2011-12 Oklahoma State Cowboys Season Preview

After last year's offensive onslaught, fans in Stillwater are looking ahead to the 2011-12 season with dreams of a BCS Bowl berth in their eyes.

Are those sights set a little too high for a team that lost its offensive coordinator and looks to have depth issues on the defensive side of the ball?

Those questions and more will be examined throughout this list, which will go through the season game by game and give predictions for the Cowboys season.

Will the ninth ranked Cowboys run the table? Let's take a look at their schedule. 

Louisiana-Lafayette: Home

Oklahoma State's schedule isn't unbearably tough (they only play three ranked teams), but I wouldn't be surprised to see them stumble against a lesser team.

Louisiana-Lafayette isn't one of those teams. Let's be honest here, no one would be surprised to see the Pokes hang 60 or 70 points in their season opener. The Ragin' Cajuns will be lucky to stay within 20 points. 

I hate to be so harsh because this is college football and anything can happen, but unless the entire team gets the flu, OK State is winning this game. 

Expect to see a healthy dose of Joseph Randle and Jeremy Smith as head coach Mike Gundy gets a feel on who's going to be toting the rock for the Cowboys on the ground. Justin Blackmon and Brandon Weeden are going to get an earlier start on duplicating last year's success, and I have a feeling Blackmon will get the ball in the end zone at least twice.

Most importantly, the defense gets a chance to work out any kinks against a lesser team before they hit the meat of the schedule. Whether or not they can keep teams under 30 points a game is going to decide how well this year goes.

Oklahoma State: 63, Louisiana-Lafayette: 28

Arizona: Home

Remember earlier when I said I could see OSU falling to a lesser team at some point during the year? The Wildcats are one of those teams.

Arizona wasn't as bad as their record indicates last year. They started the season very well and even beat ninth ranked Iowa in the third game of their season. 

This is going to be the real test for the Cowboys defense. Can Markell Martin and the rest of the secondary stand up to Nick Foles and the Wildcats' passing attack?

My money's on this being a bit of a shoot out. Luckily for OK State fans, Weeden and Blackmon are both superior to anything Arizona can bring, and I don't think they'll let the team fall this early in the season. Look for both of them to have huge games and get some help from Josh Cooper out of the slot.

Oklahoma State: 42, Arizona: 31

Tulsa: Away

Playing a prolific offense on the road with a great, senior quarterback? Check. Possibility of looking ahead to a huge game the following weekend? Check. Chance for the Pokes to have a gigantic slip-up akin to Houston in 2009? Check.

All these things add up to one of the scariest games on the schedule no one is going to be talking about. Be afraid fellow Cowboy fans, be very afraid.

That said, this game is still in Oklahoma, which means it won't be difficult for OSU's fans to travel to this game. I also can't see senior safety Markelle Martin letting his secondary fall to the Golden Hurricanes. 

Plus, you have to expect the offense will take advantage of how terrible Tulsa's defense is. Look for Joseph Randle and Justin Blackmon to each top 100 yards in rushing and receiving respectably, while Brandon Weeden breaks the 350 yard passing mark.

Oklahoma State: 56 Tulsa: 38

Texas A&M: Away

More than likely, both of these teams will come into this game undefeated. Also, neither team has a game in following weeks that they might be looking ahead to. So who wins this battle of Big 12 powerhouses?

The simple answer is that the Aggies will come out on top. They come in with a much superior defense and one of the better running backs in the nation. Not to mention a quarterback in Ryan Tannehill, who was absolutely on fire to end last year's campaign. 

That said, you can never count the Cowboys out of any game because of their lethal passing attack. Weeden, Blackmon, and Co. could go off for a huge day and pick up the win, but it's going to be hard against A&M's exotic defensive packages.

The real battle to look out for is Oklahoma State's offensive line versus A&M's front seven. While the Cowboys field a veteran offensive line, I just don't see them keeping Weeden upright for the entire game. Look for a close one in College Station, with the Aggies coming out on top.

