Too Little Too Late: OSU's Offense Struggles in 22-19 Loss to Utah

STILLWATER – The Oklahoma State offense struggled to get anything going from the start of the game, rallied late but it was too little too late as the Pokes fell to No. 12 Utah, 22-19.

With the loss, the Cowboys moved to 3-1 on the season and start Big 12 play 0-1.

It took until late in the fourth quarter for the Pokes to get anything going on offensively, with the best drive of the game starting with 3:16 left in the game. Following an eight-yard sack, Bowman hit Presley for nine yards, Gordon II for 10 yards, before hitting Gavin Freeman for 23 yards down to the right side. That led to eight yards to Gordon II, before his longest rush of the day, an 18-yarder up the middle to the Utah nine-yard line.

All of that led to a wide-open nine-yard touchdown pass to Rashod Owens, with Presley scoring the two-point conversion to make it a three-point game with 1:47 left in the game.

The Utes recovered the ensuing onside kick and was able to run out the clock to end the game.

The time of possession was the stat with the most contrast as Utah had the ball for 42:26, with the Poke on the field for just 17:34. That means the Cowboy defense was on the field for nearly the entire game. The Pokes combined for just 285 yards of total offense, just 48 yards on the ground. Ollie Gordon II had just 11 carries for 42 yards. It was a combined effort at quarterback as Alan Bowman went 16-for-33 with 206 yards with two touchdowns and two picks, with Garret Rangel going just 3-of-11 with 31 yards.

“Sometimes, we don't do it a lot here, but sometimes, you’ve got to get a guy out of there and calm him down a little bit… Things move so fast during the game that it's hard to get that part of it, but I just felt like we weren't getting good play, and we needed a relief pitcher and get somebody else in there,” Gundy said of quarterback play. “And Garrett had a tough day. So we switched back. But as I said, we haven't done that a lot here, but sometimes you’ve got to get a guy out and clear your mind a little.

On the other side of the field, Utah combined for 456 total yards, with 249 rushing yards. 

It was a defensive showdown in the first half as the Cowboys held the Utes to just 10 points and forced three turnovers, two interceptions and one fumble recovery. 

However, they were on the field for more than 20 minutes of the first half as the Cowboy offense had three three-and-outs, Bowman threw an interception on 3rd and long, with the offense combining for just 119 yards of total offense, 89 yards through the air and 30 on the ground. They had just 9:53 of possession.

It was a solid start to the second half for the defense as they forced Utah’s first punt of the game, which went just 39 yards. Then in a rather rare move, backup quarterback Garret Rangel started the second half at quarterback instead of Alan Bowman. 

His first drive resulted in a three and out. 

The next two drives for the Pokes resulted in punts, with the longest drive being a six play, 30-yard drive.

After the last punt with just under two minutes, Utah running back Micah Bernard posted a career-high 151 rushing yards following a 14-yard gain up the middle. 

The coaches pulled Rangel at the 9:26 mark of the fourth quarter and put Bowman back in the game, who led the Pokes to another three and out. After the defense forced a punt, Bowman threw an interception on the first play of the next drive, leading to a 45-yard touchdown by the Utes to put them up 22-3.

After the touchdown, Gavin Freeman recorded a return of 38 yards to the OSU 42-yard line, eventually leading to a 28-yard touchdown catch from Bowman to Brennan Presley for the Pokes’ first touchdown of the game, and a 22-11 game.