Oklahoma State Flips Script In Second Half and Beats Houston 43-30

It took Oklahoma State a few quarters to come alive, but they did so in force as they out-scored Houston 34-7, including 27 unanswered points to beat the Cougars, 43-30.

With the win, the Cowboys moved to 8-3 overall on the season and 6-2 in Big 12 play.

Aside from a pick-six, quarterback Alan Bowman had a great game as he went 29-of-43 for 348 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Most of those yards went to senior receiver, Brennan Presley. It was a record day for Presley as he recorded a career-high 15 receptions for a career-high 189 yards. His 15 targets marks the second-most in program history.

Much like the comparison of the first and second half, Ollie Gordon II picked things up in the third quarter. Going into the third, Gordon II had just nine carries for 38 yards, which included a loss of three yards for a safety. He then recorded six carries for 80 yards and two touchdowns. He’d finish the game with 25 carries for 164 yards and three touchdowns.

It was an extremely slow start to the game for the Pokes, much like last week against UCF, as they trailed Houston 23-9 with 4:16 left in the first half. That’s when the Pokes flipped the script as Bowman hit Leon Johnson III for a 21-yard touchdown, which was followed by an Alex Hale field goal as time expired in the half to make it a 23-19 game.

The Pokes then scored two-straight touchdowns and a 44-yard field goal by Hale to go up by 13 points, 36-23, with 9:45 left in the game.

Houston QB Donovan Smith broke the 27-unanswered points by the Pokes with a 31-yard touchdown run with 7:30 remaining in the game.

On the ensuing drive, Bowman threw a perfect pass to a streaking Rashod Owens for a 36-yard completion down to the Houston 10-yard line. Just a few plays later, Gordon II got into the end zone for his third touchdown of the game to put the Pokes on top 42-30. He got back into the end zone for the two-point conversion, but was called back by a hold on Dalton Cooper. Hale made it 43-30 with his extra point.

Houston had a chance to cut the Pokes’ lead back down to one score, but on 4th and long, Cam Smith came up with the Pokes second interception of the day to effectively seal the win.