Oklahoma State Loses Heartbreaker to BYU 38-35

Oklahoma State led No. 13 BYU 35-31 with just 1:13 left to go in the fourth quarter following a six-yard touchdown pass from Alan Bowman to Brennan Presley. But QB Jake Retzlaff led the Cougars on a eight play, 75-yard touchdown drive in a little more than a minute to beat the Pokes, 38-35.

With the loss, the Cowboys now fall to 3-4 overall on the season and 0-4 in Big 12 play.

“OK, I don’t think I have to look at [the stat sheet] much, but one thing I do want to look at, OK, so our guys played really well [tonight],” head coach Mike Gundy said after the game. “Very proud of them. Had a chance to win, wish we would’ve gotten the stop at the end. We rushed the ball effectively, we were really good with penalties, 50% on third down, they were about 75% on third down, that’s what I thought kind of got us a little bit. But guys played their butt off. I was proud of ‘em. Just came up a little short. Wish we could’ve gotten a stop at the end.”

Trailing 31-28, the Cowboys started an impressive drive on their own 24-yard line. On 4th and one, freshman Rodney Fields picks up the one yard to extend the drive. Just a few plays later, on 4th and one again, after an impressive diving effort by Bowman which came up just short, Gordon II picked up three yards to extend the drive.

On a pivotal 3rd and 8 with two minutes left in the game, the Pokes were called for a false start, their first penalty of the game, making it a 3rd and 13. Bowman couldn’t get things squared away with the offense, leading to Gundy calling the final timeout of the game.

Following the timeout, Bowman dropped back to pass and hit Presley on a crossing route, picking up 21 yards down to the BYU 14-yard line. On 3rd and short, Bowman hit Presley for a six-yard touchdown to put the Pokes up 35-31. That capped a near nine-minute drive for the Pokes, resulting in 17 plays for 76 yards and the score.

However, on the ensuing drive, quarterback Jake Retzlaff was solid as he led the Cougars on an eight play, 75-yard drive, capped with a 35-yard touchdown pass to Lassiter, giving the Cougars a three-point lead with just :10 left on the clock, 38-35. There were at least three missed tackles on the touchdown reception.

“Well the quarterback broke out on a 30-yard scramble and then they hit a guy down there and we missed three or four tackles and they scored a touchdown,” said Gundy. “I couldn’t see a lot from across the field, but I kind of wish we’d got him down at that point. The quarterback made a couple plays. Good player.”

Bowman, who had a rough start to his night, finished strong going 11-of-19 passing for 85 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also had three rushes for 19 yards and one reception for 11 yards and one touchdown.

Redshirt freshman Garret Rangel got the nod at starter and played very well until a shoulder injury with two minutes left in the first half sidelined him. He broke off a 54-yard scramble down to the BYU 13-yard line. He wouldn’t come back out onto the sidelines until after the start of the third quarter with his left arm in a sling.

Rangel finished the game going 6-of-9 passing for 51 yards with one touchdown and one interception, with five rushes for 77 yards.

Running back Ollie Gordon II also had a really good first half, becoming just the third player in Big 12 history to have at least eight touchdowns against the same opponent over a two-game stretch. 

He started things off with a 50-yard touchdown run just a touch over five minutes into the first quarter. Rangel hit Ollie with a 17-yard pass, in which Gordon II hurdled a defender to get into the end zone for his second touchdown of the game.

Gordon got back into the end zone just before halftime as he scored from two yards out to give the Pokes a 21-14 lead going into the half. He, unfortunately, left the game in the third quarter with an injury to his left side.

Gordon battled through the injury to come back into the game late, helping lead the Pokes on their final touchdown drive of the game. He finished with 16 carries for 107 yards and two touchdowns.

Alan Bowman came into the game after Rangel left and struggled to get things going early. He started 3-of-8 through the early fourth quarter with just 29 yards passing with one interception. However, a play early in the fourth changed things a bit. Bowman hit Brennan Presley with a backwards pass to the right, which was followed by a pass back to Bowman, leading to a 16-yard touchdown reception to tie the game up at 28.

The Cowboy defense had a field day creating turnovers as they recorded three first-half interceptions. Entering this game, BYU had yet to throw a first half interception.

With safety Trey Rucker out with injury, it was back up safety Parker Robertson who led the way in tackles for the Pokes with 11 total tackles, eight of which were solo stops, along with one pass break up and one interception.

Kobe Hylton also had 11 total tackles, eight of which were solo stops.

The Pokes are back in action next week as they travel down to Waco, TX, for a 2:30 p.m. CT kick on ESPN+.