Stumbling in Stillwater: BYU drops 5th straight loss to No. 20 Oklahoma State in 2OT

STILLWATER, Okla. — That's why Mike Gundy has the reputation of a mad scientist.

Facing a double-digit first-half deficit for the second straight week, the head coach at Oklahoma State since 2005 pushed all the right buttons in the second half, erasing a 21-6 halftime deficit en route to an overtime win.

Ollie Gordon II, the nation's leading rusher, ran for 166 yards and five touchdowns, and the 20th-ranked Cowboys outscored BYU 21-3 in the second half to rally for a 40-34 overtime victory Saturday night at a cold, wet and wild Boone Pickens Stadium.

Next stop: the Big 12 championship game in Arlington, Texas, where the seventh-ranked Longhorns await.

For BYU, the season ends at 5-7 — and a lot of questions and potential changes in an offseason ushered in by a fifth straight loss in the program's third meeting all-time with the Cowboys.

"Upset, everybody," BYU cornerback Eddie Heckard said after the Weber State transfer's final collegiate game. "We were right there, and we knew we had an opportunity. We came out clicking, but we just didn't make the big plays down the stretch to finish the game. I think everybody's hurting by that."

In what may be his final game in a BYU uniform, Tyler Batty had six tackles, a sack and shared another tackle for loss — and caught a 36-yard pass on offense (more on that in a moment) to lead BYU's defense.

AJ Vongphachanh added 15 tackles and a pass breakup, and Max Tooley 11 tackles and a pass breakup with five solo stops.

"The losing streak is hard," BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. "But the guys didn't quit; they're fighters. We lost some really close one. … To respond the way they did, especially Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, I can build off guys who want to be here and want to fight."

Still, after posting 202 yards of offense and 24 points before the break, BYU's offense went as cold as the central Oklahoma night air, with Jake Retzlaff completing 14-of-30 passes for 161 yards — including an 11-yarder to Keelan Marion that pulled the Cougars within field-goal territory in the final seconds.

That set up Will Ferrin's 48-yard field goal that scurried over the crossbar to force overtime.

With the season on the line, Retzlaff directed a five-play drive with a mix of Kody Epps and Aidan Robbins before scoring on a 6-yard quarterback draw that gave the Cougars a 34-27 lead in overtime.

Oklahoma State responded, scoring on Gordon's fourth touchdown of the game from 3-yards out to force a second extra period.

After flipping the field, Gordon scored his fifth touchdown, launching himself over the goal line to push the Cowboys' lead to 40-34. But the Pokes' 2-point try failed on the pass before sealing it when Trey Rucker forced a fumble on Retzlaff's short pass to Isaac Rex on the ensuing possession.

Oklahoma State posted 503 yards of offense, with Bowman throwing for 321 yards to go along with Gordon's five-spot. Leon Johnson III caught nine passes for 132 yards, and Brennan Presley added nine catches for 90 yards for the Cowboys.

But for a minute — or most of the first half — the home team was on its heels. Perhaps overlooking a desperate BYU team clinging to the faintest hopes of bowl eligibility, or a hangover of a season that included wins over Oklahoma, Kansas and last week's double-digit rally for a 43-30 win over Houston, the Cowboys let the visitors have their way early.

"(BYU) did a good job," Gundy said. "they had a lot of different things. They could put all their chips out, no matter what their hand was. They could have a poor hand and put it all out. They did the right thing and were trying to win at all costs. It makes it difficult. We were concerned about that. We talked about them having several fakes in special teams, and we were right. We just couldn't defend them the way we should have."

BYU's defense set up the Cougars' first scoring drive by holding the Pokes to 6 yards and a punt before Retzlaff engineered a nine-play, 73-yard drive with eight runs. That included the signal caller's 2-yard, off-tackle scoring plunge to go up 7-6 after the first quarter.

Were it not for two dropped interception attempts, it might have been worse.

Heckard made up for those, though, intercepting Bowman's pass attempt and casually trotting 13 yards for a touchdown to push the Cougars' lead to 14-6 to open the second quarter.

Then came Retzlaff's finest drive — or should the credit go to offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick?

Either way, Retzlaff found Epps with a 25-yard screen pass on third-and-9 backed up in the shadow of his own end zone. He immediately pulled the trigger on a 50-yard bomb to Keanu Hill into scoring territory, then faked a draw to set up Keelan Marion's 11-yard touchdown on a jet sweep to give the Cougars a 21-6 lead with 2:54 left in the half.

The Cougars' offense was clicking, finishing with 202 yards in the first half (including 128 through the air) with seven first downs while the defense limited Bowman to 11-of-19 passing for 76 yards and Gordon to 77 yards and a score.

"For the first time all season, we had the majority of dudes healthy in most of the offensive rooms and everybody getting involved," said Epps, shortly before confirming his desire to return to BYU next year. "Kebo, Chase, Aidan, me making a couple of catches; everybody was involved. I think when our offense gets involved and everybody is healthy to do so, it's something to look out for.

"I was so blessed to be able to be on the field with Kebo and Chase. … It was such an honor and such a blessing."

Then there was the second-biggest offensive play from scrimmage of the first half: a 36-yard pass from Ryan Rehkow to Batty, where the former Payson High defensive star and pass-rush specialist tried to leap over OSU's Brennan Presley before a double-leg takedown on the 25-yard line on fourth-and-6 to set up Ferrin's 42-yard field goal.

And Gundy did what Gundy did, which in this case meant feeding the rock to the top rusher in the FBS.

Gordon finished with 34 carries, including his five touchdowns, and was often the first, second and third option for a play call as the Cowboys rattled off 21 straight points in the second half before Ferrin booted a game-tying field goal as time expired to force overtime.

"They were committed to giving him the ball a bunch," Sitake said. "It was always going to be difficult to keep him without his yards."

Related topics