Pokes Arrive in Houston, including the improved Cameron Murray on the Defensive Line

Oklahoma State team arrives in Houston for the Texas Bowl including Cameron Murray

The Oklahoma State Cowboys touched down around 11:30 a.m. at Houston Intercontinental Airport arriving on their United Air Lines charter flight. The team made their way from the airport north of town into the center of Houston and just to the west to the Galleria area and their hotel. The team then had a light one hour and 30 minute practice at the University of Houston indoor practice facility. 

The team then had most of the evening on their own with a late curfew. 

"We're excited and have everybody here," head coach Mike Gundy said right after the arrival. "We're looking forward to practice later today and settling into the hotel. It is going to be a great week."

There are some distractions with the talk of coaches possibly moving and that assistant head coach and receivers coach Kasey Dunn has already accepted the offensive coordinator job with UNLV. However, Oklahoma State is focused, and has to be on Texas A&M and winning a fourth straight bowl game and a second against the SEC.

"We bring an excited team to play in the bowl game. I think if your team is excited to play in the bowl game then you play good," Gundy said of his secret to bowl success as Oklahoma State is 9-4 in bowl games under Gundy. "If you aren't excited to play in the bowl then you usually don't play very well. They (Texas A&M) are a good football team. They've lost to the number one team three times this year, the number four team and the number 12 team. They've had a tough schedule and they are a very good and tough football team, so it should be a great game."

One of those players excited to play in the bowl game is defensive tackle Cameron Murray. Murray. The 6-2, 290-pound Murray really blossomed and had a breakout season in his red-shirt junior campaign. His previous two seasons to play he had five tackles and then seven tackles. This fall playing all 12 games thus far he has 26 tackles with 17 of those unassisted. Murray has six tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. He has also batted away a pair of passes and has three quarterback hurries.

"Just believe in the process, early on I moved around a lot, but I truly believe this season I was in a position where I could work and perfect my craft," Murray explained as the difference. "I really had a decent season and just working hard in this next game and looking forward to next season will help me move forward."

The native of Bryant, Ark., Murray doesn't need a lot to fire him up to play against an SEC team. He hears plenty of that SEC talk when he is home in Arkansas. Oklahoma State proved a point on Missouri last season and look to prove that same point even further this time in Houston against Texas A&M.

"I feel a lot of us want to play in this bowl game against an SEC caliber team and both team not knowing everything about each other, but knowing enough to make it a little familiar and still play somebody new," Murray said. "That is what we are trying to do and show that we playd defense and we can stop their run. I really feel like it will start in the trenches and how we play upfront."

Bowl week is underway and the Cowboys have arrived.