STILLWATER – It was a slow start for Oklahoma State, but the Cowboys’ defense came alive in the second half to give the offense some life. Arkansas forced overtime with a 45-yard field goal as time expired, but the Pokes held them off on 4th and 1 in double overtime to win, 39-31.
With the win, the Cowboys move to 2-0 to start the season.
“The only thing I can say statistically was we won the turnover margin and won the penalties, and then we were really good in overtime on both sides of the ball,” Mike Gundy said after the game. “We wasted the first half. Their coaches had better concepts and schemes than our coaches did. Our players got out of position, but for the most part, I thought, through the first quarter and a half, they had better concepts, did a better job of scheming than we did. At halftime, our coaches were fantastic with the adjustments we made. Players were really good about absorbing information, not panicking, not pointing fingers, taking it back out on the field and executing it and playing much better. We had like eight yards in the first quarter or something, so we started really slow, but I think they outcoached us in the first half."
With a 12-yard sack from Obi Ezeigbo, Ramsey missed a 46-yard field goal to give the Pokes the ball on the 25-yard line. A few plays later, Ward also missed a field goal, moving the ball to the other end. After a two-yard completion to Presley and a 15-yard personal foul on Arkansas’ Xavian Sorey, Ollie Gordon II got into the end zone from 12 yards out to put the Pokes up 37-31, followed by Bowman hitting Gordon for two going up 39-21.
On the ensuing attempt for Arkansas, running back Ja’Quinden Jackson rushed for 10 yards for the first down, with quarterback Taylen Green completing a pass up the middle to Rodney Hill for nine yards to bring up a 4th and 1. On the biggest play of the game, Kendal Daniels and Gabe Brown came up with a one-yard loss to end the game.
The game was crazy from start to finish as Arkansas combined for 648 yards, the most yards given up by the Pokes in a win when they gave up 663 yards to TCU in a 49-29 win in 2015.
The Hogs’ Taylen Green had 416 yards passing with one touchdown and an interception, with 18 carries for 61 yards. Ja’Quinden Jackson rushed for 149 yards and three first half touchdowns.
However, it was a second half for the ages for the Pokes as they combined for 308 yards, 262 yards coming through the air from Bowman. Those numbers are up from the just 77 yards the Pokes had in the first half.
Bowman finished the game going 27-of-48 for 326 yards with one touchdown and one interception. It was Brennan Presley who led the way in receiving with 9 catches for 91 yards and one touchdown, as well as one rush for three yards and one touchdown.
Trey Rucker led the way on the defensive side of the ball with 17 total tackles, 11 solo stops, but Nick Martin was right behind him with 16 total tackles, eight solo stops, 4.5 tackles for loss and three quarterback hurries. Obi Ezeigbo had nine tackles, two sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss.
Turnovers were all the difference for the Pokes as a muffed punt by Sategna, which was recovered by long snapper Shea Freibaum, led the Pokes’ first offensive touchdown of the game as Bowman hit Presley for seven yards and the score. Down 21-19, Bowman hit Stribling over the middle for the two-point conversion to tie the game at 21.
On the ensuing drive, Green needed to pick up four yards to pick up a first down on 4th and four. However, the Pokes stopped him after three yards to get the ball back. Bowman hit full back Jake Shultz for a 63-yard gain down to the Arkansas eight-yard line.
Bowman hit freshman tight end Josh Ford, who got into the end zone, but was called out at the three-yard line. After the review, Presley got into the end zone from three yards out for the Pokes’ first lead of the game, 28-21.
On the ensuing drive, Green hit tight end Luke Hasz for a 43-yard touchdown to tie the game back up, 28-28, with 4:01 left in the game.
Two defensive pass interference plays on Arkansas moved ot the ball to the Arkansas 42-yard line for the Pokes.
On 3rd and 10 and less than two minutes left in the game, Bowman hits Presley for 36 yards down to the six-yard line for 1st and goal. However, Bowman is called for an unsportsmanlike penalty, resulting in 15 yards to the 21-yard line.
A few plays later, 4th and four, Bowman tries to hard count Arkansas offsides, which works, but false start was called instead.
On 4th and nine with a minute left, Logan Ward hits a 38-yard field goal to put the Pokes up 31-28 with :55 left in the game.
Arkansas kicker Ramsey drilled a 45-yard field goal as time expired to tie the game at 31, leading to overtime here in Stillwater.
Moving to the first half, it was a bad first half for the Pokes on both sides of the ball as they combined for just 77 total yards in the first half, with just 13 yards on the ground, 11 coming from Ollie Gordon II. On the flip side, the Razorbacks combined for 351 yards, 158 on the ground, with Ja’Quinden Jackson with 90 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries.
One of the few bright spots of the first half was a 73-yard pick six from Kale Smith to make it a 14-7 game early in the second quarter.
The Pokes’ defense came out in the second half and picked up the intensity as they forced an early Arkansas punt, which was followed up before forcing a fumble from Hogs back Jackson, which was recovered by Kody Walterscheid. Bowman marched the Pokes down the field and hit Brennan Presley with a fade in the end zone for a touchdown, but a low block on Jake Schultz brought it back. A false start on the next play backed the Pokes up and Logan Ward hit a 45-yard field goal on 4th and 27 to make it 21-10.
The Pokes forced another punt, resulting in yet another field goal to make it 21-13.
After a huge stop on third down, Arkansas kicker Ramsey pushed a 41-yard field goal wide-right to give the Pokes the ball back on their own 24-yard line.
