Cowboys See Big Jump in Rankings After Big Win Over KU and Several Top-25 Upsets
STILLWATER – It has been a good weekend for Oklahoma State. The Cowboys traveled to Lawrence, Kansas and beat the Jayhawks 47-7, there were several upsets in the top-25 rankings and the combination of the two has caused the Cowboys to rise dramatically in the updated weekly polls.
The Amway Coaches Poll has the Cowboys at No. 10, nine spots higher than they were last week and the Associated Press poll has them ranked No. 10 as well, seven spots higher than last week.
As mentioned above, the Cowboys’ dominating win and a series of top-25 upsets helped the Cowboys climb in the rankings. TCU traveled to Austin and knocked off No. 9 Texas, Arkansas beat No. 16 Mississippi State, but the biggest upset that really helped Oklahoma State was unranked Tulsa going on the road and knocking off No. 11 UCF. That makes the Pokes’ 16-7 win over Tulsa in week one look a lot better.
There were a couple of other top-25 losses that helped that Pokes that were not upsets: No. 2 Alabama beat No. 13 Texas A&M and No. 4 Georgia beat No. 7 Auburn.
Amway Coaches Poll
- Clemson 3-0 (1)
- Alabama 2-0 (2)
- Georgia 2-0 (4)
- Florida 2-0 (3)
- Notre Dame 2-0 (5)
- Ohio State 0-0 (6)
- Miami 3-0 (8)
- Penn State 0-0 (10)
- North Carolina 2-0 (11)
- Oklahoma State 3-0 (19)
- Cincinnati 2-0 (15)
- Tennessee 2-0 (20)
- Auburn 1-1 (7)
- Wisconsin 0-0 (18)
- BYU 3-0 (22)
- LSU 1-1 (17)
- Oregon 0-0 (NR)
- Virginia Tech 2-0 (23)
- Michigan 0-0 (21)
- Texas A&M 1-1 (13)
- SMU 4-0 (NR)
- Texas 2-1 (9)
- ULL 3-0 (NR)
- Iowa State 2-1 (NR)
- UCF 2-1 (12)
Associated Press
- Clemson 3-0 (1)
- Alabama 2-0 (2)
- Georgia 2-0 (4)
- Florida 2-0 (3)
- Notre Dame 2-0 (5)
- Ohio State 0-0 (6)
- Miami 3-0 (8)
- North Carolina 2-0 (12)
- Penn State 0-0 (10)
- Oklahoma State 3-0 (17)
- Cincinnati 3-0 (15)
- Oregon 0-0 (14)
- Auburn 1-1 (7)
- Tennessee 2-0 (21)
- BYU 3-0 (22)
- Wisconsin 0-0 (19)
- LSU 1-1 (20)
- SMU 4-0 (NR)
- Virginia Tech 2-0 (NR)
- Michigan 0-0 (23)
- Texas A&M 1-1 (13)
- Texas 2-1 (9)
- ULL 3-0 (NR)
- Iowa State 2-1 (NR)
- Minnesota 0-0 (NR)
Freshman quarterback Shane Illingworth got his second-straight start as Spencer Sanders was ruled out against the Jayhawks on Saturday. As John Helsley wrote in his column yesterday, everything seemed to work out for Sanders and his health as Illingworth is a more than capable backup, as well as the Cowboys having a bye week this weekend.
Illingworth finished the day against Kansas going 17-of-23 for 265 yards and three touchdowns. Two of his touchdown passes went senior receiver Tylan Wallace, who hauled in 148 yards as well.
As for running back Chuba Hubbard, he had his best performance of the season as he posted 20 carries for 145 yards and two touchdowns.
The Cowboys’ starting defense allowed just 115 yards, 83 yards through the air and 32 yards on the ground and allowed just seven first downs. They forced nine KU punts, one interception and one turnover on the downs.
As a whole, Oklahoma State recorded 11 total tackles for a loss, including four sacks and one interception. The Cowboy defense also held KU to just 193 yards of total offense on the day, most of which came during scrub time in the third and fourth quarters. The Cowboys held KU to just 11 first downs on the day, six on the ground and five through the air. The Cowboys also held KU to just 7.1% on third downs.
