COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M can check off one major concern heading into Saturday’s Big 12 opener against No. 15 Oklahoma State.

Dez Bryant, the Cowboys’ All-America wide receiver, was ruled ineligible this week amid allegations he lied to the NCAA about interacting with NFL players. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound junior had 17 catches for 323 yards and four touchdowns in Oklahoma State’s first three games before sitting out their last game with a hamstring injury.
The Cowboys (3-1) are hoping to get back running back Kendall Hunter (ankle) and cornerback/kick returner Perrish Cox (shoulder), though coach Mike Gundy would only say this week that each injured player was “day to day.”
Regardless, the Aggies (3-1) will have to contend with quarterback Zac Robinson, and that should be enough to make them worry. Robinson threw three touchdown passes and ran for two more scores in the Cowboys’ 56-28 rout of A&M in Stillwater last year.
A&M faced dual-threat quarterbacks in its first three games, good preparation for Robinson, who ranks eighth in the Big 12 in total offense (224 yards per game). Robinson is second in the league in pass efficiency (155.3) and leads the league in yards per completion (14.1).
“He does a lot of different things,” A&M defensive coordinator Joe Kines said. “When the water hits the wheel in a game, when it’s really down to crunch time, he’s always there to make a play.”
Oklahoma State’s overall offensive numbers are down from last season, but the Cowboys are again remarkably balanced, averaging 203 rushing yards and 217 passing yards per game.
Hunter, the Big 12’s leading rusher in 2008, hurt his ankle in the Cowboys’ Sept. 12 loss to Houston and hasn’t returned. Senior Keith Toston is Oklahoma State’s leading rusher, with 280 yards and four touchdowns. Freshman Jeremy Smith ran for 160 yards in Oklahoma State’s 56-6 win over Grambling.
Without Bryant, Robinson will have to turn to a largely inexperienced group of receivers. Sophomore Josh Cooper has 10 catches for 157 yards in the first four games, after catching only two passes in 2008. Junior college transfer Dameron Fooks and sophomore tight end Wilson Youman have made four catches each this season.
Kines said the Cowboys’ offense looks no different, no matter which players are executing it.
“They’ve been doing the same thing for the last three or four years now,” Kines said. “They are well into their scheme, and know how to use their scheme. They present a lot of problems for a defense.”
A&M’s offense was the best in the country until running into problems in last week’s 47-19 loss to Arkansas . The Aggies were leading the nation in total offense (574.3 yards) before the Razorbacks held them to 325 over the final three quarters.
Running a fast-paced, no-huddle attack, the Aggies still rank second in total offense (545 yards) and fifth in passing offense (334 yards).
“There’s no question they’re as fastball, speedball as you can get,” Gundy said. “In watching them on tape, they’re trying to play very, very fast. It’s considerably different than what they were last year and some similarities to what you’re seeing throughout the country in college football.”
Junior quarterback Jerrod Johnson leads the Big 12 in total offense (376 yards per game) and has yet to throw an interception. But Johnson was often under pressure last week as the offensive line struggled to control the Razorbacks’ strong and speedy pass rushers.
“Jerrod won’t make it through the season if we have something like that again,” said senior guard Michael Shumard, who left the game with a sprained ankle.
Shoring up the line was A&M coach Mike Sherman’s main focus this week. He’s also eager to see how his team responds to its first loss after three easy victories.
“It’s been fun to come in in the morning and be with your teammates and your coaches after people have been patting you on the back all weekend saying, ’Great job in the game.’ Now you don’t have that,” Sherman said. “Are you going to work, or are you going to feel sorry for yourself? With the schedule we have right now there is absolutely, positively no time to feel sorry.”
The Cowboys, meanwhile, feel like they’ve moved on from their stunning loss to Houston that dropped them out of the national spotlight.
“We feel very confident,” linebacker Andre Sexton said. “We started out the season with a great win against Georgia. We had a slip up against UofH, but after that, we’ve corrected the things that we had problems with against UofH and we’ve continued to get better each week.”