Mon Dec 31 22:29:18 2007

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Robinson stars as Oklahoma State outslugs Indiana

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Tempe, AZ (Sports Network) - Zac Robinson threw three touchdown passes and rushed for two more scores as Oklahoma State routed Indiana, 49-33, in the Insight Bowl.

The Hoosiers (7-6) were a feel good story even in defeat, however. The team was playing in its first postseason game in 14 years, just six months after former coach Terry Hoeppner died due to complications from a brain tumor.

Robinson completed 24-of-34 passes for 302 yards and added 70 more yards on the ground for the Cowboys (7-6), who bested Alabama by a 34-31 score in last year's Independence Bowl. Dez Bryant finished with nine receptions for 117 yards and two TDs, while Dantrell Savage rushed for 100 yards and a TD.

Kellen Lewis connected on 22-of-43 passes for 204 yards and two touchdowns and added 83 yards and another score on the ground for the Hoosiers, who were making their first postseason appearance since a 45-20 loss to Virginia Tech in the 1993 Independence Bowl.

Trailing 3-0 after the opening possession of the game, it took the Cowboys less than three minutes to answer thanks to an impressive running game. Savage capped a six-play, 67-yard drive by taking it in from three yards out to give Oklahoma State its first lead, 7-3.

The Cowboys made it 14-3 later in the first quarter when Robinson used a nice pump fake to fool the defense on a 24-yard scoring pass to Bryant with 4:38 left in the frame.

The rout was on from there. After the Oklahoma State defense forced a punt, Robinson and company went back to work. This time, the quarterback capped a 57-yard march with a seven-yard TD run to give the Cowboys a rather comfortable 21-3 margin heading to the second quarter.

Oklahoma State kept pouring it on from there. Robinson threw a 14-yard strike to a wide open Adarius Bowman with 10:11 left in the first half to put the Cowboys on top 28-3.

The Hoosiers finally got back on the board later in the second quarter when Lewis hit Marcus Thigpen on a swing pass for a four-yard TD.

Any momentum was short-lived, however, as the Indiana defense just couldn't do anything with the Cowboys. Robinson made sure Oklahoma State scored on its fifth consecutive possession by plunging in from a yard out to make it 35-10 with 2:18 left in the second quarter.

The Hoosiers tried to make it a game in the third quarter. Austin Starr converted a fake field-goal attempt on a fourth-and-eight play from the OSU 10. The kicker caught a flip pass from Lewis and cut back inside with a brilliant run to the one-yard line. Two plays later, Lewis punched it in from a yard out to make it a 35-17 game with 10:29 left.

The Indiana defense failed to hold again. First Robinson converted a key fourth down and later found Bryant for an 11-yard TD as the Cowboys went up 42-17 with 6:16 left in the third.

The Hoosiers managed to make the score a little more respectable in the fourth quarter. First, Josiah Sears' five-yard TD run made it 42-24 with 7:02 remaining.

Then, Starr's 27-yard field goal with just over three minutes left drew Indiana within 15 points, 42-27.

Inexplicably, while OSU was trying to run the clock out inside the Hoosiers' 10, Indiana coach Bill Lynch kept calling timeouts, so the Cowboys went back on the offensive and Julius Crosslin punched it in from three yards out.

A Hail Mary from Lewis to James Bailey from 30 yards out with one second left finally ended the scoring and accounted for the final margin.

The Hoosiers took the opening kickoff and moved the ball pretty well until bogging down at the Oklahoma State 25. Starr came on from there to boot a 43-yard field goal with 10:41 left in the opening quarter to give Indiana an early 3-0 lead.

Game Notes

Indiana has struggled in postseason matchups, recording a 3-6 ledger all- time...The Cowboys are 12-6 in Bowl games...The only previous meeting between Indiana and Oklahoma State took place back during the 1930 season and that contest finished in a 7-7 tie.