Recap: Oklahoma State Cowboys 32, Texas Longhorns 24

Last week, the defense could not hold up its end of the deal. This week against the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Texas Longhorn offense was unable to do much of anything, going without a first down on its last five drives.

Here’s a recap of the action that started with a lot of gas for the Longhorns, but sputtered and broke. Hard.

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Texas won the toss and elected to start with the football. Bijan Robinson gained a first, then Keilan Robinson picked up another on a 25-yard gain. Bijan Robinson moved the sticks again with a long pass from Casey Thompson and Texas set up in the red zone. The Longhorns made it 1st-and-goal with a pass to Joshua Moore, and scored on 3rd down when Bijan punched it in from one yard out.

On Oklahoma State’s first possession, the Cowboys missed a downfield shot and had a gain of one to set up a 3rd-and-long. Cowboys head coach Mike Gundy elected to run for it but Jaylen Warren was ruled just short and the punt team then took the field.

The Longhorns began their second drive with a holding penalty, then could not move past the sticks on the next three plays. Texas appeared to do the same, but a 15-yard penalty on Keondre Coburn extended the OSU drive. A pass from Sanders then a run from Warren put OSU inside the 30, then another pass to Martin made it 1st-and-goal for OSU. The Cowboys could not score six and settled for three to make it 7-3.

Another penalty started Texas’ next drive, a false start on Bijan Robinson. But Texas was able to move deep into OSU territory on a 58-yard pass from Thompson to Marcus Washington. The Longhorns couldn’t find the end zone as Thompson’s attempt to find Kelvontay Dixon was unsuccessful. Cameron Dicker hit a 28-yard field goal to make it 10-3.

The Cowboys began their drive with a chain-moving pass to Braden Cassity, then moved the chains again as the first quarter ended. OSU had less luck to begin the second, as their drive stalled after a penalty and a 3rd down incompletion.

UT had nothing doing on its next series, going three-and-out. Oklahoma State did the same. The Longhorns took over their own 34 with 10:35 remaining, and moved to the OSU 40 on the first play of the drive thanks to Bijan Robinson. After an OSU pass interference, Texas moved the chains on the ground with Robinson and Roschon Johnson, then scored on a wheel route from Thompson to Robinson to make it 17-3.

These drives were made amid several changes on the OL throughout the first half of the game. Christian Jones – Junior Angilau – Jake Majors – Tope Imade – Derek Kerstetter was the initial grouping, but Andrej Karic eventually replaced Jones and Hayden Conner did the same for Imade ahead of of Robinson’s second touchdown.

Oklahoma State could not do anything on the next drive, and in fact turned it over. Sanders threw a third down pass to D’Shawn Jamison, setting up Texas with a short field on the OSU 44. Texas picked up one first down with a pass to Xavier Worthy, then another with a Thompson strike to Moore to put Texas in the red zone.

But Oklahoma State countered. Jason Taylor II read a Thompson pass perfectly and returned it 85 yards to make it a 17-10 game with 5:13 left in the half. And on the following drive, Texas went three-and-out.

On their drive to end the half, Oklahoma State moved down the field converting a few third downs and moving into field goal range. Tanner Brown hit a 39-yarder to make it 17-13 just before the halftime whistle.

The Cowboys’ first drive of the half began on their own 32 after a nice return. Then, they moved into Texas territory with a pass to Cassity. They would not advance any further after nice plays from Jaylan Ford, Jahdae Barron, and Ovie Oghoufo.

Texas started on its own 20 and moved to midfield with a long completion to Worthy. Thompson then picked up a first down on his legs to move inside the 40. From there, it was simple: give the ball to Bijan. He took it 38 yards to the house to make it 24-13. That would be Texas’ final first down of the game.

After Alfred Collins’ second down tackle, OSU faced another 3rd-and-long. They went to the run play well once more, but that well was dry and Texas forced a punt.

The punt from Tom Hutton traveled 60 yards and went out of bounds at the UT 7. A false start stifled the drive and Texas went nowhere, and OSU took over on the Texas 47. Texas thought they were off the field, but a roughing penalty on Ray Thornton continued the drive. On 3rd-and-11, a well-timed screen pass to Dominic Richardson put the Cowboys inside the 10.

But the Texas defense held and forced an OSU field goal to make it 24-16.

OSU’s defense held Texas to a three-and-out on the following possession, and the Cowboys took over on its own 20 after a Dicker punt.

The Cowboys moved down with a first down pass and a pass interference penalty, but elected to punt after crossing midfield. The Hutton punt traveled 27 yards.

On the first play, Casey Thompson took a shot trying to get rid of the football and was forced to leave the game for one play. When he came back, he could not move the sticks and Texas recorded it’s third straight three-and-out as the third quarter ended.

Sanders completed a pass to move the Cowboys to the OSU 34 as they took possession. A long Warren run moved the Cowboys inside the Texas 35. They picked up another first to move to the 20, then another to make it 1st-and-goal. Sanders then found Brennan Presley in the end zone, but the ensuing two-point attempt was denied to keep it 24-22 Texas with 10:16 left.

On the next Texas drive, after a nice Jamison return, Texas put together its fourth straight three-and-out.

Oklahoma State picked up a huge chunk with a reverse to move 17 yards into Texas territory. A personal foul on Moro Ojomo moved OSU even closer, but Texas held on third down near the end zone once again. The ensuing Brown field goal gave OSU a 25-24 lead with under 5:00 to play.

Brown then sent the kickoff out of bounds, and Texas started on the 35. Robinson picked nine on first down but was stuffed with a yard to go. Texas could not pick up that yard with three more tries, and OSU took over with 3:12 to play inside the Texas 50.

Sanders later scored with permission from the Texas defense to make it 32-24 with 2:18 remaining.

When Texas returned, the offense received some help in the form of an offsides penalty, but it mattered little. Thompson threw an interception to effectively end the game.