Unbeaten No More: Oklahoma State Falls in Ames, 24-21

After starting the season 6-0 and climbing to No. 8 in the country, Oklahoma State is unbeaten no more as they fall to Iowa State, 24-21.

The Cowboys move to 6-1 on the season and 3-1 in conference play.

“I told the team that I was proud of the fight they had, and we knew this would be a fourth quarter game where two good college football teams would be exchanging blows and [Iowa State] just made the last play,” Mike Gundy told the Cowboy Radio Network. “They made the right call, or the players made the last play, either way, but our guys showed the same fight they have throughout the year. So, we get a stop, we go down and score, then [Iowa State] scored, then we had a bad series where they made us go backwards. We executed a good punt, got the ball down to midfield and our defense went out with four minutes left and got another stop and gave us another chance. When they punted down, we rolled a little bit, gained 30-40 yards, got up close to midfield and end up coming up three inches short at the end, but they’re a good team and playing good right now.”

The game came down to the final drive of the game for the Pokes. Starting on their own 24-yard line, a Spencer Sanders-led OSU drove down to the ISU 42-yard line. On fourth and short, Sanders hits Presley who got held up short, but was then pulled by Danny Godlevske and pushed across the line to gain. However, the refs spotted the ball a few inches short, and the review came up and upheld the decision, giving the Cyclones the ball back on their own 41-yard line, where two Brock Purdy kneel downs ended the game.

“Great play call, next time just got to make it,” Brennan Presley told the Cowboy Radio Network of the fourth down spot after the game. “I thought I was past, but the refs thought differently. It doesn’t matter now, on to the next one.”

Spencer Sanders finished the game going 15-of-24 for 225-yards and three touchdowns, as well as 11 carries for 29 yards. However, he lost 20 yards on two sacks late in the game.

Brennan Presley was easily the offensive player of the game for the Pokes as he hauled in six receptions for 84 yards and two touchdowns.

The Cowboy offense combined for 332 yards of total offense, with 225 passing yards and 107 rushing yards. As for the defensive side of the ball, the Pokes held Iowa State to 374 yards of total offense, with just 67 total yards coming on the ground.

Malcolm Rodriguez led the way for the Cowboy defense with 13 total tackles, six of which were solo stops.

The Cowboys were the first to strike and they did so with just under six minutes remaining in the first quarter. After the defense forced a Cyclone three and out, Spencer Sanders started the Pokes’ drive off on the right foot as he picked up 18-yards down the right side. That led to 25 more rushing yards between him and Jaylen Warren, followed up by a five-yard touchdown pass to Brennan Presley.

The Cowboys finished the first quarter with 108 yards of offense, 74 of which came on the ground. They held ISU to just 51 yards of total offense, with the team combined for -5 rushing yards.

The Cyclones got on the score board mid-way through the second quarter after rattling off a near-10-minute drive, to tie the game up at 7-7.

Spencer Sanders got the Pokes on the board towards the end of the first half as he connected with Brennan Presley for the second time on the day, this one a 42-yard bomb that Presley jumped over two defenders to bring down the pass.

Jim Knowles’ defense was solid once again in the first half as they held the Cyclones to 112 total yards, just nine coming on the ground as they recorded four tackles for loss and two sacks, including another one by freshman Collin Oliver, his fourth in the last three games.

The Cyclones came out swinging the second half as they forced an OSU three-and-out to start the third quarter, then Brock Purdy found Xavier Hutchinson for their second touchdown connection on the day.

The third quarter struggles for the Cowboys continued as the combined for just 57 yards of total offense in the third quarter, with just 15 coming on the ground and going 0-for-3 on third down attempts. It also included Tanner Brown’s second missed field goal on the day.

Spencer Sanders threw his best ball on the season mid-way through the fourth quarter as he found Tay Martin on the edge of the end zone from 25-yards out for a touchdown. Equally as impressive was Martin’s awareness to not only get one foot down but was able to get both down, putting the Pokes back on top, 21-17.

The Cyclones drove down the field with relative ease on the ensuing drive and Breece Hall scored his first touchdown of the day, putting the Cyclones up 24-21.

Spencer Sanders had a rough drive following the ISU touchdown as he throws an incomplete pass across the middle, bobbles a snap and gets sacked on two-straight plays to force an OSU punt. The Cowboy defense came up big with a third-down stop to force an ISU punt, giving the Pokes the ball back on their own 24-yard line with 3:25 left in the game.

The Cowboys will face Kansas this coming weekend for Homecoming. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. on FS1.