Wide receiver Justin Blackmon received several awards while playing for the Cowboys
1 FIESTA BOWL FIREWORKS THE GREATEST SEASON IN OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY OSU HISTORY RESTED ON THE FOOT OF QUINN SHARP THE COWBOYS JUNIOR PLACEKICKER WAS LINING UP A 23 YARD FIELD GOAL TO WIN THE FIESTA BOWL ON JANUARY 2 2012. ALL HE HAD TO DO WAS PUT THE BALL THROUGH THE UPRIGHTS The Fiesta Bowl was a game of heavyweights Both the fourth ranked Stanford Cardinals and third ranked OSU entered the game with 11 1 records Stanford's loss came at home against a strong Oregon team The Cowboys loss was much more painful OSU was ranked No. 2 in the country entering its game at lowa State on November 18. But the Cowboys were playing with heavy hearts Two OSU women's basketball coaches had died in a plane crash earlier that day The Cowboys football team lost in double overtime 37 31
Wide receiver Justin Blackmon left and quarterback Brandon Weeden were a dynamic duo for Oklahoma State Despite the off field tragedy and on field setback of that day the Cowboys finished the season strong They drubbed rival Oklahoma 44 10 Winning the Fiesta Bowl would be a strong conclusion to the season Stanford's star player was quarterback Andrew Luck He would later be the first pick in the National Football League NFL Draft It would take every bit of Cowboy firepower to hang with Luck and the powerful Cardinal attack The game started in the Cardinals favor Stanford had a 14 0 lead early in the second quarter
COWBOYS But Luck wasn't the only future NFL player on the field Cowboys quarterback Brandon Weeden and wide receiver Justin Blackmon would also be first round draft picks Weeden had set school season and career records for passing yards completions and touchdown passes He and Blackmon didn't take it easy on Stanford Weeden connected with Blackmon on touchdown passes of 43 and 67 yards with Sharp completing extra points to tie the game 14 14 The offenses continued to hold the upper hand all night OSU kept pace but couldn't take the lead A touchdown by Cowboys running back Joseph Randle and an extra point by Sharp tied the game 38 38 with just over two minutes left in the game BRANDON WEEDEN Oklahoma City native Brandon Weeden took an indirect route to Cowboys football In high school Weeden earned All State honors in both football and baseball He was drafted by the New York Yankees in 2002 and decided to give baseball a shot But after four years struggling in the minor leagues Weeden headed back home to play football at OSU The path to stardom wasn't exactly quick in football either After taking a redshirt year in 2007 he played in just one game in 2008 and three in 2009 Finally Weeden was named the starting quarterback in 2010. The next year he broke several school single season records including passing yards 4,727 completed passes 409 and completion percentage 72.4 In 2012 the Cleveland Browns chose Weeden with the 22nd pick of the first round in the NFL Draft FIESTA BOWL FIREWORKS
