Bedlam, indeed: Oklahoma State holds on at the end to beat Oklahoma

No. 7 Oklahoma State used a strong second-half defense performance Saturday to beat No. 10 Oklahoma 37-33 and keep its College Football Playoff hopes alive.

The Cowboys (11-1, 8-1 in the Big 12) already had clinched a spot in next Saturday’s Big 12 Championship Game, and beating Oklahoma (10-2, 7-2) means they will play Baylor for the title. An OU win would’ve meant an immediate rematch next week. Oklahoma State beat Baylor 24-14 on October 2.

Because of No. 2 Ohio State’s loss, Oklahoma State figures to move up at least one spot in this week’s CFP rankings. But this win could help the Cowboys creep ahead of Notre Dame in the rankings; they were one spot behind the Irish last week, and beating Oklahoma certainly is more impressive than beating Stanford, which was Notre Dame’s opponent on Saturday.

Outside of a scintillating 56-yard run by Oklahoma quarterback Caleb Williams in the final minute that gave the Sooners a legit shot at pulling off a stunning win, Oklahoma State’s defense played lights-out football in the second half. The Cowboys’ defense had allowed just one offensive touchdown in the past four games, but it struggled in the first half against the Sooners, allowing three scoring drives of at least 75 yards. It did not struggle in the second half.

Oklahoma scored nine third-quarter points on two huge Oklahoma State mistakes. Two came on a safety with 12:16 left in the period; the other came on a muffed punt recovered in the end zone with 10:36 remaining for a 33-24 lead. But while the Sooners had 143 yards in the second half, take away the big run by Williams and it was just 87 yards on eight possessions. Oklahoma punted a season-high seven times, with five coming in the second half.

Oklahoma State benefited from a big OU mistake in the fourth quarter. The Sooners’ Eric Gray muffed a punt and Oklahoma State recovered on OU’s 5. Jaylen Warren scored on a 1-yard run three plays later to complete the scoring.

Oklahoma State came in leading the nation in sacks and tackles for loss, and the Cowboys added to their totals with six sacks and nine tackles for loss. End Collin Oliver and linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez had two sacks each, with Oliver, a true freshman, taking down Williams at Oklahoma State’s 32 on fourth-and-10 with 8 seconds left to end OU’s hopes.