Oklahoma State's Offense Struggled Despite Yardage in Loss to Iowa State

Coach Mike Gundy named a starting quarterback against Iowa State, but Alan Bowman and the Cowboys still could not secure a win. 

In the first Big 12 matchup for both teams, Oklahoma State (2-2) suffered a 34-27 loss to Iowa State (2-2). It is the first game this season that OSU has started a quarterback and kept him in the entire game.  

“For the most part, I thought he played pretty well,” Gundy said. “I do think there were a few times I was watching the replay on the jumbotron that he flushed a little quick. But, to his defense, throughout the season we’ve struggled in protection some and that makes a quarterback’s biological clock start running a lot faster.” 

Bowman finished with 278 yards, which is 43 more than he has accumulated over the past three games combined, but that still wasn’t enough to power through the Cyclone defense. He threw two touchdowns and two interceptions. 

Although the game resulted in a loss for OSU, consistency at quarterback brought the team a sense of identity that had been missing since the start of the season. The Cowboys were also finally able to implement the run game against a solid defense and Ollie Gordon finished with 121 yards rushing. 

“It looked like, to me, that our guys played their asses off all the way until the end again,” Gundy said. “I know people say, ‘Well you lost and it doesn’t matter,’ but it does matter.” 

Though given the opportunity, I don’t think Bowman cemented himself as the sure starter for the future. Interceptions at inopportune times, especially in the final drive, did not help Bowman’s case. With the bye week, Oklahoma State could explore other options for the quarterback position and Gundy implied that the door to the quarterback battle is not closing yet.

However, Bowman didn’t necessarily lose himself the job either. This was his strongest performance of the season, and his years of experience gave him the automatic edge over Garret Rangel and Gunnar Gundy. Bowman also scored a 12-yard rushing touchdown after a 71-yard run down the sideline from Gordon. 

“That was fun,” Bowman said. “I think ‘follow the guards’ is what I was told on that one. I kind of got excited when I knew the formation. I knew the run was gonna come and got to bounce it outside and realized there was nobody there and said, ‘screw it, let’s go get this thing.’” 

Aside from the big plays that showed promise, the offensive line still struggled and allowed 11 quarterback hurries, and the receivers could not create separation often enough. Punter Hudson Kaak punted eight times for 344 yards and the Cowboy’s time of possession was almost ten minutes less than Iowa State’s. 

Oklahoma State’s bye week comes at a time when it is needed most. Coaches will have time to work out some remaining kinks and give the team a chance to bounce back against a strong Kansas State team. The Cowboys are back at Boone Pickens Stadium on October 5 with a chance to redirect this season’s course.