After narrowly escaping last week’s matchup against Arkansas with a 39-31 victory in double overtime, the Oklahoma State Cowboys entered their non-conference finale with a renewed focus. Despite being a heavy favorite, it was obvious that the Cowboys took their intrastate game against Tulsa seriously.
Oklahoma State wasted no time to get on the board as they methodically marched down the field on the first possession of the game to put up 7 points via 16 plays and 75 yards as Alan Bowman threw a 1-yard touchdown to Brennan Presley. The touchdown was just the beginning of Bowman’s big day as he ended up tossing 4 more on his way to completing 24-of-31 passes for 396 yards, 5 touchdowns, and a single interception.
De’Zhaun Stribling led the Cowboys in receiving with 7 catches, 174 yards, and 2 touchdowns; Brennan Presley hauled in 7 receptions for 46 yards and a touchdown; and Talyn Shettron finished with 3 catches, 110 yards, and a touchdown. The day was full of excitement through the air as one of Stribling’s touchdowns was a 63-yard play, and Shettron’s touchdown was a 78-yard play, the longest of the day.
For three-and-a-half quarters, the Golden Hurricane were shut out by the Cowboy defense before Tulsa finally scored a field goal and a touchdown late in the fourth to make it a 45-10 final score. The win gave Oklahoma State their 10th straight against Tulsa.
Alan Bowman is Due an Apology
Last week against Arkansas, Alan Bowman had a rough day, completing just 27-of-48 passes for 326 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. On a big play near the end of the game, he also received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for taunting the Razorback sideline. His performance drew the ire of many fans, some even calling for him to be replaced, but he showed up against Tulsa to more than make up for it.
Bowman’s maturity proved to be the difference in Tulsa as he tied his career-high of 5 passing touchdowns, something he did twice in his time at Texas Tech. He already looks better than he did last season, and much of his success is due to an experienced offensive line, but next week he will face his toughest test of the season so far—and perhaps at all—as the Cowboys host the Utah Utes.
Ollie Issues Need Solved Sooner Than Later
For the second week in a row, Ollie Gordon II was held below 50 yards rushing, and it’s not entirely his fault. The offensive line has done a decent job at protecting Alan Bowman, but they have failed to get a consistent push up front. Not being able to do so against Tulsa was concerning, but they carry a lot of experience, so there is hope moving forward.
Gordon entered the season as not just a Heisman candidate, but perhaps as the overall favorite, but it’s hard to see him staying in the conversation at this point in time. Last season, Gordon saw most of his impressive numbers come midway and through the end of the season, so it’s definitely possible for that to happen again.
Part of the problem is that Ollie was a bit of an unknown last season, at least to the general public, and now he’s a much bigger name, so teams are keyed in on him. That likely played a big role in the success of the pass game against Tulsa, but moving into conference play, he’s going to need to be more of a focal point of the offense.
Defense Trending In the Right Direction
Through the first two weeks, the Cowboy defense did not look great. They fared well against South Dakota State in week 1, but they were gashed at every level last week against the Razorbacks. Today, however, looked like not just a new chapter but a completely new book.
Tulsa didn’t even get a single pass yard until the second quarter, and they managed just 352 yards of total offense on the day, almost half what the Cowboys gave up to Arkansas a week ago. A trend over the last few seasons for Oklahoma State’s defense has been their ability to get stops on third down, and they did that against the Golden Hurricane, holding them to just 5-of-16 conversions.
Collin Oliver, leader and best player on the Cowboy defense, is likely out for the season, but Oklahoma State made him proud with the way they controlled the game on the defensive side of the ball. Utah will be another animal, though, as Cameron Rising will likely be back in the saddle at QB after missing some time due to a hand laceration suffered last week.
Conference Play Kicks Off Next Week In a Big Way
The Utah Utes came into the season as the favorite to win the Big 12 and with good reason. Quarterback Cameron Rising missed last season due to a medical redshirt, and he’s not just an experienced lead, he’s a skilled one. He touts a career 64% completion rate, he’s thrown for nearly 6,000 yards in his career, and he’s thrown 53 career touchdowns to just 14 interceptions. On top of his passing abilities, he’s a capable rusher with 999 career rush yards and 12 career rushing touchdowns. He’s also the only starting quarterback in Division 1 football that is older than Alan Bowman.
Utah is 3-0 after defeating Utah State 38-21 on the road on Saturday, but they are largely untested thus far with a 49-0 win over Southern Utah and a 23-12 decision over Baylor, both at home.
The Utes are a slight favorite as of now, but Oklahoma State has home field on their side, which means a lot to Cowboy fans. Kickoff is set for 3 PM, and the game will be televised on FOX.