Published: July 14, 2009 02:07 pm      

Are Cowboys ready to take next step on gridiron?

EDMOND — The lights will shine brightly on Stillwater this fall and Mike Holder knows it. The Oklahoma State football team caught the eyes of many after an impressive 2008 campaign, but those expectations have only increased this year for the Cowboys, who boast three potential Heisman candidates and a recently completed Boone Pickens Stadium.

“We’re in the top 10 in many publications and I can’t remember that ever being the case before, and I’ve been around OSU since 1966,” said Holder during the Edmond Rotary Club meeting Wednesday afternoon.

And Holder, who knows a thing or two about winning championships from his days with the golf team, believes taking advantage of that opportunity could be critical for the future of OSU football.

“If we can knock it out of the park this season it sure would help for the future,” Holder said. “That’s why this time of the season is nice, no one is keeping score, we’re undefeated, everyone is undefeated.”

The Cowboys’ regular season will start with a bang when they host Georgia on September 5, and could end with as much fanfare on November 28 in Norman.

“We have a chance for Bedlam in November to maybe be for a national championship or at least a playoff to get into the national championship if both our teams take care of business,” Holder said. “I heard ESPN listed the five biggest games of the year and Bedlam was No. 5. It’s going to be a great season with a lot of excitement.”

Holder also hopes to turn that preseason hype into a box office boom. At a time when OSU basketball has seen a dip in attendance, Holder said they’re currently ahead of last year’s pace in football season tickets sales by 6,033.

“We’re trying to go back to where we were in basketball and get to a new place in football,” Holder said. “The real concern for me is the students (at basketball games). We lost a lot of the student attendance at the games and that’s your future. If you don’t win those students when they’re on campus they’re not going to come back and buy season tickets later. They bring all the atmosphere, they bring all the fun to the game. The athletes and the students are what it’s all about.”

While all eyes are focussed on the Cowboys potential on the gridiron this fall, Holder said he’s still optimistic about the future of the proposed athletic village, which will include facility upgrades for many other sports.

“We had a little setback in the market last year and lost about $290 million, but we’ll be back,” Holder said. “We intend to not only build a great football stadium, but also a brand new baseball stadium, new track, tennis complex, soccer stadium. (When it will happen) all depends on how quickly the economy comes back and how generous our alumni are with donations.”