Texas A&M: 35, Oklahoma State: 31

Kansas: Home

Last year Kansas was completely destroyed by a superior OK State team at home. This year, the Jayhawks have to go into Stillwater and are probably hoping to exact some revenge from last year's 48-14 drubbing.

Better luck next year Kansas fans. 

The Jayhawks simply don't have enough talent to keep up with OSU's offense. Look for Weeden to push 400 yards passing while the ground attack breaks the 200-yard mark total.

Kansas is in for more of the same from last year, as the Cowboy's defense will be coming off a tough loss and looking to hit someone in the mouth. I wouldn't be surprised to see Kansas get held to 10 points in this game.

Oklahoma State: 42, Kansas: 14

Texas: Away

I'll be honest, I almost always pick Texas to beat the Cowboys. It doesn't matter who's better that year or where they're playing—I always pick Texas.

This year, unfortunately, is no different.

Texas is going to be coming off of a big loss to OU the week before and gets Oklahoma State at home. Those two things put together look like the perfect storm for the Cowboys second loss of the year. 

The only way I can see the Pokes taking this game from Texas is if the running game has a huge day. It's not out of the question for Joseph Randle or Jeremy Smith to have a big day down in Austin, but I have a feeling they're going to be stymied. 

Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon should still have big days, but I don't see them getting much in the way of help against this year's Texas team.

Texas: 38, Oklahoma State: 35

Missouri: Away

Many might expect to see the Cowboys hit a slide after a close loss to Texas, but I fully expect them to rebound against this very good Missouri squad.

Look for the defense to have another huge day, while the offense continues to light it up. After being stifled a little last week, I have a feeling Blackmon will flirt with 200 yards receiving and grab at least two touchdown passes.

Watch out for a big game from the secondary, too. James Franklin is a solid dual threat quarterback, but I think Markelle Martin and Co. will snag at least one interception during this contest.

Oklahoma State: 42, Missouri: 28

Baylor: Home

This is the last game of the season I don't quite feel sure about in my predictions. That is completely because of Robert Griffin III. 

Griffin is the best dual threat quarterback in the nation and could probably be in the Heisman running if he played for a good team. Sadly, he chose Baylor, which is a good team, but not great.

Look for Griffin to single-handedly keep his team in the game and get at least four TDs combined with around 60 yards rushing. 

However, I don't think the Cowboys will lose because, frankly, OK State's offense is much better as a whole than the Robert Griffin show. Look for everyone to have big days and for OSU to come out on top.

Oklahoma State: 56, Baylor: 35

Kansas State: Home/Texas Tech: Away/Iowa State: Away

Let's be honest, there's no way the Cowboys are going to lose any of these three games, and I don't want to bore you by going through every single one of them individually.

Here's what's going to happen: Weeden and Blackmon will have huge games every week, the defense will give up some points, but not too many, and the running attack will be above average.

None of these games should scare Cowboys fans in the slightest; however, the next game is going to be a big one.

Oklahoma State: 48 (or so), Other Teams: 31 (or so).

Oklahoma: Home

This is it, Bedlam, the biggest game of the season. I fully expect the Sooners to come into this game undefeated and looking for a shot at the National Title. So can Bob Stoops' squad get the job done in Stillwater?

One important thing to look at is that OK State gets two whole weeks to prepare for the Sooners, who have to play Iowa State the week before. This fact could be big for the Cowboys because it gives them an edge in preparation. 

That said, this is going to be a battle no matter what. Look for both QBs to come out, guns slinging. Landry Jones and Brandon Weeden could both easily get to 400 yards passing. Both team's star receivers should preform well on this big stage, but I think Ryan Broyles will have a slightly better game than Justin Blackmon.

This game looks like it might come down to whose secondary can slow down the opposing team's passing game. I think that OU's secondary is probably better than the Cowboys, but OSU is at home so I think they will play better.

So who's going to win this game?

Oklahoma State: 45, OU: 42

This might seem like a controversial pick to some, but at this point in the season the Cowboys will have nothing to lose since they've already dropped two games and OU has everything to lose on this Saturday evening.

This upset will completely rock the football landscape and I, for one, can't wait to see it happen. 

Final Season Record: 10-2