Oklahoma State football: Pokes knock off Texas in second-half comeback

Oklahoma State football improved to 6-0 (3-0) with a 32-24 come-from-behind victory against Texas in Week 7. After trailing by as much as 17-3 in the first half, the Cowboys relied on its potent rushing attack with Jaylen Warren and its defense to storm back and hand the Longhorns their third loss of the season.

It was another win this year in which most OSU fans would agree: it wasn’t pretty, but we’ll take it.

The Cowboys began the 2021 season with three one-possession wins in non-conference play, struggling to move the ball and find much of a rhythm on offense. That certainly felt like the case on Saturday afternoon at Darrell K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium, as OSU settled too often for field goals after seeing Spencer Sanders miss the target several times. The Cowboys had two separate first-and-goal opportunities that resulted in field goals instead of touchdowns.

Oklahoma State football relied on its familiar 2021 winning formula to beat Texas in Week 7: get stops on defense and rely on the ground attack.

Sanders did find the end zone in the fourth quarter twice, hitting wide receiver Brennan Presley for a seven-yard touchdown pass and scoring on a 10-yard run with two minutes left. After a cold start throwing the ball, the Denton, Tex. native finished with19-for-32, 178 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception.

The undeniable star of the show was Warren, who finished with 193 rushing yards on 33 carries. The Utah State transfer got stronger as the game progressed, helping OSU set up several of its late-game scores.

The defense, too, deserves its credit. Texas scored early in the third quarter to go up 24-13 off a 38-yard touchdown run by Bijan Robinson. The Longhorns would not score again as the Cowboys scored 19 unanswered points to end the game.

A play of the game for the Cowboys has to go to defensive back Jason Taylor II getting an interception off Texas quarterback Casey Thompson. The Pokes trailed 17-3 and looked anemic on offense, and Texas was driving once again in the second quarter. The Carl Albert product raced to the Longhorns end zone untouched after the pick — breathing life into OSU while preventing Texas from scoring while already up by two possessions.

OSU head coach Mike Gundy now improves to 8-4 against Texas since 2010. The Cowboys have also won six of the teams’ previous seven meetings in Austin, which feels like a fitting parting gift from Stillwater for a team that’s likely headed to the SEC before a scheduled return visit in 2023 would take place.

It’s a bitter pill to swallow for Longhorns fans, who have now watched their team blow double-digit leads to their opponent from north of the Red River in consecutive weeks. Texas led 28-7 after the first quarter of its eventual 55-48 loss to OU the week prior to this game.

Without much certainty in what happens with the teams ranked ahead of it, OSU figures to move into the Top 10 with the victory. The Cowboys were slight underdogs going on the road to face a Texas squad that had nearly beaten No. 4 Oklahoma in the previous week.