Central Arkansas @ Oklahoma State preview

Oklahoma State is back in action for Saturday's home opener against Central Arkansas after nearly avoiding disaster on the road a week ago. The Cowboys scraped out a 24-13 victory over Central Michigan on Thursday despite trailing by a slight margin in the third quarter.

Mason Rudolph, who ran for a touchdown and passed for another last week, is picking up where he left off last season as a freshman when he quarterbacked the Cowboys to wins in the final two games, including a 30-22 victory over Washington in the Cactus Bowl. On Saturday, Rudolph makes his debut in front of the home crowd at Boone Pickens Stadium against a Central Arkansas secondary that struggled last week. The Bears surrendered 372 yards and four touchdowns through the air in a 45-16 loss to Samford. "We just didn't play anywhere close to the way we needed to play where we'd have a chance to beat a good football team," coach Steve Campbell told reporters after the game.

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN. LINE: NL

ABOUT CENTRAL ARKANSAS (0-1): Campbell told reporters Monday that he intends to get his running backs more touches compared to the last game. "Whenever the tailbacks get the ball, whether they are piling up yardage or not, the (lost yardage) numbers will go down," Campbell said. “But when we don’t rush the football for 200 yards, I take it as a personal affront.'' The Bears might have to look elsewhere for rushing production with running back Dominique Thomas' status for Saturday's game unknown after getting injured against Samford, so Kelton Warren and Blake Veasley would be next in line to split the carries.

ABOUT OKLAHOMA STATE (1-0): Junior college transfer Chris Carson had 89 rushing yards on 21 carries in his debut for the Cowboys. Coach Mike Gundy told reporters ahead of the season opener that he anticipated spreading the carries evenly among his top two running backs, but it was Carson who ended up with the bigger workload than fellow junior Rennie Childs (five carries, 36 yards). Carson told reporters when he signed at Oklahoma State that one of his goals was to be a top-three rusher in the Big 12, and a big outing against Central Arkansas could propel him there.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Oklahoma State has never lost to an FCS opponent under Gundy (8-0).

2. The Bears and Cowboys are meeting for the first time.

3.Oklahoma State has won 19 straight home openers and scored 56 points or more in five of the last seven such games.

PREDICTION: Oklahoma State 30, Central Arkansas 3