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Oklahoma St.-Louisiana-Lafayette Preview

Oct 4, 2010 - 8:15 PM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

No. 19 Oklahoma State (4-0) at Louisiana-Lafayette (2-2), 9:00 p.m. EDT

Justin Blackmon and Oklahoma State ended up enjoying their first nationally televised game this season. They are hoping to get off to a better start in their second one.

Blackmon and the No. 22 Cowboys will go on the road for the first time Friday night when they try to improve to 6-0 all-time against Louisiana-Lafayette.

Oklahoma State (4-0) won its Big 12 opener in thrilling fashion, 38-35 over Texas A&M last Thursday. The Cowboys trailed 21-7 at halftime before they turned around the game with a 21-point third quarter.

"We did ESPN some justice on the ratings," coach Mike Gundy said. "It was quite a game."

The victory marked the third time in six games Oklahoma State trailed at halftime and came back to win. Blackmon had a tying 29-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter - his 10th score of the season to tie Oklahoma's DeMarco Murray for the most in the FBS.

"We just stayed confident and stayed positive, and we knew that if we execute our plays, we can come back from 14 points behind," Blackmon said.

The Cowboys got better play as the game went on from Brandon Weeden, who fumbled and threw two interceptions in the dismal first half. He finished with 284 yards and two touchdown passes.

"This game is not going to be perfect all the time," said Weeden, who has 13 TD passes. "You can't run perfect plays every time. You're not going to make good decisions every time. You've just got to live with it, put it behind you and move on to the next play."

It's been a good decision for Weeden to get the ball to Blackmon. The sophomore receiver is third in the FBS with 558 yards receiving with nine TD receptions. His other touchdown came when he returned a blocked punt for a score.

Blackmon had 10 catches for 127 yards against the Aggies, and he's the first Cowboy to go over 100 yards receiving in four straight games since Rashaun Woods did it in five straight games in 2002.

Running back Kendall Hunter is off to a strong start after he followed up a 1,555-yard effort in 2008 by only gaining 382 yards a year ago. Hunter is averaging 143.5 yards in 2010 to rank sixth in the FBS and has eight rushing touchdowns.

The Cowboys are averaging 534.8 yards to rank third in the FBS, and that's why Gundy was so upset with the seven-point output in the first half last week.

"When we got down 14, I was a little disappointed because I thought that we we're showing signs of being weak," Gundy said. "We had some guys that were limping and guys that had their head down. We made a big point of that on the sideline.

"We made a big point of that in the locker room at halftime because no matter what happens in a game, we're not going to show signs of being fatigued or weak. So they picked it up after that."

Oklahoma State is 22-2 all-time against the Sun Belt Conference, winning all five previous matchups with Louisiana-Lafayette (2-2). These teams haven't met since a 56-3 win for the Cowboys in 2003, and the Ragin' Cajuns are playing a ranked team for the first time since a 55-7 loss at then-No. 23 Georgia in the season opener Sept. 4.

Louisiana-Lafayette blocked an extra-point attempt with 31 seconds remaining to seal Saturday's 28-27 win at North Texas. Chris Masson threw for a career-high 310 yards and two TDs.

Outside of a visit by Oklahoma State in 1997, the Ragin' Cajuns have won two of their last three home games against Big 12 foes. They beat Kansas State 17-15 last year.

The Cowboys could be facing a short-handed opponent. Louisiana-Lafayette running back Kevis Streeter (knee) and starting tackle Jonathan Decoster (ankle) left last week's game with injuries in the first quarter while tight end Ladarius Green was out with an ankle injury.

Oklahoma State started 7-0 two years ago, and will be without Victor Johnson on Friday. The starting free safety is out indefinitely with a left knee injury suffered last week.