STILLWATER, Okla. ? Arizona's Nick Foles showed he can put up big passing numbers even without his top receiving target.
What he needs, though, is some ground support.
Foles threw for 398 yards with Juron Criner, the Pac-10's top receiver a season ago, out following an appendectomy. It wasn't nearly enough as the Wildcats got throttled 37-14 by No. 9 Oklahoma State on Thursday night in a rematch of last year's Alamo Bowl.
"You have to be able to run the ball," Foles said. "We have running backs capable, we have the ability to run it and we'll figure it out. When we start to run the ball the passing game will open up even more. I feel confident in our passing game but we have to start running it better."
Keola Antonin had 22 yards rushing on 13 carries, including a 1-yard touchdown run during a stretch when Arizona (1-1) made five straight defensive stops to give itself a chance. The Wildcats totaled 41 yards on 21 carries after rushing for just 75 last week in their opening win over Northern Arizona.
"Until we run the football better, it is going to be hard to move forward like we want to," Arizona coach Mike Stoops said.
Brandon Weeden, who trailed only Foles in passing following Week 1, threw for 397 yards and two touchdowns to Justin Blackmon for Oklahoma State. He also benefited from the presence of Randle, who had 121 yards rushing and nine catches for 99 yards.
Blackmon had 128 yards on 12 receptions to extend his NCAA record streak to 14 straight games with at least 100 yards receiving.
"They have as good a back, a quarterback and a receiver that I've seen in a long time," Stoops said. "Oklahoma State will contend. That is a big, physical team. They are not a good program, they are turning into a great program. They are going to win a bunch of games this year. The top half of the Big 12 looks awful strong and they'll be there."
The Cowboys (2-0) scored on their first three drives to open a 21-0 lead in the first 16 1/2 minutes, then put it away with two scores midway through the second half.
It's unclear whether Criner will be able to return in time for Arizona's home games the next two weeks against No. 6 Stanford and No. 12 Oregon. But even with him, Foles flung it around without many issues. Texas transfer Dan Buckner had 10 catches for 142 yards, including a 54-yarder for a touchdown, and Austin Hill had 128 yards on eight receptions.
Antonin's 1-yard TD run in the third quarter got Arizona within 21-7, and the Wildcats seemed to be gaining momentum until Oklahoma State flipped the field on punter Quinn Sharp's 23-yard gain on a fake
The Wildcats then got in their own way with a series of penalties that backed them up to their own 1-yard line before punting it back.
"The fake punt, of course, was really big. They made a play, switched the momentum on us at the time in the game," Stoops said. "After that, we were kind of hanging on for dear life."
Buckner answered with his long TD on a stop-and-go down the right sideline against Devin Hedgepeth, but it was too little, too late for Arizona.
The Wildcats, who lost 36-10 in the Alamo Bowl to complete a five-game free fall at the end of last season, hadn't put up nearly enough resistance at the start and lost to OSU for the second time in nine months.
Weeden led scoring drives of 88, 80 and 70 yards by completing 19 of his first 20 passes, then started out 3 for 3 on Oklahoma State's next drive. Randle had touchdown runs of 1 and 4 yards, and in between Weeden tossed a 3-yard fade pass that Blackmon caught over his shoulder before tapping his right foot in the corner of the end zone.
"We came out to prove a point immediately, from the get-go," said Weeden, who was 28 of 32 for 240 yards at halftime. "It was nice that we got a couple of easy ones. That's the thing about our offense. Once we get a couple first downs and start moving, usually good things are going to happen.
"That first quarter, you could have called anything and it was going to work."
lenny kravitz bethenny frankel burberry burberry physics games physics games louisiana
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.