Ollie Gordon, Oklahoma State Can't Outscore Texas Tech in Shootout
The Cowboys nearly earned their first Big 12 win, but their inability to finish struck again.
Oklahoma State lost to Texas Tech 56-48 on Saturday afternoon in Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater. While the Cowboys hadn’t won in over two months, they put up a fight and were in a position to win in the fourth quarter.
Early in the fourth quarter, Tahj Brooks took the snap out of the wildcat on fourth-and-1 and ran to the right side with no OSU defenders in sight for a 40-yard touchdown to take a 42-35 lead. On the ensuing drive, Rodney Fields Jr. broke through and found the end zone to tie the game again.
Like the others, that tie was short-lived, as Brooks scored his third touchdown to put Texas Tech back in front 49-42. As OSU looked to respond, a high snap went over Maealiuaki Smith’s head and went back to the end zone, where Texas Tech recovered to extend its lead to two scores with under five minutes remaining.
The Cowboys had a late opportunity to send the game into overtime but couldn’t make any magic happen.
The Cowboys began the game with a surprise when Maealiuaki Smith got his first career start. The true freshman looked solid for the Cowboys, going 26-of-36 on his passes for 326 yards and two touchdowns.
While he played an important role in some of OSU’s scoring drives, another Cowboy continued to find the end zone. Ollie Gordon was a force, particularly in the first half, and finished with 15 carries for 156 yards and three touchdowns.
In the third quarter, the game took on a frenzied pace. Following Smith’s first career touchdown run to tie the game at 28, OSU tried an onside kick, which was taken by Kelby Valsin and returned into the red zone before Tahj Brooks punched it into the end zone to regain the lead.
After ceding a touchdown to Brooks in the closing seconds of the first half, OSU had an opportunity to respond out of halftime and took advantage. The Cowboys quickly marched downfield, with Gordon eventually getting into the end zone for a game-tying touchdown.
That was far from the first time Gordon helped electrify the OSU attack. He threw a 27-yard pass to Rashod Owens on a flea flicker, with that drive eventually leading to his second touchdown. Plus, his 68-yard score near the end of the first quarter got OSU on the scoreboard after the Cowboys trailed 14-0 early.
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Ivan is a sports media student at Oklahoma State University. He has covered OSU athletics since 2022 and also covers the OKC Thunder for Inside The Thunder and Thunderous Intentions.