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10 Thoughts on Oklahoma State’s 38-35 Loss to BYU

On Rangel, that drive and another gut punch of a loss for the Pokes.

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2 years ago

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[Marshall Scott/PFB]

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PROVO, Utah — The Cowboys played a game that was worth watching for a full four quarters late Friday night, but in the end the Cowboys suffered another loss.

Oklahoma State fell to BYU 38-35 at LaVell Edwards Stadium. Here are 10 thoughts on the game.

1. Rangel was Fun while He Lasted

Making his first start of the season, Garret Rangel wasn’t perfect, but he was fun to watch … until his game (and perhaps season) came to an abrupt halt.

Rangel had a 54-yard run in the second quarter but made hard contact with the ground when he was tackled and went back to the locker room favoring a shoulder/collarbone. He reemerged in the second half wearing a sling on his left shoulder. Rangel finished 6-for-9 with 51 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He also had 77 rushing yards on five carries (15.4 yards a carry).

He had two bad balls. The first was the first play of the game when he skipped the ball to an open Sesi Vailahi. The second was an interception to start the second quarter when he sailed a ball over De’Zhaun Stribling’s head and into the arms of a BYU safety.

It’s as if that interception calmed Rangel down, though. He was 1-for-4 to start the game with the INT. From that point on, he went 5-for-5 for 43 yards and the touchdown.

Rangel also revitalized the OSU offense. It’s evident now that Rangel was the right guy for this particular team, as his running ability unlocked a ton for the Cowboys. Against WVU, OSU ran for 36 yards on 1.7 yards a carry (for the entire game). In the first half alone Friday, OSU ran for 175 yards on 10.3 yards a carry.

After the game, OSU coach Mike Gundy said of Rangel, “He’s out.” He was then asked if he was out for the season, and Gundy replied, “I don’t know, but he’ll be out a while. It’s hard for me to predict.”

2. Banged-Up Defense Falters

It was another rough day for the OSU defense.

The Cowboys gave up 473 yards of total offense, and the Cougars ran for 7.3 yards a carry. But the most damning thing to note about OSU’s defense from this game is that it had to defend a lead for only 1:13, but the Cowboys’ couldn’t do it. BYU scored on a 35-yard pass with 10 seconds to play, a pass where the Pokes missed about three tackles that could’ve ended up winning them the game. It was brutal.

And I struggle to go totally scorched earth on this group because its missing probably its three best players in Collin Oliver, Nick Martin and Trey Rucker. But at the same time, the Cowboys’ D struggled against Kansas State with Martin and Rucker still playing, and it struggled with West Virginia when Rucker was still playing.

OSU finally got its run game going (which we’ll get to), but the Cowboys are still struggling to find a way to stop the run. BYU running back LJ Martin hadn’t ran for 100 yards in a game in his career — until Friday when he ran for 120 and two touchdowns on 20 carries. To add to that, BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff ran for a career-high 81 yards on just nine carries.

It’s going to be hard for the Cowboys to win football games if they can’t stop teams on the ground, and it only gets more difficult with all the starters the Cowboys are without.

3. OSU’s Most Impressive Drive This Season?

After his interception, Rangel came back out and led what might’ve been the most impressive drive of the Cowboys’ season to that point.

It was a 10-play, 75-yard drive that took 6:06 off the clock. It was (for a few quarters) the second-longest drive the Cowboys have had this season behind a 6:22 drive against Tulsa.

The drive featured two plays where Ollie Gordon and Brennan Presley lined up on either side of Rangel in the back field. The first instance was a swing pass to Presley that ended up being an 11-yard rush (Presley caught the ball behind the line of scrimmage). The second time the two shared the backfield with Rangel ended up in Gordon catching a swing pass, hopping over a defender and running into the end zone.

Rangel was 5-for-5 on the drive for 43 yards (all of his passes post INT).

4. Bowman Relieves Rangel

In two of OSU’s past three games, Rangel had came in for a struggling Bowman. But Friday, it was Bowman spelling an injured Rangel.

Emotionally it had to have been a weird spot for Bowman. He’s days removed from losing his starting job in his final season of college football just to instantly be thrown back in.

It wasn’t a great outing for Bowman, but it wasn’t his worst. He led an eight-minute, go-ahead drive. But he also had another interception. It was another backfoot throw, but it did get to Presley’s fingertips. It would’ve been a remarkable grab had Presley been able to hang onto it, but instead the ball lifted into the waiting arms of a BYU defensive back.

Gundy said after the game that Bowman would be the Cowboys’ QB going forward with Rangel out.

5. OSU’s New Most Impressive Drive This Season

So that Rangel drive was impressive, but it was quickly outdone by the Cowboys’ would-be game-winning drive in the fourth quarter.

OSU got the ball with 9:35 to play. The Cowboys drove the field, scored a touchdown and gave BYU the ball back with just 1:13 to play.

