Oklahoma State Rides Strong Second Half Defense to 41-31 over Texas Tech

STILLWATER – No. 7 Oklahoma State overcame a first half deficit to beat Texas Tech, 41-31.

With the win, the Cowboys move to 5-0 on the season and 2-0 in Big 12 play.

The Red Raiders had a strong first half of offense as they combined for 347 yards of total offense, 220 through the air, leading to 24 points and a four-point lead going into halftime.

While Tech scored with just under nine minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Cowboy defense was really solid the entirety of the quarter as they allowed just 55 yards of total offense. 58 through the air, but it was minus three on the ground with two sacks.

They also held Tech to just 15 total plays and an average of just 3.7 yards per play.

Mason Cobb continues to have a great start to the season as he was one of the Pokes’ leading tacklers. However, it was his passing defense that gave the Pokes a big shot in the arm. With less than three minutes left in the quarter, Cobb hauled in a pass from Behren Morton and returned it 13 yards to the Tech 19-yard line.

“I just happened to be in a position to make the play,” said Cobb. “I wanted a touchdown though. I haven’t ran the ball in a couple of years; it’s a little harder to get out than high school. It was [a huge play]. We talked about it on the sideline; we need a turnover and switch momentum, so I’m blessed to be the one that did that, but we played a great half second half. The D-line was getting to the quarterback, we really locked things down in the second half.”

Cobb finished the game with eight total tackles, four of which were solo stops, with one quarterback hurry and 0.5 tackle for loss.

Defensive end Ben Kopenski continued the big plays in the second half as he recorded a tackle and two quarterback hurries to end the game. He finished with three total tackles, one tackle for loss and three quarterback hurries.

There was a play by Kendal Daniels in the fourth quarter that gave the Pokes a lot of momentum, similar to the Cobb interception. He blasted through the offensive line and hit Morton in the end zone for a safety. However, the momentum last only moment as Daniels was not only called for roughing the passer, but was also called for targeting, a call which was upheld.

“It’s targeting,” said coach Gundy. “Tough game you know, but the ways the rule is set up that’s targeting. You cannot lower your head and they know that. He’s young and we’ve talked about it. We talked about it Friday, we talked about it this morning before we came over. Those are things I remind him all the time. In the heat of the moment, all he knows is he had a dead shot of the quarterback in the endzone. You cannot lower your head; you have to keep your eyes up the whole time. So, there have been rules put in place to protect and it’s a good rule. Nobody likes the rule and people think football’s football until that’s your kid getting hit. It was the correct call, and he needs to learn to keep his face up. If he keeps his face up and goes through the rims, it’s all good.” 

As a team, the Cowboys combined for 14 total tackles for loss and four sacks, with 12 quarterback hurries and nine pass deflections.

While the Cowboys weren’t able to get into the end zone, Tanner Brown did manage to hit a 24-yard field goal to give the Pokes their first lead since just under the 13-minute mark in the second quarter, 34-31.

In the fourth, the Cowboys held Tech to 125 yards of total offense, 101 coming through the air. A decent number of those yards came on plays of 10 or more yards as Morton completed passes of 18, 31, 11, 12 and 15 for a total of 87 yards.

In the second half, following the early touchdown, the Cowboys forced a punt, an interception, a punt, followed by three-straight turnovers on downs, all three coming in the fourth quarter. The Cowboys also slowed the Tech offense down a bit as they held them to 42 plays in the second half, which was down from 62 in the first half.