Game 8 Grades: Cornelius, Wallace Ace Texas Test

The more I thought about it, I’m not sure if there is any area Oklahoma State did particularly poor in Saturday. Field goal kicking, probably, but a mark in the win column tends to make people look past things like that.

The Cowboys’ 38-35 upset against Texas added to “Who knows how good OSU actually is?” portion of my brain, but what I do know is it’s time to dish out grades for the Cowboys’ Week 9 victory against the Longhorns.

Taylor Cornelius: A+

CornDOG was back Saturday night.

Against what was thought to be one of the better defenses in the Big 12, Taylor Cornelius had an absolute field day. He accounted for all five of OSU’s touchdowns and had 344 total yards.

The play that will tell you all you need to know about Taylor Cornelius was is 10-yard touchdown run on third down.

From my spot in Boone Pickens Stadium, I thought the play was doomed and Cornelius was going to be brought down about the 8-yard line, but Cornelius gave Texas defensive back B.J. Foster his best Heisman stiff arm (shouts outs to Barry) and went MJ at the end of Space Jam into the end zone.

Cornelius’ spike was the most emotion I’ve ever seen him put out. But he didn’t stop there. This wild man had the cajones to make this read on another third down to ice the game.

This might get a little convoluted, but stay with me. Cornelius’ fan support might ride the same roller coaster Mitchell Solomon’s fan support did.

Solomon’s start at OSU came with a level of intrigue that turned into disgruntlement with the fan base that thought Solomon didn’t have what it took to play basketball in the Big 12. Then toward the end of Solomon’s junior season, he turned into a fan-favorite for his willingness to do the small things it took to win.

Cornelius has had that whirlwind in about nine weeks. It started with a level of intrigue for him finally getting his shot after sitting four seasons, then it turned sour with some lackluster performances and losses, and now he has every opportunity to end his career as a fan favorite.

That fourth-quarter touchdown run might have been Cornelius diving on the ball in front of Trae Young.

Tylan Wallace: A+

In this year of quarterback scrutiny and shocking losses, I don’t think Tylan Wallace has gotten the amount of attention he has earned. And that’s saying something because he has gotten a lot of attention.

Wallace caught 10 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns against Texas. The 222 yards is the second-most by an underclassman in OSU’s history. The 10 catches bring him to 50 this season more than OSU’s next two leading pass catchers combined.

He is fourth in the NCAA in receiving yards, and as a sophomore, he is doing things like this to a pair of upperclassmen defensive backs:

Zach Sinor: A

Zach Sinor was in Heisman mode Saturday night.

His first punt of the night flew 50 yards and smacked off the returner’s facemask. Then there was whatever this wizardry was:

Sinor had a pair of not-so-good punts, going 38 and 35 yards, but he brought the boom stick when it mattered and put Texas on its 2.

Defense: B+

The OSU defense didn’t have many overly flashy plays, but the unit got the job done.

After Texas scored off its opening drive thanks to a defensive holding call on a run play and a phantom pass interference, the Longhorns didn’t score again until midway through the second quarter.

Most of Texas’ big plays came from Sam Ehlinger placing a ball precisely where it needed to be despite good coverage, something Mike Gundy mentioned postgame.

Cole Waltersheid’s name might have been called more last night than it had been all season. Walterscheid had only one tackle, but he was able to get his paws up and deflect a pair of passes at the line of scrimmage.

Corners Rodarius Williams and A.J. Green showed they could hang with Texas’ big receivers, as neither Lil’Jordan Humphrey nor Collin Johnson were able to find the end zone or get more than 70 receiving yards.

And on top of all that, Jordan Brailford was able to add another sack to his season. He now has nine, tied for ninth in OSU’s single-season record book with at least four games to go.

Chuba Hubbard: A

Chuba Hubbard was an X-factor Saturday night.

Hubbard took the opening kickoff 30 yards and was hit out of bounds to add on another 15. The whole way back to the bench, Hubbard was firing up the crowd.

On offense, Hubbard was handed the ball a career-high nine times where he racked up 80 yards. That’s 8.9 yards per carry. Hubbard wasn’t called on to put the team on his back or anything, but when he was given an opportunity, he came through almost every time.