STILLWATER – After jumping out to a 20-0 lead, Oklahoma State struggled on offense throughout the second half, allowing Missouri State to make a comeback. With just under a minute left in the game, up 23-16, the Cowboy defense came up with its second fourth-down in a row, including two straight-sacks to force a turnover on downs to preserve the win for the Pokes.
The Cowboys will face Tulsa in Stillwater on Sept. 11. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. and will be televised on FS1.
In his first start of the season, quarterback Shane Illingworth led the Pokes down the field with ease in the opening drive for the Pokes. Illingworth went 5-for-6 for 69 yards a touchdown. 58 of those yards went to senior receiver Tay Martin, as did the touchdown.
The Bears stepped their game up a bit and the Pokes didn’t score again until early in the second quarter. It was a nice drive for Illingworth as he completed 3-of-5 passes for 52 yards, leading to a one-yard touchdown run by Jaylen Warren, his first touchdown as a Cowboy.
Just a few plays later, linebacker Devin Harper scooped the ball up off the turf following a Jason Shelley fumble, leading to an 11-yard touchdown run by LD Brown, bringing OSU’s lead up to 20-0.
Illingworth would finish the game going 22-40 for 315-yards and one touchdown with an interception.
"I thought he played pretty well. He doesn't have a lot of experienc,” said coach Gundy. “He made some throws and missed a few, but with where he is at in his career with experience, he played fine. The issue was we couldn't rush the football. They ended up defending us a little more difficult for the pass game because we couldn't rush the football. We need to run the football better and make it easier on him."
As for Martin, he finished six catches for 107 yards and a touchdown.
“I thought he played really well,” coach Gundy said of Martin. “He bummed his ankle up a little bit in the first quarter and that slowed him a little bit. I'm hoping he will be fine. A lot of times when you do what he did and play through it, it will be sore for a few days, so hopefully he will be fine. He played well and made some plays. He's had a great preseason and worked very hard the last six months."
The offense struggled running the ball tonight as a combined five rushers combined for just 54 yards on 28 carries and two touchdowns.
"Those guys will still rotate,” said coach Gundy. “Dezmon Jackson looked good the few times he ran it, and then he fumbled. We have confidence in those guys. (Jaylen) Warren is a little bit heavier back, so down in the red zone he gives you a little more, but all those guys can run at any place. We just weren't very successful running the ball, but we need to find out why because we need to be able to do it."
After jumping up to a 20-0 lead, the Cowboys would allow a field goal before the end of the second quarter, before Illingworth committed the first turnover of the game for the Pokes with less than a minute left in the half.
Senior linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez led the way for the Pokes in the first half, as he recorded eight total tackles, four of which were solo stops and one tackle for loss, as well as one pass break up.
He finished the game with 15 total tackles, nine of which were solo stops, three quarterback hurries and one pass break up.
The third quarter was a much different story for the Pokes. They posted just 59 yards of total offense, 51 yards through the air, while posting zero points.
On the defensive side of the ball, the defense came up with stops when it mattered, but the Bears still put six points up on the board in the third quarter with two field goals.
In what should’ve been the play of the game for OSU, Tom Hutton with another punt, but the punt was muffed by Naveon Mitchell and recovered by OSU’s Korie Black on the MSU 11-yard line. After a couple of OSU penalties, Shane Illingworth connected with Tay Martin from 18-yards out, but Martin failed to maintain possession through the catch, resulting in an incomplete pass. Alex Hale knocked home the 35-yard field goal though to put the Pokes up 23-9 with 13:05 left in the fourth quarter.
With just over three minutes left in the game, Missouri State marched down the field and scored a touchdown with just 3:06 left in the game. The OSU defense had multiple opportunities to get off the field, but after an incomplete pass on third down, a roughing the passer resulted in a touchdown for the Bears, bringing OSU’s lead to just 23-16. Senior safety Tre Sterling was called for targeting on the touchdown play, which was confirmed, resulting in his ejection.
On the ensuing kickoff, LD Brown fumbled the kickoff allowing Missouri State to recover on the OSU 16-yard line.
The Cowboy defense was able to come up with a huge stop on 3rd down, before coming up with an even bigger stop on 4th and long to force a turnover on downs. However, the offense stalled out sending MSU back out on the field for another shot with just under two minutes left in the game.
On a 2nd and long, MSU QB Shelley picked up seven yards on the scramble, bringing up another 3rd and short situation, a first down Shelley was able to get easily. They got another one just a play later, moving the ball across the 50-yard line. The Pokes came up with a couple of stops, including a near-interception by Christian Holmes, before Shelley completed a pass to Scott for a first down to the OSU 26-yard line. After a spike and an incomplete pass in the end zone, Collin Oliver recorded his first career-tackle for a sack and loss of nine yards to bring up 4th and long.
On 4th and long, senior Devin Harper recorded a sack to force another turnover on downs to seal the win for the Pokes.
