OSU-TEXAS TECH: THREE STORYLINES

Bummer of a week in Stillwater. Cowboys lost to TCU, dampening their big-picture plans. Bad, bad news on the basketball front.

OSU sure needs a lift. And it’s up to Mason Rudolph and his pals to provide it.

Three storylines for Saturday night in Lubbock:

Ready, restart

This is where it all (re) starts. Or ends. Yeah, there’s plenty of season left, with seven games remaining following the trip to Lubbock. But if the TCU game is to play out as the “hiccup” Rudolph said it would be, the Cowboys must reset and restart their push toward a Big 12 title now. Back-to-back losses bring too many negatives, aside from the obvious — two losses! It’s a bad look, for one, in the eyes of all who matter nationally. It suggests a bad initial take on this team as a contender. And it could apply bad vibes for the rest of the season for a veteran cast bent on doing big things.

Shootout, or slowdown?

These two teams have produced some fast-paced, highscoring extravaganzas recently. The Cowboys have scored at least 45 points in each of the past six meetings and 70 — Seventy — two years ago on the west Texas plains. The Red Raiders have gone for at least 34 the past four years. And when OSU posted 70, Tech scored 53 and owned leads of 24-7 and 38-28 before the Pokes finished with a flurry. Ah, but there’s talk of improved Red Raider defense, after holding Houston to 24 points a week ago. Oh, and Tech managed just 27. But c’mon, nobody’s expecting anything shy of a shootout, right?

Go streaking!

Once upon a time, Texas Tech served as a sort of an outside measuring stick for the OSU program. Climb over Tech and the Cowboys would be moving up in the Big 12, if only incrementally. Oh how things have changed. OSU carries an eight-game series winning streak into Saturday, which stands as its longest over any team in the Big 12. The Cowboys left Tech behind long ago and established themselves as one of the conference’s premier programs, ranking second only to Oklahoma in league wins since 2010. Padding the streak against Tech maintains posture, both in the series and in the standings.

[PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN] Jalen McCleskey, wearing 84 in 2015 before his number change, has produced big plays against the Red Raiders, including this punt return for a TD.

[AP PHOTO] Is Nic Shimonek up to Tech quarterback standards and ready and able to engage the Cowboys in a shootout?

[PHOTO BY SARAH PHIPPS, THE OKLAHOMAN] James Washington has sparked the Cowboys before and looks to help them get back on track Saturday at Texas Tech.