BIG 12/ MID-AMERICAN

No. 4 Cowboys silence Tigers

— Even without its starting wide receivers, Oklahoma State had plenty left on offense. The Cowboys’ big-play defense stepped up, too.

Joseph Randle scored a career-best four touchdowns, two on runs that capitalized on an interception and fumble recovery by Shaun Lewis, as No. 4 Oklahoma State remained unbeaten and ended Missouri’s 10-game home winning streak with a 45-24 victory on Saturday.

“This place will get kind of rowdy if you let it,” Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden said. “Anytime you get them out of their seats and headed to the exits, that’s huge.”

Missouri quarterback James Franklin committed four turnovers in the second half, including three interceptions and a lost fumble at the Oklahoma State 4.

“I know that I didn’t play the best,” Franklin said. “And it’s frustrating. But being sad about it isn’t going to do anything about it.”

Randle had 138 yards on 14 carries and scored on runs of 16, 59 and 12 yards. He also caught a 13-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter.

“He’s a big play waiting to happen,” Weeden said. “The guy is explosive. Without looking at the tape, he’s got to be our MVP.”

Weeden had three touchdown passes after the opening snap of the second quarter. Lewis’ interception and fumble recovery helped the Cowboys (7-0, 4-0) pull away and win their ninth in a row on the road despite injuries to both starting wide receivers.

They’re 7-0 for just the third time in school history, also doing it in 2008 and 1945. A major reason: They’ve forced 22 turnovers the last five games.

“They gave us what we had been working on all week,” defensive end Jamie Blatnick said. “When we see what we’ve prepared for it works out for us.”

Justin Blackmon caught a touchdown pass in the first quarter but was held out the second half as a precaution after taking a blow to the head.Hubert Anyiam, the Cowboys’ third-leading receiver, is out for the season with a broken bone in his left foot.

Isaiah Anderson had a career-best five receptions and Tracy Moore matched his career best with seven receptions.

“It’s interesting how young men will play when they know they have to play,” Coach Mike Gundy said.

Henry Josey had 138 yards on 25 carries and T.J. Moe had six catches for 103 yards and a score for Missouri (3-4, 1-3), which has yet to win consecutive games and has dropped three consecutive in the series. All four of the Tigers’ losses have come against teams ranked at the time, and they play at No. 17 Texas A&M next week.

Weeden completed 33 for 49 passes for 338 yards after a sizzling start and extended his streak of 30-yard completions to 15 games. The 28-year old senior was 19 for 25 for 214 yards in the first quarter, with all six incompletions on drops.

In other games involving Big 12 teams, Collin Klein threw for a career-high 195 yards and accounted for five touchdowns, freshman Tyler Lockett returned a kickoff for a score and caught a touchdown pass, and No. 11 Kansas State (7-0, 4-0) tuned up for a big showdown next week against Oklahoma with a 59-21 pasting of Kansas (2-5, 0-4) in Manhattan, Kan.

...Ryan Tannehill threw for 263 yards and two touchdowns and 17th-ranked Texas A&M (5-2, 3-1) held off Iowa State (3-4, 0-4) 33-17 in Ames, Iowa, for its third consecutive Big 12 victory. Christine Michael and Cyrus Gray each rushed for more than 100 yards for the Aggies, who used Tannehill’s scoring passes late in the first half to jump ahead 20-7. Michael’s 9-yard TD run early in the third quarter gave Texas A&M a 30-7 lead.

MID-AMERICAN Bowling Green survives

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Matt Schilz threw a 24-yard pass to Shaun Joplin with 7:41 left for Bowling Green’s only touchdown, which was enough for the Falcons to hold off Temple 13-10 on Saturday.

Both the game’s touchdowns came in the final quarter as Bernard Pierce’s 2-yard scoring run put Temple up for the first time, 10-6, with 11:02 to play. Less than four minutes later, Schilz threw for 55 yards on a 56-yard drive by Bowling Green (4-4, 2-2), including the game-winning touchdown.

Schilz threw for 204 yards and Anthon Samuel ran for 112 to lead Bowling Green.

Matt Brown led the Owls (5-3, 3-2) with 119 rushing yards, and Pierce added 107 yards.

In other games involving Mid-American Conference teams, Chandler Harnish gained 217 all-purpose yards in Northern Illinois’ (5-3, 3-1) 31-30 victory over host Buffalo (2-6, 1-2). ... Javonti Greene caught a 50-yard pass from Alex Gillett in the first quarter and scored on a 50-yard run midway through the fourth quarter as Eastern Michigan (5-3, 3-1) beat Western Michigan (4-4, 2-2) 14-10 in Ypsilanti, Mich. ... Keith Wenning threw three touchdown passes, all in the second half as Ball State (5-3, 3-1) came back to beat Central Michigan (2-6, 1-3) 31-27 in Muncie, Ind. ... Tyler Tettleton threw two touchdown passes, ran for a score and Ohio (5-3, 2-2) scored 20 consecutive points midway through the game to seal a 37-20 victory over host Akron (1-6, 0-3). ... Morgan Williams ran for two touchdowns to lead a balanced rushing attack in Toledo’s 49-28 victory over Miami (Ohio) in Toledo. The Rockets (5-3, 4-0) rushed for 269 of their 497 yards of offense. Zac Dysert finished with 333 yards and two touchdowns on 14 of 37 passing for the Red Hawks (2-5, 1-2).

Sports, Pages 36 on 10/23/2011

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