How Sweet It Is: No. 7 Oklahoma State Holds on for 37-33 Bedlam Win

STILLWATER – It what was easily one of the most exciting game of the season, No. 7 Oklahoma State holds off a driving No. 10 Oklahoma in the final minute of the game to win 37-33.

With the win, the Cowboys move to 11-1 on the season, 8-1 in Big 12 play, and will face Baylor in the Big 12 title game in Arlington, TX, on December 4. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m.

“That’s about as good as it gets for college football,” said Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy. “Sometimes I get on a really small rant when I say we need to be careful about messing with the structure of college football. Things that happened today in these games and what you see here, college football is pretty good the way it is. That was a heck of a game. Two really good teams playing and I’m glad we were able to come out on top at the end. They played a heck of the game. They are a really good team. They're well coached and had a really good plan. I told our guys on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday that my job is to get a feel for what our schemes are offensively, defensively and special teams. Saturday, my job is to evaluate it and see if we did a good job scheme wise, with the X’s and O’s. I told them I’ve been an offensive coordinator a long time and there’s been times on Saturday I’ve thought, ‘that wasn’t a very good plan’. Our coaches did a great job this week with our concepts and what we tried to get accomplished. We had concerns I mentioned on Monday with pass protection with them. They’re disruptive up front. Spencer was really good at avoiding the rush and making plays. I know he threw an interception and then threw a tipped interception, but overall, his decision making and ability to keep his composure and find his way through and around the pass rush and make plays was really good. I know you’re going to ask that question, but he played really good in this game…”

After an OSU three and out, OU got the ball back with 4:20 left in the game. With just 1:30 left in the game, Caleb Williams was flushed out of the pocket and brought down by Devin Harper for a five-yard loss. On fourth and 10, Harper came up with another sack for a turnover on downs to five the Pokes the ball back with just 1:16 left in the game.

After a three and out, OU got the ball back with :54 seconds left on their own 20-yard line. Jarrick Bernard-Converse recorded a pass breakup on first down, followed by a 56-yard run by Caleb Williams. Tanner McCalister recorded a pass breakup on first down, followed by a stop by Korie Black on second down. Williams found Mario Williams in the end zone but was ruled out of bounds. On the very next play, freshman Collin Oliver dropped Williams for an eight-yard sack to force a turnover on downs.

Other than the safety and the muffed punt recovered for a touchdown, OU didn’t record an offensive score in the second half.

Despite two interceptions, Spencer Sanders had a solid day on offense as he went 19-of-30 with one touchdown and led the Pokes on the ground with 16 carries for 93 yards and one score.

Statistically, the Sooners were better on offense as they combined for 441 yards, 252 yards through the air and 189 yards on the ground. The Cowboys combined for 354 total yards, 214 through the air and 140 on the ground.

Senior linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez led the Pokes will 11 tackles, five of which were solo stops, including three tackles for loss and two sacks and one pass break up.

The game was electric from the opening kickoff. The Cowboys got on the board first as Spencer Sanders found Tay Martin from 30-yards out on another impressive fade pass. The Sooners struck back quickly with a score of their own to tie it up at seven.

Martin scored the Pokes’ second touchdown of the game on an end around from Spencer Sanders from four yards out, marking the first rushing touchdown of his career. That score came after a 41-yard return from Brennan Presley to the OSU 42-yard line. Then Sanders moved the ball down the field quickly leading to the score.

Fast forward a few drives and Presley did was he’s tried all season long: take a kickoff back for a touchdown. He broke off a 100-yard return immediately following a game-tying touchdown from OU, to put the Pokes back on top by seven, 21-14.

The first half ended in OU’s favor as Sanders threw an interception with just over two minutes left in the game, resulting in a 10-yard touchdown with less than a minute left to tie it up at 24.

The Cowboys couldn’t have imagined a worse offensive start to the second half. After a great defensive start an OU punt, Dominic Richardson fumbled the ball into the end zone, resulting in a safety, putting OU up 26-24. After another great defensive stop, Brennan Presley muffed the ensuing punt, which was recovered in the end zone for an OU touchdown, putting the Sooners up 33-24. Sanders and Warren moved the ball down the field, but the offense was held up short, resulting in a 44-yard field goal attempt by Tanner Brown. He had the distance but pushed it wide right.

The Cowboys showed some life on the next drive as Thomas Harper forced a Caleb Williams fumble, which was recovered by Brock Martin to give the Pokes the ball on the OU 39-yard line. However, Sanders threw his second interception of the night after a pass is tipped and hauled in at the OU eight-yard line.

After another OU punt, Sanders drove the Pokes down the field, capping the drive off with a 37-yard touchdown run after a 43-yard touchdown throw to Tay Martin was ruled incomplete.

After OU stops the Pokes on third and short with just over 10 minutes left in the game, Tom Hutton comes out and booms a 45-yard punt, which was muffed by OU’s Eric Gray and recovered by the Pokes on the OU five-yard line. Jaylen Warren got into the end zone just a few plays later to give the Pokes their first lead since the start of the third quarter.