Oklahoma State Completes Comeback Against BYU to Punch Ticket to Big 12 Championship
Oklahoma State finished an 18-point comeback to win its most important game in two seasons.
OSU beat BYU 40-34 with a stellar second half and capped it off in overtime. The win puts OSU in the Big 12 Championship, while BYU missed out on a bowl game.
Ollie Gordon punched in his fifth touchdown in the second overtime, followed by Josiah Johnson getting stuffed on the two-point try. Trey Rucker forced and recovered a fumble to seal it for OSU on defense.
Jake Retzlaff’s rushing touchdown gave BYU the first score in overtime. Unsurprisingly, it was Gordon with the answer for OSU to send it to a second overtime.
Gordon led the Cowboys’ offense throughout the afternoon, going for 166 yards and five touchdowns.
Facing a fourth-and-2 on the OSU 42 with 3:17 left, Jaden Nixon powered forward to get OSU a critical first down. From there, OSU got deep into BYU territory before Gordon scored his third touchdown to take a lead with 53 seconds left.
Alex Hale’s missed extra point allowed BYU a chance to tie it as time expired. Will Ferrin’s 48-yard field goal attempt went in to send the game to overtime.
Down 11, Alan Bowman looked to march OSU downfield, but an incredible interception by Eddie Heckard, narrowly staying inbounds for his second pick to give BYU the ball in the final seconds of the third quarter.
Despite the interception, Bowman led the Cowboys back into scoring territory on the next possession before Gordon ran in for his second touchdown. The Cowboys went for two, and Bowman found Rashod Owens to cut the Cougars’ lead to three.
With a stop to begin the second half, OSU took advantage and cut into the deficit. Gordon punched in OSU’s first touchdown from a couple of yards out.
After an OSU punt set up BYU deep in its territory, a critical third-down conversion and Keanu Hill’s 50-yard catch had BYU threatening to extend its lead. Keelan Marion ran it in from 11 yards out to take a 21-6 lead.
BYU also faked a punt to perfection near the end of the first half, with punter Ryan Rehkow throwing a pass to Tyler Batty for 36 yards. After the trickery paid off for BYU, it took a three-possession lead into halftime with a field goal.
Bowman was part of OSU’s struggles as he threw in the direction of Jaden Bray but was intercepted by Eddie Heckard, who took it into the end zone for a pick-six. Heckard’s touchdown put BYU up 14-6 at the beginning of the second quarter.
OSU has its final Big 12 battle against Texas next week with the conference title on the line.
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