LIVE BLOG: Oklahoma State Opens Season against South Dakota State

LIVE UPDATES

FINAL: Cowboys 44, Jackrabbits 20

The Cowboys move to 1-0, defeating South Dakota State 44-20 thanks to big games from Alan Bowman, Ollie Gordon and their receivers. OSU allowed a few too many chunk plays to the Jackrabbits but made the stops they needed to make and held the Jackrabbits to just two touchdowns in 13 drives.

SCORING UPDATE: Cowboys 44, Jackrabbits 20

Ward makes it 3-for-3 with a 25-yard chip shot. The Cowboys extend their lead to four scores with 1:10 remaining.

SCORING UPDATE: Cowboys 41, Jackrabbits 20

Logan Ward nails his second FG attempt, this one from 52 yards to pad OSU’s lead.

SCORING UPDATE: Cowboys 38, Jackrabbits 20

The Jackrabbits keep hanging around and they are able to thanks to a continual string of chunk-yardage plays. OSU’s defense has given up pass plays of 29, 21, 33, 21 and 60 yards and a rush play of 40. Two of those deep shots ended in the end zone.

END OF Q3: Cowboys 38, Jackrabbits 13

The Good: OSU’s offense looks as good as advertised.

The Bad: The Cowboys’ defense gave up a yikes drive early in the quarter

The Ugly: The performance of the ESPN app on the 10-year-old Firestick in my office.

SCORING UPDATE: Cowboys 38, Jackrabbits 13

Ollie Gordon gets his third TD of the day and the Cowboys can’t be stopped in the second half.

SCORING UPDATE: Cowboys 31, Jackrabbits 13

The Cowboys answer with a six-play, 81-yard TD drive of their own. Bowman was 3-for-3 ending with a 58-yard bomb to Rashod Owens.

.@luxury_owens12 first TD of the season is a 58-yard bomb from @alanbowman_ 😤 pic.twitter.com/ITjum2LMRO

— OSU Cowboy Football (@CowboyFB) August 31, 2024

SCORING UPDATE: Cowboys 24, Jackrabbits 13

Welp, the Cowboys’ defense is really underlining my points from a couple of weeks ago. SDSU scores on a three-play, 75-yard TD drive. 21 yards. 33 yards. 21 yards. 7 points.

SCORING UPDATE: Cowboys 24, Jackrabbits 6

That was a good old-fashioned Ollie Gordon drive. Forty-four rush yards, 14 receiving yards and a touchdown. Both his drive-saving catch and drive-polishing TD were review, both stood. Pokes get what they wanted out of the first drive of the second half.

After review… Ollie Gordon II is, in fact, him 😤

Gordon’s second score of the afternoon adds onto the @CowboyFB lead.#Big12FB | 📺 ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/cWNxjLEulP

— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) August 31, 2024

HALFTIME: Cowboys 17, Jackrabbits 6

The Good: The Cowboys have a double-digit lead and get the ball back to start the third. Mostly, the offense has look pretty good and there hasn’t been a ton of rust showing.

The Bad: OSU’s defense has already shown some of its bugaboos from last year, though they did get stops on the last two third-down drives of SDSU.

#OKState had two big issues on defense last season, giving up chunk plays and not getting off the field on third down.

Midway through the second, SDSU has a 29-yard pass play and a 40-yard rush and is 3-of-6 on third down.

Still early, but something to keep an eye on.

— Kyle Cox ✍️ (@KyleCoxWrites) August 31, 2024

The Ugly: SDSU had a couple penalties and a few other missed opportunities that aided OSU in some of those stops and at least one of those TDs. If they can clean things up, they could be even more competitive in this one. It’s far from over.

SCORING UPDATE: Cowboys 17, Jackrabbits 6

The Jackrabbits settle for another field goal but they are hanging around. Pokes will have another chance to create distance before half time.

SCORING UPDATE: Cowboys 17, Jackrabbits 3

Ollie Gordon breaks the seal on 2024 with a 12-yard touchdown after barreling over a couple Jackrabbits. OSU moved into position after an SDSU facemask call against Sesi Vailahi set him up at the doorstep.

How bout that grab by De’Zhaun Stribling? Cowboys cross midfield looking to build on their lead.

SCORING UPDATE: Cowboys 10, Jackrabbits 3

The Jackrabbits pay off that big run with a 31-yard kick to get them on the board.

END of Q1: Cowboys 10, Jackrabbits 0

The Good: Each team went for it on fourth down in its opening drive but the Cowboys converted theirs which led to a 42-yard field goal by new starting kicker Logan Ward. The Cowboys took it back thanks to a Korie Black interception. Brennan Presley paid off the TO with a TD giving the Pokes a 10-0 lead.

The Bad: OSU has not been able to get things going on the ground. Just 39 rushing yards (27 on four carries for Ollie Gordon) but it’s still early.

The Ugly: OSU gave up a 40-yard run to SDSU running back Amar Johnson at the end of the period to put the Jackrabbits deep in OSU territory. They’ve also allowed SDSU to go 2-4 on third down tries. Big plays and third-down D were two big questions for OSU’s defense coming in.