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Oklahoma State rallies to beat Troy 41-38

Sep 12, 2010 - 4:03 AM By MURRAY EVANS Associated Press Writer

STILLWATER, Okla.(AP) -- Kendall Hunter rushed for 157 yards and two touchdowns, Justin Blackmon had two touchdown catches and 132 yards receiving and Oklahoma State rallied from a halftime deficit to beat Troy 41-38 on Saturday night.

Brandon Weeden completed 29 of 39 passes for 348 yards and two touchdowns for the Cowboys (2-0), including a 53-yarder to Blackmon with 8:08 left that gave the Cowboys a late cushion. Blackmon has six touchdowns on the season.

Troy (1-1) beat Oklahoma State in 2007 in Alabama and for a time it looked like the Trojans might do so again, as they led 27-20 at halftime. But the Cowboys scored two touchdowns three minutes apart in the third quarter to regain the lead.

Jerrell Jernigan returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown for Troy and caught 10 passes for 87 yards and a touchdown, but two second-half drives inside the Oklahoma State 10 ended in lost fumbles for the Trojans.

In three games against Troy, Hunter has rushed for 451 yards. Oklahoma State now is 22-2 all-time against teams now in the Sun Belt Conference and has won 20 of its last 21 games at home.

But this one didn't come easy. The Cowboys outgained Troy 522-371 but hurt themselves. They had five turnovers that led to 13 points for Troy and committed inopportune penalties, one of which wiped out a 100-yard kickoff return by Hunter and another negated an interception.

Brett Moncrief caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Corey Robinson with 4 minutes left and Jamie Hampton ran in a 2-point conversion to pull Troy within 41-38. Weeden fumbled on a kneeldown with 54 seconds left, and Troy's Daniel Sheffield recovered, giving the Trojans one more chance. But on the next play, Justin Gent hit Robinson, causing a fumble, and Orie Lemon recovered for the Cowboys.

Robinson completed 28 of 38 passes for 272 yards and three touchdowns.

Troy, which has won the last four Sun Belt titles, entered the game with a giant-killer reputation, especially against Big 12 Conference foes. The Trojans beat Missouri 24-14 in 2004 and rolled past the Cowboys 41-23 in 2007.

Oklahoma State rebounded the next year to rout Troy 55-24 in Stillwater and after a sluggish start Saturday, it looked like the Cowboys might do so again. Oklahoma State led 13-3 after Hunter scored on a 10-yard run early in the second quarter, but Troy quickly answered with a 47-yard touchdown pass from Robinson to Jason Bruce and the offensive back-and-forth was on.

Down 34-30, Troy twice drove inside the Oklahoma State 10 but came away empty. Robinson fumbled at the Oklahoma State 3 after being hit by Devin Hedgepeth and Victor Johnson recovered for the Cowboys. Early in the fourth quarter, a bad snap resulted in another Troy fumble and Oklahoma State's Darius Hart recovered.

After lofting the 53-yard touchdown pass to Blackmon, Weeden gave a fist-pump as his receiver ran into the end zone.

Cooper finished with eight catches for 114 yards for Oklahoma State.