By Cody Stark
Huntsville Item
Assistant Sports Editor

STILLWATER, Okla. ? The Bearkats hung around for the first half, but Oklahoma State just had too many playmakers to keep things interesting Saturday night at Boone Pickens Stadium.

The Cowboys (3-2) used a punt return for a touchdown and took advantage of a Sam Houston State turnover for another score to pull away early in the third quarter, cruising to 39-3 victory over the Bearkats.

“Most of our problems were the guys on the other side of the field,” Bearkats head coach Todd Whitten said. “They have a good football team and made some great plays. They have a good pass rush and it was a lot to their credit.

“I think coach (Mike) Gundy has a good football team that is well-coached. They did a lot of good things tonight and held us to three points.”

Oklahoma State struck first when quarterback Zac Robinson found wide receiver Adarius Bowman for a 29-yard touchdown on the Cowboys' opening possession of the game.

The Bearkats (2-2) managed to answer the score thanks to a 29-yard field goal by sophomore Taylor Wilkins to cut the lead to 7-3 with just over six minutes to go in the first quarter.

The Cowboys marched right back down the field and went up 14-3 on another Robinson touchdown pass, this time from 18 yards out to running back Dantrell Savage. A 22-yard field goal by Jason Ricks in the final minute of the half gave OSU a 17-3 lead heading into the break.

Besides the field goal, SHSU had three other drives into Oklahoma State territory in the first half, but each one seemed to stall out around the 40-yard line. That was the story of the night for the Bearkats, who picked up 355 yards of total offense but couldn't find the end zone.

The Kats had two more drives in the red zone after the break only to turn the ball over on downs and miss a field goal.

SHSU quarterback Rhett Bomar threw for 270 yards on 22-of-49 passing. His main targets were Catron Houston (seven catches for 78 yards), tight end Blake Martin (six grabs for 79) and Justin Wells (four for 70).

But the biggest thing that hurt the Kats was a lack of a running game.

Oklahoma State outgained SHSU 297 to 85 yards on the ground.

“We did move the ball well for the most part, but we had several times when we shot ourselves in the foot,” Bomar said. “We just couldn't get into the end zone and that was the most frustrating thing. I'm proud of our guys because they fought hard. It's tough coming up here and losing, including the heartbreaker two weeks ago, but I have all the confidence in the world we will come out and win conference.”

Stanley Garrett recorded SHSU's first interception of the season when he picked off a pass from Robinson at the Kats' 4-yard line on the opening possession of the second half.

But that didn't make a difference.

The Cowboys forced a three and out and opened up the game when Perrish Cox returned a punt 55 yards for a touchdown to put Okie State up 25-3 after a successful two-point conversion.

A few plays later, Bomar was intercepted on third down to set up another quick Cowboys' score.

This time, running back Julius Crosslin capped off a 67-yard drive with a 2-yard plunge to push the score to 32-3. OSU's final score came on a 9-yard run by Kendall Hunter with 3:46 left in the third quarter.

The only other highlight for the SHSU defense came when freshman Randy Stewart came up with another interception late in the third quarter.

Despite throwing two picks, Robinson had an efficient night. The sophomore quarterback completed 19-of-28 attempts for 279 yards and two scores.

Bowman was the leading receiver, hauling in eight passes for 141 yards and a score. Savage picked up a 115 yards on the ground, as the Cowboys rolled up 584 yards of total offense.

But the two interceptions were a good sign for an SHSU secondary that was overmatched Saturday by tall, physical receivers and has struggled to defend the deep ball this season with Southland Conference play beginning next week.

“(The interceptions) were a stepping stone for us because we have been practicing hard all week,” Garrett said. “We have been struggling deep with teams going over the top, and we were focused on getting turnovers. The defensive line and everybody else have have been getting turnovers, so we needed interceptions to put every thing together.”