ORLANDO, Fla. – It’s never the same what people will put into a highlight reel. There is no doubt that for No. 21 Oklahoma State in the 37-34 Cheez-It Bowl win over No. 18 Miami, Fla. that freshman Brennan Presley’s three touchdowns make the highlights. Spencer Sanders was the Cheez-It MVP, so he makes the highlights. After the first quarter Miami outscored the Cowboys 34-16 and they outgained the Pokes 412-yards to 220, but for my highlight reel make sure you stick on two plays from the final Hurricanes offensive possession.
Second and 10 from the Miami 48 and quarterback N’Kosi Perry throws out to Donald Chaney on the perimeter and Cowboys safety Tre Sterling makes a one-on-one tackle for a one-yard gain. Sterling doesn’t get Chaney down and he goes for at least 10-to-15-yards further. A big play!
Then fourth and nine from the Miami 49 and Perry tosses it to Michael Redding on the tunnel screen and linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez turned up field from two-yards behind Redding and closes and drags him down for a six-yard gain and the ball is turned over for the Oklahoma State offense to run out the clock. I guarantee that Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who told me afterwards he was working to pull defensive call out of his backside to try to stop the athletic and wide-open Hurricanes offense in the second half, he won’t forget those two highlights of mine.
“Any time you get a Bowl win, it just carries you over to the next season and I'm really happy for
the guys,” Knowles said after the game in a Zoom conference. “They fought hard and obviously till the last play. That was a really good team we played. Really good offense, and they kept us on our heels with a lot of trick plays. You know, it was just good to see our guys battle till the end.”
Knowles was also quick to bring up the good news before the game that Rodriguez, who had nine tackles in the game, was coming back and fired up about the opportunity. Knowles believes along with junior safety Tre Sterling that others will join them in returning.
“I heard Malcolm's coming back. That's great,” Knowles said. “I think we've got a great group coming back. We played young guys here down the stretch at the end particularly in the defensive backfield and they came up and made plays. I think we have a really good core guys returning that have experience.”
Rodriguez agreed and says he has things he can work on. You know, he also seems to like his coach and the guys he plays defense with at Oklahoma State.
“I mean, it's just -- kind of relieving I guess,” Rodriguez said. “Coming in next year, got to still -- got a lot to work on. Like I said, there's always something to work on. Just ending like that this year is kind of like a steppingstone for next year.”
It’s time to start thinking about next year, okay give it a week or so, but spring football is only a couple of months away.
