PORTAL: Who do we lose? What positions do we need? Question 2 is probably easier to answer. I would say DE with speed, Tight End need help after the loss of JJ. RB depth is an area of concern. What ya think?
Photo by © SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK
Oklahoma State Football
Oklahoma State Loses to Texas 49-21 in Big 12 Championship Game
It was a bad day at the office for Oklahoma State as they struggled to make things happen in the 49-21 loss to No. 7 Texas in the 2023 Big 12 Championship game.
With the loss, the Cowboys move to 9-4 overall on the season, and will learn their bowl destination on Sunday, December 3 at 11 a.m.
Despite three touchdowns, the Cowboys struggled to get anything going on the offensive side of the ball for the majority of the game, both through the air and on the ground. Quarterback Alan Bowman finished the game going 22-of-38 for 250 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. The pick was on the Longhorns’ five-yard line, effectively ending a would-be scoring drive.
The rushing game really struggled for the Pokes as Ollie Gordon II had just 13 carries for 34 yards, with the team combining for 18 carries for 31 yards, with a long of nine yards.
Receivers Rashod Owens and Brennan Presley, however, put up solid performances for the Pokes. Presley led the way with nine receptions for 93 yards and one touchdowns, while Owens finished with four receptions for 85 yards and two touchdowns.
“Obviously, the game ain’t go our way, but everybody played to the end, to that last quarter and the time says zero,” Rashod Owens told the Cowboy Radio Network. “I’m tremedously proud of this team; nobody believed in us in the beginning, or throughout the season. We all believed in each other to make sure we could get here and we tried our best.”
Nick Martin led the way for the Pokes on the defensive side of the ball as he recorded 13 total tackles, eight of which were solo stops and one interception.
It was a rough start for the Pokes as they trailed the Longhorns 14-0 within the first seven minutes of the game following a three-and-out, which was followed by a kick-catch interference and a 24-yard touchdown reception by Ja’Tavion Sanders. Both of those drives took less than two minutes.
It was Presley who got the Pokes on the board first with a five-yard reception from Bowman.
UT would get back into the end zone two more times before a big-time play by the Pokes’ defense.
Texas was 3-for-3 on third downs before Nick Martin picked off Quinn Ewers at the Texas 30-yard line and returned it to the three-yard line. Just a few plays later, Bowman hit Rashod Owens from six yards out for their second touchdown connection of the season to cut the Pokes deficit back to 14 points, 28-14.
The Longhorns were able to bounce back though as they scored on the ensuing drive and then stripped the ball away from Leon Johnson III on the Pokes’ next drive to get the ball on the OSU 47-yard line.
The second half was much of the same as the first half. Despite coming up with a big stop with a third down sack by Nathan Latu, the Pokes’ offense stalled out on the ensuing drive following Gordon II going down with a lower leg injury. Following a high snap on second down, Sesi Vailahi was handed the ball up the middle on third and long to force the fourth punt of the game for the Pokes. On the very next drive, Keilan Robinson got into the end zone from 57 yards out to put UT on top, 42-14 with 3:33 remaining in the third quarter.
After yet another UT touchdown, Bowman connected with Owens for the Pokes’ longest play of the game, a 41-yard reception down to the UT 35-yard line nearly halfway into the fourth quarter.
The Cowboys were able to capitalize on that drive getting into the end zone, but the Longhorns offense was just too much as they got back into the end zone putting them on top 49-21.
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