Oklahoma State’s football team has a chance tonight in its Holiday Bowl matchup with Oregon to springboard into a 2009 rife with expectations.

The Web site, nationalchamps.net, already has released a 2009 preseason college football top 25. Oklahoma State is ranked No. 6 (Texas is No. 3 and Oklahoma is No. 4).

The Pokes are expected to be loaded next season, with offensive stars like Zac Robinson, Kendall Hunter and Dez Bryant returning, along with defenders like Orie Lemon, Andre Sexton and Patrick Lavine.

Recruiting already looks strong, with both the offensive (Tulsa Union running back Jeremy Smith) and defensive (Carl Albert defensive back Daytawion Lowe) players of the year according to the state’s largest newspaper, having committed to the Pokes.

If they should win tonight, the Cowboys will become only the fourth team in school history to post 10 victories in a season. Sooner fans will scoff at the significance of such a milestone, but for OSU this would be a huge step.

The game figures to be a shootout, with both schools boasting high-powered offenses. O-State’s defense has perhaps faced sterner tests this season, having to face the likes of Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech and Missouri.

Don’t look for a repeat of the 1988 Holiday Bowl, despite the apparent parallels. In 1988, OSU entered the game with nine wins and riding a high-powered offense led by one of the nation’s most efficient quarterbacks (Mike Gundy), as well as an all-America running back (Barry Sanders) and wide receiver (Hart Lee Dykes). The same is true this year, only the quarterback now is Robinson, Hunter is the running back and Bryant the wideout. And, of course, Gundy is the coach.

The difference is in opponents. In 1988, the Pokes faced Wyoming, while in 2008 they will take on an Oregon squad that, on paper, presents a much better matchup. The Cowboys plowed Wyoming 62-14 in 1988.

Both teams come in to tonight’s game 9-3, but OSU’s three losses came to teams ranked No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3, while of the Ducks’ defeats, only one came to a ranked foe (a 44-10 whipping by USC). Of course, Oregon’s other losses were to foes that, while unranked, were not exactly chopped liver (Boise State and California, both of which qualified for bowl games).

Oregon must contend with the aforementioned triumvirate of Robinson, Hunter and Bryant, along with top-notch tight end Brandon Pettigrew.

To defeat the Ducks, OSU’s defense must slow down Oregon’s twin Jeremiahs, 1,000-yard rusher Jeremiah Johnson and quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, who has thrown 12 touchdowns and only four interceptions this season.

OSU will open the 2009 season Sept. 5 against the Georgia Bulldogs, a game that will mark the completion of the renovation of Boone Pickens Stadium.

The Pokes have eight home games next year and only play three games outside the state of Oklahoma (at Iowa State, Texas A&M; and Baylor).

The stage is set for a 2009 Oklahoma State football season for the ages. What better way to kick it off than to defeat a Pac-10 opponent on national TV on the next to last day of 2008?



Mullin is senior writer of the News & Eagle.