(Canceled) Game Recap: OSU Blasts Oregon State in Season-Opener

Oklahoma State’s originally-scheduled season-opener against Oregon State, slated for Sept. 3 inside Boone Pickens Stadium, was canceled when the Pac-12 postponed its football season last month. That means if everything were normal in 2020 — which seems farfetched, but bear with me here! — OSU would be waking up today at 1-0.

And here’s how they would have done it. (If you haven’t inferred it yet by the lead, please kindly take out your imagination cap for the rest of this story. Giddy-up.)

First half recap

Just like last season, OSU and the other OSU traded blows early in the first quarter. The Pokes got on the board early with a 75-yard touchdown run on Chuba Hubbard’s first touch of the game, but the Beavers responded with a touchdown on the ensuing kick return to tie things up.

Mike Gundy could be seen smashing a clipboard as the Beavers housed the return. A hot mic caught him on the phone with his hairdresser setting up a halftime appointment to trim his mullet.

It wouldn’t get closer from there, however. After three-and-outs from both teams, Oklahoma State quarterback Spencer Sanders dropped a beautiful deep pass into the bread basket of Tylan Wallace as he jogged into the end zone to extend OSU’s lead to 14-7. The two connected again just before the end of the first quarter to go up 21-7, with Wallace reaching 100 yards receiving and Hubbard reaching 100 yards rushing before the second quarter.

The second quarter was a field-goal festival as Alex Hale made all three of his attempts, and while OSU’s offense stalled inside the 30 on several occasions, it still found success moving the ball up to that point.

“I’m really pleased with the way Spencer handled himself in that first half,” said Gundy at halftime about Sanders, noting that he had some early-game jitters before completing all 10 passing attempts in the second quarter. “Loves his family, football is important to him, never says a word.”

Asked about the hot mic that caught him setting up a halftime hair appointment, Gundy says he’s changed his mind.

“I’m just gonna put some extra butch wax in and see if it gets us by,” he adds.

HALFTIME SCORE: Oklahoma State 30, Oregon State 10

Second half recap

Oklahoma State picks up where it left off the first half, with another stalled drive finishing with an Alex Hale field goal, putting OSU up 33-10. But the OSU defense really comes alive from there, with Kolby Harvell-Peel and Tre Sterling both intercepting passes and turning defense into offense with pick-sixes to get OSU a major cushion.

Hubbard rips off another long run for a score a possession later to get OSU a commanding 68-10 lead. He sits the entire fourth quarter after racking up 290 all-purpose yards and a pair of scores to kick off his Heisman campaign.

The rest of the game, Shane Illingworth and Ethan Bullock split reps at QB while Dezmon Jackson and Deondrick Glass get valuable reps running the ball. Each QB has a few successful series that stall out, and each RB has some promising flashes.

No points are scored by Oklahoma State the remaining eight minutes of the game with the outcome all but decided. Meanwhile, the defense, solid all day, gives up one over-the-top play to tighten it to 68-17 just before the clock expires.

“I’m happy with the way our defense stepped up today, except for that final play,” Gundy says after the game. “They really stepped up to the challenge. Kolby and Tre, even Trace Ford, they gave great effort and it really paid off for us. 1-0.”

FINAL STATS

Chuba Hubbard: 265 yards rushing, 2 touchdowns, 25 yards receiving

Spencer Sanders: 27/33 passing, 318 yards passing, 32 rushing yards, three passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown

Tylan Wallace: 217 yards receiving, two touchdowns

Landon Wolf: 68 yards receiving, one touchdown