Cowboys Key Ingredient: Guts
Tre Sterling roamed centerfield at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, his Cowboys clinging to a 20-18 lead, but facing another threat from Kansas State.
Three receivers loaded to the right side, his side, then raced downfield. And Wildcats quarterback Will Howard fired their way, beyond the covered receivers… right to Sterling, whose interception sealed a difficult 20-18 win in Manhattan, where lesser Oklahoma State teams have wilted.
“We’ve just got a team full of go-getters,” Cowboys linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga said. “Dudes on this team never give up.
“We just found a way. It’s just the culture of this team. We’re tightly knit. We’ve got a great bond. And it’s games like this that defines who we are.”
OSU’s reputation under Mike Gundy remains quite simple. Dynamic offense.
This season, defense deserves its due, too.
Saturday, the Pokes provided a new winning personality: Gutsy.
The Cowboys opened the game without injured stars Kolby Harvell-Peel and Tylan Wallace, the latter injured during the week.
Left tackle Jake Springfield was out, and Teven Jenkins, the other starting tackle, went out early, only to be forced back in when his replacement, Taylor Miterko, was injured moments later, not to return. Chuba Hubbard departed later, also injured. And Spencer Sanders limped often, although never leaving the game.
Turns out that was but a reflection of the week, when a slew of starters either practiced sparingly, or not at all.
Games against Kansas State are dogfights by nature. This one shaped up seemingly with OSU as a three-legged dog.
Then sprung a junkyard dog.
“This was a really big game for them, because we limped through practice this week on both sides of the ball,” Gundy said. “We didn’t get quality work. When you don’t get quality work, the results normally aren’t good.
“It wasn’t pretty, but they found a way to win.”
A program win.
“This win proves that our culture and our team chemistry is strong,” Gundy said. “You don’t win a game like this unless your culture and your team chemistry is strong, players caring about each other.”
Caring enough to play on, even when it hurts and even when you’re down and even when victory looks inconceivable.
K-State led 12-0 at the half. Howard, a true freshman forced into action when Skyler Thompson was lost to the season, owned a 100-yard rushing game through two quarters, while the Cowboys had totaled 83 yards as a team.
It was the first time OSU had been shut out in the first half since 2014.
Making matters worse, the Wildcats had turned a piece of their offensive package into their full game plan, challenging the Cowboys to provide an answer.
“I came in the locker room and the defense was saying, ‘They’ve done everything they have. They don’t have anything else,’” Sterling said.
The Cowboys adjusted marvelously, on both sides of the ball.
You've got your work cut out for you picking today's top play.@PKEquipment I #LetsRide pic.twitter.com/bKMxs9b1XN
— OSU Cowboy Football (@CowboyFB) November 8, 2020
LD Brown, Hubbard’s backup who also missed most the week of practice, gave the offense a spark, rushing for 99 of his team-high 110 yards in the second half.
With Wallace out, Dillon Stoner and Landon Wolf combined for 12 of OSU’s 14 receptions. Freshman receiver Brennan Presly made the most of his only touch of this season, skirting around right end on a jet sweep for a 9-yard scoring run, the offense’s only touchdown.
The defense limited the Wildcats to 11 plays and three punts in the third quarter, allowing the offense to gain traction, then chipped in a touchdown in the second half on a Jason Taylor 85-yard fumble return.
“We bowed up in the second half,” Ogbongbemiga said.
This. Defense.#LetsRide I #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/lab6dr2fvU
— OSU Cowboy Football (@CowboyFB) November 8, 2020
And when K-State got the ball back with 1:47 left, needing only a field goal to win, Sterling was there to end the drama.
“I’m not sure why he threw it, but he threw it,” Sterling said of Howard. “I just have to go up in the air and make a play. And I did.”
The story of the day for the Cowboys.
“At the end of the day, go out and be a baller, be a ballplayer,” Sterling said. “It’s what I’ve done the past 22 years of my life.”
Good win. Tough win. Gutsy win.
“Somebody’s gotta be the playmaker,” Ogbongbemiga said. “We had so many of those today.”
