By Glen Miller,

Sports reporter,

ARLINGTON, TEXAS – While running his decoy routes at AT&T Stadium, Mustang native David Glidden quickly found out that he was running open, constantly beating his Florida State defender off the ball and his cuts.

“I would like to think I was beating him bad and we will see when we watch film. They are a man coverage team with a lot of athletes and that’s what they like to do, go up there mono e mono on you and that’s what they pride themselves on.

“We were ready for it and watch a lot of film on it. That’s what I was hoping for and that was what I was prepared for the entire game,” said Glidden.

So wide open at times that he came off the field in the second quarter of Oklahoma State’s 37-31 loss to the No.1 Seminoles tapping his chest in an effort to get someone’s attention.

“I really don’t know what to say about that. Sometimes things happen in a game where players get riled up and frustrated and you’ve got to go on and play the next play.

“It was one of those things where I got caught up in the moment of the game and you want your number to be called and go make the plays,” said Glidden.

As it turned out, the Cowboys coaches had been noticing.

After having only one pass thrown his direction in the first half, a rushed throw for quarterback J.W. Walsh which fell incomplete, Glidden emerged from the loss as the Cowboys leading receiver in yards.

He opened the Cowboys’ first possession of the second half with a 19-yard catch from Walsh  out to the OSU 43-yard line.

“It was a play action pass and J.W. put the ball on the money and the O-line did a great job of protecting on that play. I noticed that as I was running my route looking back at J.W. And he was sitting there in the pocket.

“It was an all-around effort there and when the guy puts the ball on the money, you’ve got to go up and catch it,” said Glidden.

Two plays later, Glidden found himself in the same situation, running wide open on a play action pass route – which would have even better results.

Glidden snagged a pass in stride from Walsh and raced untouched 55 yards for a touchdown with 10:45 left in the third period, closing the gap to 20-17 following Ben Grogan’s PAT.

“It was a simple play action pass and we have been running it ever since I got here. The O-line did a great job and Tyreek Hill did as well on the sell. He had been making plays all game and they had to respect him.

“J.W. put the ball on the money and that made it real easy for me,” said Glidden.

Almost too easy as Glidden ran the last 20 yards glancing over both shoulders for a possible Florida State tackler – which never appeared.

“I was surprised I was that wide open to be honest so I was just checking to make sure someone was not coming. It was a great thing to be that wide open, but I’m really not used to it,” said Glidden.

The touchdown ended a 14-game streak for Glidden without a scoring catch. His last touchdown grab, which was also the first of his career, came on Dec. 1, 2012, in a 41-34 loss at Baylor.

He would have his number called one more time in the game, but Walsh was flushed out of the pocket and threw behind a sliding Glidden with 3:19 left in the third quarter.

Glidden closed the game with two catches for 74 yards as part of the Cowboys 203-yard passing game against Florida State. That yardage was a career-high for Glidden, surpassing the 73 yards on six catches he had against Kansas last season.

His 55-yard touchdown catch was the longest of his career, passing the 39-yarder he had in the Kansas game.

Glidden grinned when asked if his effort against top-ranked Florida State was enough to move him into a starting position.

“I hope so, but I go in every day and just try and do my job and the best for the team and whatever Coach Dunn (Kasey) or Coach Yurcich (Mike) asks me to do. I just go in and try and execute the game plan,” said Glidden.