Instant Recap: Oklahoma State Beats Cincinnati 45-13 to Conclude Homecoming

Only Mother Nature was able to rain on America’s Greatest Homecoming’s parade and game to cap the week.

A cold and drizzly Boone Pickens Stadium didn’t keep the Cowboys cool for long as they won their third straight homecoming game Saturday night against Cincinnati 45-13. The win improved Oklahoma State to 6-2 and will have the Pokes going into Bedlam on a four-game winning streak.

Despite the lack of early offensive production, the beginning foreshadowed what was to come. The Cowboys scored in only five plays and 1:52 on the first possession of the game. Starting the play under center, Alan Bowman connected with tight end Josiah Johnson for a 29-yard score that was Johnson’s first touchdown as a Cowboy to conclude the first drive.

Cincinnati (2-6) missed a field goal on the ensuing possession and punted on the next before Myles Montgomery had a 63-yard rushing touchdown that tied the game with 3:35 left in the first quarter. The only other points of the first half was an Alex Hale 28-yard field goal in the second quarter to give OSU a 10-7 halftime lead.

Like OSU from September to October, the second half was a complete revision.

The Cowboys scored on their first three drives of the second half, ending every third-quarter possession with a touchdown. The first score of the second half was a 15-yard connection from Bowman to Brennan Presley. That drive was bolstered by a 42-yard Ollie Gordon run that got the best running back in the Big 12 going after a sluggish (for him) first half.

A Cameron Epps interception on Cincinnati’s next series gave OSU the ball right back on the Bearcats’ 29. Four plays later, Gordon was in the end zone after bouncing off three Cincy defenders on a nine-yard touchdown run.

Gordon had the keys on the Cowboys’ next drive, too, with a 39-yard run that put his team on Cincinnati’s 3. With the BPS crowd chanting, “Ollie,” Presley got the carry around the corner three plays later for a one-yard touchdown run thanks to a “Brotherly Shove” from fullback Braden Cassity.

Presley scored via air and ground, tallying three receptions for 39 yards. But even with Presley’s impressiveness near the end zone, Division-III transfer Leon Johnson III was the leader of a depleted OSU receiving corps in his first start. Johnson had five catches for 149 yards.

The third-quarter explosion had OSU up 31-7 at the start of the fourth quarter when the Cowboys were finally stopped for the first time in the second half.

Gordon wasn’t finished in the fourth quarter, though. The last time Gordon got the ball he ran for a 75-yard touchdown that put him over 200 rushing yards for the second game in a row. Gordon finished with 25 carries for 271 yards, averaging 10.8 yards a carry, and a pair of touchdowns. The performance was Gordon’s fifth straight game with at least 120 rushing yards. He’s also over 1,000 rushing yards on the season with four regular-season games left.

Gordon exited before the final drive, but even with Gordon on the sideline, Elijah Collins picked up where his teammate left off with a 26-yard touchdown run for the last points of homecoming week.

OSU will host Oklahoma for the final Bedlam at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.