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Recap: Oklahoma State Cruises Past Missouri State 58-17

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FINAL: OSU 58 – Missouri State 17

Oklahoma State took care of business, downing Missouri State 58-17 in a game that got out of hand early, but wasn’t all that pretty for the home team.

All in all it was a successful first game. The Cowboys won big like they should have. Taylor Cornelius put up some big numbers, like he should have, and plenty of backups got valuable reps.

Jim Knowles’ defense had an up-and-down debut. Early the Cowboy D simply outmatched the Bears. But starting at the end of the second quarter until midway through the third, it gave up all 17 points. Then the group stood up and forced five three-and-outs and recovered one fumble in Missouri State’s last six possessions.

Oklahoma State finished with 732 total yards of offense, with Taylor Cornelius tying a first start mark of five touchdowns with his predecessor Mason Rudolph to go along with his 295 yards of passing. OSU’s running backs shined. Justice Hill was in street clothes (proverbially) by halftime but J.D. King, Chuba Hubbard and LD Brown all made plays that just reinforced the buzz that’s surrounded this group all offseason.

Oklahoma State will have plenty of film to review — especially in the the quarterback room — and has a couple of extra days to do it before hosting South Alabama on September 8.

Below is a timestamped recap of the game as it unfolded from the bottom up.

4th Quarter

4th Quarter Stats:

4qmsu

2:56 – 4Q: OSU 58 – MSU 17: OSU forces another three-and-out and the offense earns its single first down needed to run the clock dry. Ball game.

4:37 – 4Q: OSU 58 – MSU 17: Keondre Wudtee made some plays including a 30-yard rush and almost hit Braydon Johnson for his first career touchdown. The Cowboys waived the draw-play-on-fourth-down flag and turn it over on downs.

6:51 – 4Q: OSU 58 – MSU 17: Peyton Huslig breaks loose for 59 yards before finally being caught from behind by Za’Carrius Green. Green does himself one better, falling on a MSU fumble the next play. OSU Ball.

8:57 – 4Q: OSU 58 – MSU 17: Wudtee holds the ball for less than a minute and gives it right back, three and out.

9:50 – 4Q: OSU 58 – MSU 17: OSU’s defense forces its fourth straight three-and-out and returns the ball to Wudtee’s hands for the second time.

12:19 – 4Q OSU 58 – MSU 17: LD Brown finds a seam, hits the left sideline and blazes 77 yards for a score.

OSU pulling away. Matt Ammendola misses the extra-point attempt.

13:31 – 4Q OSU 52 – MSU 17: Keondre Wudtee sees the field for the first time and immediately erases a Dylan Galloway holding penalty with his own 12-yard rush.

14:37 – 4Q: OSU 52 – MSU 17: Taylor Cornelius finds McCleskey for 29 yards and a score, his third TD of the game (tying a career high). Just as fast as the Cowboys looked to be in the slightest bit of danger, they score back-to-back TDs.

3rd Quarter

Cornelius has had at least some better results in his third quarter. The passes aren’t always on target, but he’s made better decisions down the stretch and found his playmakers.

3rd Quarter Stats:

3qmsu

2:14 – 3Q: OSU 45 – MSU 17: Rodarius Williams forces the issue with a big-time tackle in space to turn a chunk play into a 1-yard gain. Then Jordan Brailford asks Peyton Huslig if he prefers paper or plastic, and Jim Knowles’ group forces it second-straight three-and-out.

2:14 – 3Q: OSU 45 – MSU 17: And just like that, Chuba Hubbard is #GONE. The Canadian speedster chus up 54 yards of turf and parks it in the end zone.

3:54 – 3Q: OSU 38 – MSU 17: OSU’s defense gets a stop, forcing just its third three-and-out to give OSU the ball back. The offense needs to get the ball moving on offense and — I can’t believe I’m saying this — give its defense a break from the Bears offense.

5:18: 3Q: OSU 38 – MSU 17: OSU goes three-and-out for its second time in two punts this game. Taylor Cornelius had Jalen McCleskey wide open on a corner route on third down, but overthrew him. Missouri State can pull within two scores if they keep up with their recent offensive success.

6:28 – 3Q: OSU 38 – MSU 17: Peyton Huslig dropped the snap, picked it up and slung for a 27-yard score. The Bears are gaining confidence and OSU hasn’t built a big enough lead to rest on anything, much less its laurels.

