No. 14 Oklahoma State Falls to No. 12 Utah in First Big 12 Matchup
The No. 14 Cowboys and No. 12 Utes faced off Saturday in just their second meeting in history, this time for plenty of Big 12 bragging rights.
The Utes took down the Cowboys in Stillwater, despite a late push from OSU. Here is the live game thread:
FINAL: Utah 22, Oklahoma State 19
4Q:
Utah extended their lead with a 10-play, 44-yard drive that culminated in another field goal. With the Utes defensive product today, the Pokes will need more firepower to pull off the comeback.
With 11 and 9 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, OSU saw it's sixth and seventh three-and-outs of the game, respectively.
With around six minutes left in the game, Utah saw a one-two punch, getting an interception from Elijah Davis that set up a 45-yard bomb from Wilson to Kuithe on the next play to make it 22-3. Utah failed to convert the 2-point conversion.
Gavin Freeman set up the Cowboys near midfield with a solid kick return, and Bowman chunked a few plays down the field, finally seeing the team's first touchdown with a 28-yard strike to Brennan Presley. The two again connected on the 2-point conversion, but it's likely too little, too late.
With just minutes remaining in the game, Bowman and OSU engineered a near-70 yard drive with ended in a Rashod Owens touchdown. The seventh-year quarterback and Presley again connnected on a two-point conversion to cut the lead to just three points.
3Q:
Oklahoma State opted for quarterback Garret Rangel over Alan Bowman in the second half, starting with a three-and-out after a high throw on third-and-four.
The Cowboys lucked out on the Utes third-quarter field goal attempt, which sailed on kicker Cole Becker.
Rangel connected on his first big throw for 23 yards to Talyn Shettron — one of the team's biggest plays on the day. But a miss and short gain later OSU pinned Utah deep on a punt with around five minutes remaining in the quarter.
Utah's Micah Bernard saw the biggest play of the game on a 62-yard run, breaking a legion of tackles in the process to set up his squad deep in OSU territory. After a few short run plays, Becker's second third quarter try went up the middle to make it a two-score game.
2Q:
Utah continued to build on its momentum with another long drive, this time featuring heroics from Wilson through both the air and on the ground. It was eventually capped with a wildcat rushing touchdown from Brant Kuithe to put the road team up a score.
The Cowboys failed to cut into the lead after a 46-yard drive that ended in a missed Ward field goal of the same length.
Late in the second quarter, the teams saw a string of three turnovers in six plays: a forced fumble and interception on OSU's end and an errant throw on Bowman's end that ended in a Utah pick. Zero points came of the sloppy play.
1Q:
The Oklahoma State offense saw a three-and-out from the jump, but quickly gained momentum with a fourth-down stop on the other end.
On their second drive, the Cowboys commandeered a 10-play, 62-yard drive featuring plenty of creative play-calling. The Utes eventually stifled it near the goal line, but Logan Ward put one through the uprights for the first points of the game.
They continued to build on that with a Trey Rucker interception on Isaac Wilson for the first turnover of the game.
The Utes finally found rhythm on the road with an 11-play drive that featured a few first downs. But multiple sacks — one for 11 yards and one for nine — forced Utah to kick their own field goal.
Want to join the discussion? Like Oklahoma State Cowboys on SI on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Cowboys news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.
Derek is co-founder of All Pokes and publisher for Draft Digest and Inside The Thunder for Fan Nation, powered by Sports Illustrated. He has been a sports writer in the Oklahoma market for five years now covering a variety of sports over the course of his career.