Oklahoma State Hangs on To Beat Iowa State 24-21
STILLWATER – After sitting out nearly three weeks due to open weeks, planned and unplanned, Oklahoma State was able to knock off the rust and beat a talented and tough Iowa State team in Stillwater, 24-21.
With the win, Oklahoma State moves to 4-0 on the season and 3-0 in Big 12 play and remain atop the Big 12 standings.
Things got a little dicey for the Cowboys as the Cyclones marched down the field, aided by penalties, and got into the end zone with just :49 left in the game to make it a three-point game, 24-21. The Cyclones attempted an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff, but Tylan Wallace went up and came down with it secure the Cowboy win.
As it goes penalty-wise, there were 19 total penalties called on the day, 10 for 73 yards against Oklahoma State and nine for 70 yards against Iowa State.
This was the first game for redshirt sophomore quarterback Spencer Sanders since he left the season opener against Tulsa just a few plays drives into the game. It took him a few drives to against the Cyclones to settle in, but once he did, he started to look good.
With under a minute left in the first quarter, on the drive after Iowa State missed a field goal, Sanders found a wide-open Jelani Woods for a 34-yard touchdown to tie to game up at seven. The Cowboy defense came up with another big stop and the Cowboys scored on their first drive of the second quarter.
Sanders had a decent day through the air, but a better day on his feet when he cut up field. He finished the game going 20-of-29 for 235 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions and 15 carries for 71 yards and one touchdown.
Chuba Hubbard capped a 12 play, 79-yard drive with a 32-yard touchdown run that might go down as one of the best of his career. Hubbard was met the line, but refused to go down as he put his hand in the turf and broke free to put the Pokes up 14-7.
Hubbard finished the game with 24 carries for 130 yards and the one touchdown. In fact, the 32-yard rush was his longest of the day.
On the day, the Cowboy offense combined for 461 yards, 235 through the air and 226 on the ground.
A stat not many people expected following the completion of the first half was three missed field goals. Cowboy kicker Alex Hale missed on wide right early in the first quarter and Cyclone kicker Connor Assalley missed one late in the first quarter wide left and bounced one off the upright late in the second quarter.
The second half started off with a pair of interceptions. Cowboy safety Kolby Harvell-Peel read a deep pass by Cyclone quarterback Brock Purdy and made an impressive and acrobatic catch to give OSU to ball. Just a few plays later, Cyclone defender Datrone Young made an impressive diving pick from Spencer Sanders.
The Cyclones were able to get into the end zone a few plays later following a 66-yard run by Breece Hall, but it didn’t take long for the Pokes to get into the end zone. After completing two of two passes for 51 yards, Spencer Sanders broke off an impressive 14-yard scamper around the right side to put the Cowboys back on top 21-14.
It was a defensive slugfest throughout the remainder of the third quarter and into the fourth quarter. After a couple of big stops from both sides, OSU kicker Alex Hale was able to redeem his miss from earlier in the game and knocked home a 31-yarder to put the Cowboys up 10, 24-14.
After a near four-minute drive, the Cowboys came up a few yards short of the line to gain and opted to punt. Enter Tom Hutton. The Aussie executed one of the best punts during his short career and the ball was downed on the ISU four-yard line. The Cowboy defense gave up just two yards on the ensuing drive and forced an ISU punt from deep in their own end zone. It was safety Tre Sterling who came up with one of the plays of the game as he recorded a deflection that forced the ISU punt.
It was Sterling who led the day for the Pokes with nine total tackles, eight of which were solo stops, including two tackles for loss and one pass break up.
Sophomore Trace Ford finished the day with only two tackles, but one was a sack and one was for a tackle for a loss. He also recorded two pass break ups.
As a whole, the Cowboy defensive unit was solid. They came up with stops when they needed to, such as the one mention in the paragraph above. They held ISU to 389 yards, 162 through the air and 227 on the ground. But one of the more impressive stats on the day was the Pokes’ ability to stay stingy on third downs. They held the Cyclones to 3-of-13 on third down conversions. They also recorded three sacks as a unit and seven tackles for loss.
Oklahoma State is back in action next weekend, on Halloween as they face the Texas Longhorns.