8:59 – 3Q: OSU 38 – MSU 10: Cornelius hooks up with Jalen McCleskey for an 18-yard score to answer the Bears. That drive was brought to you by a Chuba Hubbard with his 60 total yards between a rush and a return.

10:28 – 3Q: OSU 31 – MSU 10: The Bears pick up 3 to continue a 10-0 run. Chuba Hubbard is your kickoff returner apparently and shows off his moves a little with a 42-yard return.

Halftime: OSU leads 31-7

What can you learn from playing a team like Missouri State? An easy win teaches you little, but struggles teach you more. OSU got a bit sloppy in the second quarter with a few pointless and costly penalties, a couple turnovers and some sailed balls by its new QB. It’s one half of football but Cornelius still needs to shake off those rusty butterflies.

2nd Quarter Stats:

2QMSU

2nd Quarter

0:42 – 2Q: OSU 31 – MSU 7: Tylan Wallace takes a hard hit after the catch that knocks the ball loose, elliciting a fumble called on the field recovered by the defense. Video review upholds the on-field ruling. Missouri State takes over at its own 23-yard line.

2:42 – 2Q: OSU 31 – MSU 7: Missouri State caps its longest drive of the game (nine plays for 75 yards) with a 6-yard touchdown from Peyton Huslig to Jordan Murray. It was made possible by an off-sides penalty two plays earlier by Jordan Brailford and an ensuing 29-yard scamper by Huslig.

6:37 – 2Q: OSU 31 – MSU 0: Cornelius goes to Tylan Wallace on three-straight tosses, ending with a 21-yard TD pass to push the Pokes up 31-zilch. Kyle Porter coins the term “Cornwallace” in PFB’s Slack chat.

9:41 – 2Q: OSU 24 – MSU 0: Cornelius gets the ball back to start his seventh drive as a starter. He is 9-of-15 for 94 yards, one TD and one INT. Started 8-of-9 but 1-of-6 since.

14:17 – 2Q: OSU 24 – MSU 0: Taylor Cornelius follows up his first career TD with his first career interception. ?

14:56 – 2Q: OSU 24 – MSU 0: Taylor Cornelius throws his first career touchdown pass to Sione Finefeuiaki.

1st Quarter

OSU takes a 17-0 lead into the second quarter at the Missouri State 3-yard line.

1st Quarter Stats:

1q

2:28 – 1st Q: OSU 17 – MSU 0: On third-and-goal from the 5-yard line, OSU runs the reverse to Jalen McCleskey who extends 10 fingertips and the football for his first score of 2018 and his first career rushing TD.

4:21 – 1st Q: OSU 10 – MSU 0: Bears’ Angelo Garbutt is disqualified after targeting penalty upheld for helmet-to-helmet hit on Chuba Hubbard. Cornelius didn’t do Chuba any favors on that throw. 15-yard penalty.

4:21 – 1st Q: OSU 10 – MSU 0: Not to be outdone, Calvin Bundage gets in on the sack party to finish off a three-and-out for the Bears. Ball goes back to the good guys.

5:25 – 1st Q: OSU 10 – MSU 0: Ammendola chips one in from 20 yards after Justice Hill was unable to punch it in for his second TD.

10:26 – 1st Q: OSU 7 – MSU 0: Cowboys get the ball back by way of punt after Trey Carter records the first sack of college football in 2018.

12:24 – 1st Q: OSU 7 – MSU 0: OSU up early after four straight touches to start by Justice Hill including a 22-yard reception. Cornelius rips loose for 32 yards on the ground and Hill pays it off with the score. Takes 2:36 for OSU to score.

Welcome to the Taylor Cornelius era, folks.


Football season is finally here. We are trying out something new for football this year that I’m really excited about.

It’s called PFB Live and it’s going to serve as a live blog, a confluence of comments and one-stop shop for your in-game experience. Go ahead and reserve a browser tab next to Twitter and check back frequently.

Below is the comment section. Most of you are pretty familiar with how that works. This is the appropriate venue to gripe about Mike Yurcich not calling a flea flicker while OSU has a 21-point lead on Missouri State in the first half.

Again, this page will be updated constantly with all the takes, tweets and stats that I can keep up with so jump in, play along and let’s have a great football season.


OSU pulled out the W/O/O combo for Game 1 and it is niiiice.

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