The drive included a few crucial plays. The first came on a 3rd-and-5 when Bowman hit Rashod Owens for a gain of 17. A few minutes later the Cowboys had a 4th-and-1 when Rodney Fields Jr. (!!) torpedoed himself to just narrowly get enough for a first down. The Cowboys had another 4th-and-1 not long after (thanks to a bad spot), and this time it was Ollie Gordon jumping over the line to gain.

Disaster nearly struck on the next set of downs. OSU had a 3rd-and-8 that turned into a 3rd-and-13 thanks to a false start, but Bowman connected with Presley on a tunnel screen that gained 21 before Bowman and Presley connected for the go-ahead score. Presley caught five passes that drive for 43 yards and the score.

The drive that should’ve gone down in legend, but because of the game’s result it might soon be forgotten. The drive garnered 76 yards on 17 plays and took 8:22 off the clock.

6. Ollie Gordon Reborn

Ollie Gordon hadn’t scored a touchdown in Big 12 play entering Friday. Then he found paydirt three times in the first half Friday and looked every bit of the preseason Heisman contender he was.

Gordon scored on a 50-yard run on OSU’s first drive. It was the longest play BYU had given up this season.

His second score was perhaps more impressive. Rangel hit him on a swing pass, and Gordon toed down the BYU sideline before hurdling a would-be tackler and trotting into the end zone. The third was a 2-yard handoff from Bowman.

Gordon went down in the third quarter and needed some assistance getting off the field. It felt like his day was done, but he came back out and finished the game.

Gordon’s 50-yard run on OSU’s first drive was as many yards as Gordon had in four of OSU’s first six games. He finished with 107 yards on 16 carries, running for 6.7 yards a pop — a season-high.

7. As Was OSU’s Running Game as a Whole

The Cowboys ran for 7.3 yards a carry Friday, which would’ve been a lot for last season’s team, but it was almost unimaginable for this group that has struggled to run the ball.

Some of that credit should go to Rangel, who ran for 77 yards on just five carries. But the Cowboys also ran well enough in the second half when Bowman was in. OSU ran for 94 yards on 20 carries in the second half. Those 4.7 yards a carry would’ve been a season-best.

So there’s a hope that this group figured something out during the open week that can translate to the rest of the season, regardless of who is playing quarterback.

8. Hello, Rodney Fields

True freshman Rodney Fields Jr. made his college debut Friday, and he was an important piece to the Cowboys’ success.

Listed at 5-foot-9, 185 pounds, Fields finished with 38 yards on eight carries. His biggest carry came on that 4th-and-1 on the drive that took eight minutes off the clock. He also had a pair of big runs in the third quarter of 10 and 22 yards, respectively.

Fields’ eight carries trailed only Gordon among Cowboys. Sesi Vailahi had four carries, and Indiana transfer Trent Howland didn’t have any. With Fields getting going this late in the season, it’ll be interesting to see what OSU does in terms of his redshirt. He can play in three more regular-season games and still keep it, but OSU has five games left.

“He’s practiced well for two months,” Gundy said. “We got a few guys banged up a little bit, so we put him out there because he’s shown signs in practice that he has the ability to make some plays. I thought he performed pretty well for a freshman.”

9. Provo Is a Great Big 12 Atmosphere

I’ve now seen a game at 10 Big 12 stadiums, and I’d be hard pressed to name a better atmosphere than what I saw in Provo on Friday night.

From start to finish the place was bouncing. There were drone shows, people twirling flaming rods, the mascot making a Houdini-esque escape from a box and, most importantly, constant noise. More than perhaps any of those four teams that joined the conference last season, BYU has slid in from a culture standpoint seamlessly. It felt like the Cougars were playing the Cowboys for the 100th time, not the fourth. It was awesome.

“They know how to do game day atmosphere, I will give them credit,” Gundy said. “This is a great addition to our conference. A very, very, very good game day environment. Their student section or whatever that is down there, they do a good job, do a great job with the light shows. It was pretty impressive, our guys handled it really well.”

10. What Does This Team Look Like Next Week?

This team, namely the offense, looked much more dynamic with Rangel running the show. But with him out, do things just go back to how they were?

That’s a storyline to follow heading into the Cowboys’ trip to Waco next weekend. The Cowboys played fine in the second half, though, with Bowman in charge, but there’s a fear that with Rangel on the bench that this thing just reverts to how things were.

There are also a ton of guys on the shelf with injury. As is customary, Gundy didn’t want to get into injury talk postgame, but add Rangel to an injury list that includes Oliver, Martin and Rucker. Gordon goes into the injury tent about once a week at this point. Dalton Cooper also got banged up Friday, as did Cameron Epps. So not only is there a wonder what this group will look like schematically, but also a wonder on what the Cowboys look like personnel-wise because of all these injuries.

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