OSU Desperately Needed a Momentum Shift, and Got It Late With a Kickoff Return

STILLWATER – Boone Pickens Stadium was silent, and Cowboy fans were stunned.

Tulsa’s Deneric Prince had just scampered around the right side and walked untouched into the west endzone, giving the Golden Hurricane a 14-7 lead with 5:37 to go in the third quarter.

OSU’s offense (especially the running game) was rendered useless for the first 40 minutes outside of a touchdown pass to Jaden Bray. How would the Pokes respond?

Spencer Sanders led the offense down the field, and on the first play of the fourth quarter it was 3rd and 13 from the Tulsa 16-yard line. That’s when I had a front-row seat to Bryson Green making one of the most athletic touchdown grabs I have ever seen at BPS.

It was initially called an incomplete pass, but I saw Green’s right foot drag the orange turf just before falling out of bounds. The rest of the stadium saw it too when it was shown on the big screen. The call was overturned and the game was tied at 14.

The first seed of momentum had been planted.

Tulsa responded with a methodic drive down the field, and faced 1st and goal at the 7. It was a pivotal moment in the game, especially given what the final score ended up being, and the OSU defense was able to hold TU at the 1-yard line and force a field goal.

Huge stop for the Cowboys.

“They were tempo-ing us, so we just wanted to get lined up real fast,” linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez said. “We knew somebody was gonna make the play.”

On the ensuing kick, LD Brown did something no Cowboy has done in nearly seven years. Brown fielded the kick on the 2 yard-line, jetted to the left, turned the corner and took off down the sideline. The Tulsa kicker was the last line of defense, but Brown hit a stutter-step and was gone.

98 yards.

7th longest kickoff return in school history.

“It was crazy man,” Brown said. “I saw everyone jumping on the sidelines. It was a momentum play after going down 17-14.”

First kickoff return touchdown since 2014 when Tyreek Hill housed one in Lawrence to stomp out a Kansas upset bid.

It couldn’t have come at a better time for the Cowboys. The return TD gave OSU a 21-17 lead, and that seed of momentum was now in full bloom.

“That changed this game,” coach Mike Gundy said. “We had 125 more special teams yards than [Tulsa] did, and that was the difference. We struggled on offense…but special teams was the difference”

After the momentum change, OSU was able to hold onto the lead and win another close one, but there are still plenty of concerns. Last week, the run game was pitiful. This week wasn’t a whole lot better. They averaged around 3 yards per carry, which is 1.1 yards better than last week, but still not up to Gundy’s standard of 4.5 yards per carry. The rushing struggles once again made life difficult for the offense, especially before the Cowboys rode the momentum high through the finish line.

Aside from the running game, play-calling is a concern for Gundy and the staff as well. A majority of OSU’s drives felt choppy and inconsistent. That needs to change, especially with the upcoming schedule.

“We’re gonna have to get better at designed plays, period,” Gundy said. “We’re gonna have to come together and decide how to rush the football and rush for 4.5 yards per carry. In years past we could just rely on chucking it down the field and somebody going to make a play and make us all look good. As we develop those guys on the perimeter, we have to get better at rushing the football.”

It’s going to be a fight from here on out, starting with Boise State on the road next week.