Oklahoma State football: Tracy Moore walking fine line between leader and knucklehead

In the days that followed, Moore met with Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy and offensive coordinator Todd Monken to tell them the same thing.

“Obviously (scoring) four touchdowns wasn't enough,” Moore said this week. “Something else has to happen for this team to be successful, and I'm trying to figure out what that is.”

Moore displays many of the necessary qualifications to be one of OSU's anchors. He's the Cowboys' top returning pass-catcher and has been open about his goal to replace one of his close friends, Justin Blackmon, as OSU's bona fide No. 1 receiving target. He's already had his share of big moments, including seven catches for 112 yards and a touchdown last season against Louisiana-Lafayette, the opponent that visits Boone Pickens Stadium at 11 a.m. Saturday. And he's got a charismatic personality.

But with a career peppered with missteps and a continuously building image as a knucklehead, does he really have any right to say he wants to take on a leadership role? Can he even be trusted to stay on the field and out of the doghouse?

It's a complex issue.

“It's easier said than done, when you've put so many scars (on yourself),” Monken said, “and the team knows you for certain things, maybe not always on the field, but off the field or body language issues.

“You can't control that, but what you can is moving forward, leaders bring people with you.”

Moore's four-touchdown performance in his first game playing on offense since Bedlam shows how valuable he can be, and why coaches have raved about his transition from inside receiver to the outside. And it's put him in a spot where he automatically commands the attention and respect of his teammates.

“Just the way he performs in the games, and then the way he is on the sideline,” sophomore receiver Josh Stewart said. “It's just great to have one of those players. After he scored a touchdown, he was just so hyped. And just to see that, it makes you want to get into it more than him.

“I feel like that's the type of leading receiver we need. I really think that's my role model right now.”

It wasn't always that way. Moore has a history of poor body language in practice and was demoted to just special teams duties in the Fiesta Bowl for mouthing off to Monken. Since then, though, Monken has called Moore's practice habits “tremendous.”

So it appears Moore has figured it out on the field. But what about off the field?

Since March, Moore has been cited for a public intoxication complaint, outraging public decency and suspicion of providing alcohol to a minor. He was also in the car when Justin Blackmon received his first DUI during the 2010 season. He has never been charged with a crime, but the final incident resulted in Moore being suspended for the Cowboys' season opener against Savannah State.