Instant Recap: South Alabama Handles Oklahoma State 33-7 for Cowboys’ First Loss

That was bad.

South Alabama pounded Oklahoma State 33-7 on Saturday night in Boone Pickens Stadium. It was the Cowboys’ first loss of the season, dropping them to 2-1, while South Alabama improved to 2-1.

South Alabama scored the first 23 points of the game to take a 23-0 lead into halftime, making it look as if the Jaguars were the Power Five program and OSU was the one coming from the Sun Belt. The win was South Alabama’s first over a Power Five opponent since 2016 against Mississippi State, 21-20.

The Jaguars kept the Cowboys off the board until a two-yard Jaden Nixon touchdown run out of an I-formation with 12:14 left in the fourth quarter. OSU had 110 total offensive yards before the 84-yard drive.

Gunnar Gundy, who was OSU’s second quarterback of the night, led the drive in his fifth possession of the game. He became the first Cowboy quarterback this season to play in more than four drives in a game after entering in the second quarter. Gunnar Gundy came out after that scoring drive, finishing 9-of-18 for 64 yards. He also exited as OSU’s leading rusher with 10 carries for 27 yards before Elijah Collins took that spot with 31 yards on nine attempts.

Alan Bowman started at quarterback for the second week in a row, going 6-of-12 for 42 yards and an interception. Bowman had what would have been a long touchdown pass dropped by Jaden Bray the first drive of the game. The beginning of that drive was the best OSU looked all night until the drop halted the drive and the Cowboys struggled to move the ball the rest of the game.

Garrett Rangel, who started at quarterback Week 1, didn’t appear until the last two drives of the game with 9:04 left. OSU went three-and-out both of Rangel’s drives, as he went 1-of-5 for eight yards.

Between position rotations, poor play calling and dreadful blocking up front, the Cowboys were ineffective all night offensively. OSU finished with 208 total yards, reaching the end zone only once and averaging 3.2 yards a carry on 94 rushing yards.

The Cowboys start their Big 12 schedule next, traveling to Iowa State at 3 p.m. Saturday. The Cyclones lost to Ohio 10-7 on Saturday, so even with conference play here, there’s still a game left for OSU to figure something out.