Seniors Come Up Big In Double-Overtime Win Against BYU on Senior Day
STILLWATER, Okla.— No one could have expected Senior Day in Stillwater to go the way it did, but it ended up going in the Oklahoma State Cowboy’s favor.
With a hard-fought 40-34 comeback win against the Brigham Young Cougars in double overtime, the Cowboys improved to 9-3. They are headed to the Big 12 Championship for the second time in three seasons, and a few seniors on the team had one more chance to make plays in their home stadium.
Let’s start with Trey Rucker. If there was a defensive MVP award for this game, it would go to Rucker. He started the game with a fumble recovery that set the Cowboys up to kick a field goal and ended the game with a strip fumble to give the Cowboys a walk-off win.
“In the end, you know, what can you say?” coach Mike Gundy said. “A guy like Rucker that’s been around the program, has decided to become a leader, works hard, plays hard, competes. Then, in the end, the drill. You know, we work on that all the time like most teams in the country, stripping the ball out. He, at the last second, gets it stripped out and ends the game. So, I couldn’t be more proud of him and our accomplishment.”
Rucker finished with six tackles, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. He has the option to exercise his COVID year next season and could remain with the team.
Senior receiving duo Brennan Presley and Leon Johnson III both had standout games to secure an OSU win. Presley finished with nine catches for 90 yards, and Johnson had nine catches for 132 yards. The two were responsible for nearly half of OSU’s total offensive yards.
A good chunk of Johnson’s yardage came in the fourth quarter. In the final drive, Johnson secured a 21-yard reception to put the Cowboys in scoring range. Shortly after the catch, Ollie Gordon II scored his third touchdown of the night to give OSU its first lead since the first quarter 27-24 with 0:53 remaining.
Coming into the 2023 season, Johnson was expected to use his redshirt. Now, he has one less year in Stillwater, but it has all turned out to be worth it.
“I was, of course, thinking I was going to have another year of these games at Boone Pickens,” Johnson said. “My little brother is here visiting, so it was nice having my mom, dad and my brother here for my last game and getting to have the night that I did. It was awesome to see all the fans even though it’s coming off of a break and stuff, I wasn’t sure there were going to be too many people. It was a really nice sendoff, so I’m pretty happy with it.”
With 0:53 left in the game, senior CB Korie Black had a timely pass breakup that prevented BYU from gaining momentum that could have led to a game-winning touchdown. Instead, they made a field goal to send the game to overtime.
Quarterback Alan Bowman capped off his performances at Boone Pickens Stadium this season with a 321-yard game. Despite two interceptions, Bowman remained a consistent leader of the offense and completed 31 of his 47 pass attempts.
Cowboy Football Seniors
LB Xavier Benson, OL Cole Birmingham, CB Korie Black, QB Alan Bowman, FB Braden Cassity, NT Collin Clay, RB Elijah Collins, OL Dalton Cooper, K Alex Hale, CB Kenneth Harris, TE Ian Edenfield, DE Anthony Goodlow, DE Isreal Isuman-Hundley, TE Josiah Johnson, WR Leon Johnson III, DE Nathan Latu, OL Joe Michalski, OL Taylor Miterko, WR Brennan Presley, DE Xavier Ross, S Trey Rucker, FB Jake Schultz, OL Jake Springfield, QB Peyton Thompson, DE Kody Walterscheid, LB Justin Wright, OL Preston Wilson, LS Zeke Zaragoza.
Birmingham, Black, Clay, Cooper, Harris, Isuman-Hundley, Michalski, Miterko, Presley, Ross, Rucker, Schultz, Springfield, Thompson, Walterscheid and Wilson each have one more year of eligibility, should they choose to use it, because of a COVID year gained in 2020.
With the win, the Cowboys punched their ticket to Arlington, Texas, to face off against the Texas Longhorns in the Big 12 Championship. Kickoff is at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 2 at AT&T Stadium.