Oklahoma State Settles in for 34-17 Win Over Arizona State

STILLWATER – Oklahoma State settled into things midway through both the first and second halves as the Cowboys beat Arizona State, 34-17.

We’ll start with the second quarter as Tyler Lacy recovered a forced fumble from Brock Martin. Spencer Sanders led the Pokes down the field for a quick five play, one minute and 13 second drive which resulted in a touchdown.

“Obviously turnovers are big,” said head coach Mike Gundy. “We had an interception and what I would call two turnovers. We forced a fumble then had a 19-yard punt and that’s basically a turnover. At that time, they went back to the weak side, and we had a nice charge, blew the thing up and the ball was on the ground, so we covered it. 

The Pokes’ drive following their first touchdown? A 96-yard, 11-play touchdown drive. It marked the longest drive since a 97-yard touchdown drive against Texas A&M in the 2019 Texas Bowl.

Prior to the fumble, things were pretty sparse for the Pokes on both side of the ball. While the defense was coming up with stops, it was still trying to settle into things. As for the offense, the first five drives resulted in a punt, punt, punt, interception and punt, with a combined 105 yards.

The Cowboys finished the half strong with 227 yards of total offense, 123 of which came on the ground.

However, as well as OSU had things clicking on both sides of the ball going into the half, they came out sluggish to start the third. Arizona State drove 75 yards in just four plays, which included a 73-yard completion from Emory Jones to Giovanni Sanders, which resulted in a one-yard touchdown from Xazavian Valladay two plays later.

But the Pokes forced a field goal attempt on the next drive, which was missed from 48-yards out, the sixth ASU punt of the game.

Third down defense was also a high point for the Pokes through most of the first three quarters.

Up until the last minute of the third quarter, the Cowboys had held the Sun Devils to 0-for-9 on third down attempts. But ASU QB Jones had different plans on that drive as he completed a 10-yard pass to G. Sanders on 3rd and 6, followed by a 20-yard completion to Elijhah Badger on 3rd and 18.

The Cowboys finished the game holding ASU to just 2-of-13 on 3^rd down conversions.

"It was made mention of,” DC Derek Mason said of the Pokes’ 3^rd down defense. “I really didn't follow it all that much. I'm really looking at in-series adjustment and where we're need to go from series to series. But to hear what the number was, it's pretty dang good. I think the D-Line is the tip of the spear. What those guys do up front, we follow. Rushing and coverage have to work together and tonight, I think I saw more of that. I saw more of rush and coverage working together and now what we've got to do is continue to clean up all these little things that sort of rear their ugly head for us at the wrong times. But overall, kudos to the guys tonight. I thought they were remarkably better, and we challenged those guys to be better. I'm glad to see that that's part of the week one to week two process."

The secondary continued to struggle on that drive as ASU’s Jones capped an 85-yard, eight play drive with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Jones to get the Sun Devils back within three, 20-17, with 14:25 left to the play in the game.

Spencer Sanders answered right back on the very next drive. He completed two passes for 54 yards, one to Richardson (23) and one to Bryson Green (31), which was for a wide-open touchdown on a flea-flicker from Richardson.

The Cowboy defense came up with another huge stop on the next ASU drive, allowing no yards in three plays. On the ensuing OSU offensive drive, Sanders led the Pokes down the field 80 yards in 13 plays, capped by a 14-yard touchdown reception by true freshman Ollie Gordon to put the Pokes up 34-17.

Sanders finished the game going 21-of-28 for 268 yards and two touchdowns through the air, while rushing for 54 yards and one touchdown on 14 carries.

Dominic Richardson led the way for the Pokes on the ground with 27 carries for 131 yards and one touchdown, while Bryson Green led the Pokes in receiving yards with 83 yards on five catches.

On the defensive side of the ball, Mason Cobb led the Cowboys with nine total tackles, five of which were solo stops, and one tackle for loss, while Tyler Lacy had a monster performance of five total tackles with 2.5 for loss and one sack.

The Cowboys are back at it next week as they play host to Arkansas Pine Bluff on Saturday, Sept. 17 for a 6 p.m. CT kick on ESPN+.