Instant Recap: OSU Escapes Desert with Win, Beats Arizona State 27-15

Other than those uniforms, this game was once again never pretty for the Cowboys.

Oklahoma State and Arizona State went back and forth most of Saturday night and into early Sunday morning, but the Pokes prevailed 27-15 to leave the desert of Tempe 2-0.

OSU was forced to punt on its first three drives of the game with Alan Bowman leading as QB1 in the same rotational plan coach Mike Gundy had Week 1 against Central Arkansas. Bowman led the Cowboys to a touchdown on his fourth and final possession, though, as he went 4-of-5 for 45 yards in the drive. He finished his outing 11-of-16 for 113 yards.

Ollie Gordon punctuated the drive with a 2-yard touchdown to tie the score 7-7 with 11:58 left in the second quarter . That possession was the first time Gordon touched the ball after being on the sideline most of the first quarter. He finished the game with nine carries for 53 yards, averaging 5.9 yards a carry.

ASU struck first with a 13-yard touchdown run from Cam Skattebo with 4:28 left in the first quarter. The Sun Devils then answered OSU’s touchdown drive with a 65-yard touchdown pass from freshman Jaden Rashada to Elijhah Badger in a possession that showed why Rashada was so highly recruited. Arizona State successfully converted a two-point conversion to take a 15-7 lead with 10:07 left in the half.

After Bowman led the Cowboys to their first points of the game, Gunnar Gundy replaced Bowman as the second quarterback of the night. Gunnar then led OSU to three points on his first drive leading the way.

Alex Hale nailed a career-long 52-yard field goal to add the three and get the Pokes within five at halftime after neither team scored the rest of the half. The Cowboys went to the locker room with a deficit and 0 rushing yards on 12 carries.

The Sun Devils cooled off as the weather did in the second half, as the temperature finally dipped below 100-degrees for the first time all day.

The Cowboys retook a 17-15 lead on its first drive of the second half when Gunnar hit De’Zhaun Stribling for a 3-yard touchdown. The score was Stribling’s first as a Cowboy after transferring from Washington State this offseason. He finished the game as OSU’s leading receiver for the second time in a row with seven catches for 65 yards.

Gordon was the star of the drive, though, getting four carries for 47 yards, most of which came from a 31-yard run.

OSU had a chance to take control its next possession after a Lyrik Rawls interception gave the Cowboys the ball on ASU’s 49-yard line. Hale missed a 49-yard field-goal attempt, though, ending Gunnar’s last drive at the helm with no points and a slim two-point lead with 3:38 left in the third quarter.

Gunnar was 5-of-7 for 32 yards and a TD in his four-possession appearance. Garrett Rangel, last week’s starter, took over in the fourth.

After going three-and-out in Rangel’s first drive behind center, the Cowboys added three more the next, extending its lead to 20-15 with 7:11 left after a 22-yard field goal from Hale. OSU had the ball on ASU’s 1-yard line, but a delay-of-game penalty followed by a negative-3-yard rush from Elijah Collins ultimately forced the Cowboys to settle.

A Rangel-to-Brennan Presley connection for the second time this season ended up being the dagger in the desert. Rangel found Presley, who was lined up in the backfield, in the flats who took it most of the 16 yards for a touchdown to extend OSU’s lead to 27-15 with 2:56 left.

The Cowboys kept ASU off the board the entire second half to secure the win despite a close last-ditch effort from the Sun Devils.

As the closer, Rangel was 6-of-9 for 46 yards and a TD.

There’s still no clarity on OSU’s quarterback carousel, as the Cowboys will return to Boone Pickens Stadium to host South Alabama at 6 p.m. Saturday.