FINAL STATS
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (9/9/06) ? Arkansas State's hopes of beating Oklahoma State in “The Rock Classic” were dashed Saturday night when OSU defeated the Indians, 35-7, in War Memorial Stadium.
“They deserve a lot of credit,” said ASU Head Coach Steve Roberts. “They had a great game plan. They've got a good football team, very fast and very physical. They brought a lot of pressure throughout the ball game in every aspect of the game. They did a heck of a job in special teams, creating field position and negative situations for our football team. They're a whole lot better team than they were at this time last year. My hat's off to them, they did a heck of a job.”
ASU (1-1), playing before 23,816 fans (a record crowd for an ASU football game in the War Memorial Stadium) grabbed the early lead in the first quarter on a 51-yard interception return by free safety Khayyam Burns. Burns stepped in front of the Cowboy receiver and snagged quarterback Bobby Reid's pass and raced the distance for the score. Kicker Josh Arauco was good on the PAT to put ASU up, 7-0.
Following ASU's lone score, it was all Oklahoma State the rest of the night. The Cowboys scored twice in the second quarter on a 13-yard run by Reid at 11:03 and a seven-yard run by Mike Hamilton at 3:03 and twice in the third period when fullback Jeremiah Burton caught a four-yard pass from Reid out of the backfield and a two-yard run by Julius Crosslin at 7:13.
Cowboy tight end Brandon Pettigrew caught a six-yard pass from Reid with 3:57 left in the game for the final score. Kicker Jason Ricks connected on all five extra points to seal the win.
“We had some momentum early in the ball game but we were unable to capitalize on it,” continued Roberts. “The pick by Khayyam and then Koby comes back and gets a pick. That gave us an opportunity when they sort of had the momentum. Then we got it right back. We were really unable to make anything at that time.”
OSU's Hamilton led all rushers with 73 yards on 17 carries and one TD. ASU backs Chris James and Reggie Arnold each finished the night with 51 yards. James' total came in seven trips while Arnold carried 18. Oklahoma State out rushed the Indians, 171-110.
Roberts continued to use his two quarterback system with Travis Hewitt completing four passes in 13 attempts for 47 yards and one interception. Redshirt freshman Corey Leonard was three-of-six for 31 yards. OSU's defense didn't help matters as they sacked the Indian signal callers a total of five times.
”What we were unable to do offensively was because of their defense,” said Roberts. “They have a heck of a defense. They've got some guys that can really run and make things happen. Again, we would have some positive plays and then they'd create a negative play. It was just something that we couldn't get out of.
“They would back us into a hole or into a long-yardage situation and it was very difficult to convert. Again, we made mistakes, but you can't take anything away from the job they did defensively.”
Reid also encountered some problems when he was intercepted three times by Tyrell Johnson, Koby McKinnon and Burns. Linebacker Josh Williams led all defenders with 10 stops.
Arkansas State will take next weekend off before returning to play Sept. 23 at Southern Methodist.
