Wildcats 59, Cowboys 38. The good, the bad.....and the penalties.

Oh well...my season prediction just went out the window. Big time.

Four turnovers, including a pick 6, and a school record in penalties doomed Oklahoma State.

After coming out like the route was on, scoring the first 14 points of the game, the Cowboys committed penalties galore along with several drops and turnovers, as Arizona scored 30 unanswered points, including the opening drive of the 2nd half.

More misery after the jump...

Despite all of that, Oklahoma State was miraculously still in position to win the game in the 4th quarter, and still had time enough to work for a tie even after Lunt's pick 6. However, the final bobbled pass of MANY by OSU receivers resulted in the 3rd interception for Lunt and sealed the Cowboys' fate.

While the mental mistakes will get cleaned up, the part that bothered me more than anything was the defense. Did Bill Young's absence really make a difference? Does Arizona have that much speed? You gotta give me something, because Gundy spoke a lot about defensive speed. I did not see defensive speed.

I hate it when my predictions are wrong...I said earlier that I thought the OSU defense would struggle early to handle the Wildcats' new offense and QB. I pointed to the yardage racked up last week by Arizona that was negated by penalties and turnovers (sound familiar?) as a red flag of concern. But I thought the defense would settle down, maybe get a turnover or two, and that would be that. I will say my score prediction was on the money...I said the Cowboys would score 38, and they would lose by 21. Oh, you didn't understand that when I said OSU 38-21? Common journalistic practice...that's what the -21 meant. Come on...

You don't have to go any farther than 4 turnovers (1 pick 6) and 15 penalties for 167 yards (school record). Add to that what seemed like a baker's dozen of drops by the receivers (inlcuding Stewart's juggle mentioned above) along with NO turnovers by Arizona, and Oklahoma State was lucky to be still playing for something in the middle of the 4th quarter. But give RichRod credit...he has instilled a positive mindset and has the Wildcats playing a MUCH better brand of football.

I will speak more to the details of the game later today, but you might be surprised at my analysis. By the way...Oklahoma State has it's next quarterback.

Sleep it off Pokes. You got your clunker out of the way early, and your realistic season goal is still in tact, which is more than I can say for my season record prediction.

GO POKES!!!