS

	OSU	OPP
Scoring	274	148
Per game	45.7	24.7
First downs	171	121
by rushing	83	46
by passing	81	63
by penalty	7	12
Rushing yards	1526	773
Avg. per game	254.3	128.8
Passing yards	2106	1422
Avg. per game	351.0	237.0
Offensive plays	496	456
Total yards	3632	2195
Avg. per play	7.3	4.8
Avg. per game	605.3	365.8
Kick returns-Yds	19-472	7-211
Punt returns-Yds	23-244	5-36
Interceptions-Yds	4-9	7-101
Fumbles-Lost	6-4	6-2
Penalties-Yds	39-398	37-265
Punts-Avg.	17-48.0	42-41.5
3rd downs	49-91	36-102
4th downs	2-7	5-13
Sacks by-Yds	12-94	3-14

RUSHING	No.	Yds	Y/A	Y/G	TD
J. Randle	128	765	6.0	127.5	8
J. Walsh	36	254	7.1	42.3	3
D. Roland	30	198	6.6	39.6	4

PASSING	C-A-Int	Yds	Y/G	TD
J. Walsh	102-154-3	1467	244.5	10
W. Lunt	51-75-3	588	196.0	4
C. Chelf	4-8-1	51	25.5	1

RECEIVING	No.	Yds	Y/A	Y/G	TD
J. Stewart	42	454	10.8	75.7	3
T. Moore	20	259	12.9	64.8	4
C. Moore	19	320	16.8	53.3	2
B. Jackson	18	355	19.7	59.2	1

PUNT RETURNS	No.	Yds	Avg.	TD
C. Moore	11	110	10.0	0
D. Glidden	6	27	4.5	0
C. Muncrief	4	74	18.5	0

Kick returns	No.	Yds	Avg.	TD
J. Gilbert	13	358	27.5	0
C. Muncrief	2	42	21.0	0

Kicking	FG-A	Long	PAT
Q. Sharp	10-15	51	34-34

PUNTING	No.	Yds	Avg.	LG
Q. Sharp	17	816	48.0	73

Defense	Tackles	TFL	Sacks	INT	FR
D. Lowe	32	2.5	1.0	1	0
A. Elkins	29	1.5	1.0	0	0
S. Gary	29	0	0	0	0
C. Lavey	26	3.0	0.5	0	0
S. Lewis	26	4.5	2.5	0	0
B. Brown	23	1.0	1.0	0	0
J. Gilbert	23	1.5	0	0	0
J. Castleman	21	3.5	0.5	0	0
C. Barnett	16	3.5	0	0	1
N. Nicholas	15	2.0	1.5	0	0
R. Robinson	15	4.0	1.5	0	0
C. Bassett	11	1.5	0	0	0
J. Mitchell	11	3.0	1.0	0	1
N. Ornelas	10	0	0	0	0
R. Simmons	9	0.5	0	0	0
T. Johnson	9	1.5	0.5	1	0
L. Stephens	8	0	0	0	0
Z. Craig	5	0	0	0	0
K. Peterson	5	0	0	0	0
A. Lampkin	5	0	0	1	0
D. Collins	5	1.0	0	0	0
K. Catlin	4	1.0	0	0	0
L. Cooper	4	0	0	0	0
L. Johnson	4	1.0	1.0	1	0
A. Rogers	4	2.0	0	0	0

Source: http://www.tulsaworld.com/site/articlepath.aspx?articleid=20121024_93_B6_CUTLIN295877&rss_lnk=2

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