Utah Utes win first-ever Big 12 game, hold off OSU

The last and only time the Oklahoma State Cowboys and the Utah Utes met on the gridiron, Harry S. Truman was president and the Stillwater institution was known as Oklahoma A&M College. On that Oct. 20, 1945, day in Salt Lake City, the Aggies routed the Utes 46-6 en route to a 9-0 undefeated national championship season.

It took almost 79 years, but the Utes avenged that loss as Utah defeated OSU 22-19 in the Big 12 opener for both teams.

With the game tied at 3-all after a game-tying field goal by Utah placekicker Cole Becker with 14:56 left before halftime, the Utes (4-0 overall, 1-0 in Big 12 play) stopped the Cowboys (3-1, 0-1) on their ensuing possession, and they got the ball back off the punt at their own 36-yard line with 13:53 remaining in the first half.

The Utes went 64 yards in 11 plays, including their second fourth-down conversion, to take their first lead of the game on a 1-yard plunge into the end zone by Utah U-back Brant Kuithe. Becker’s extra point put Utah ahead 10-3 with 7:25 left in the first half.

The Cowboys tried to respond as they took the ensuing kickoff at their own 25-yard line off the touchback. They drove as deep as the Utah 29yard line, but the drive stalled. OSU place-kicker Logan Ward attempted a 46-yard field goal, but his kick went just wide right — keeping Utah ahead 10-3 with 5:32 remaining before halftime.

Then, the defenses stiffened for both squads.

On the ensuing Utah drive, OSU linebacker Nick Martin made a fumble recovery at the OSU 30-yard line with 1:04 left before halftime.

The ensuing OSU drive was ended abrubtly as Utah safety Alaka’i Gilman picked off OSU quarterback Alan Bowman at the OSU 37-yard line just 20 seconds into the Pokes’ drive.

Just 24 seconds after that, the Utah ensuing drive came to a screeching halt as OSU safety Trey Rucker got his second interception of the half as he picked off Utah QB Isaac Wilson at the OSU 9-yard line with 20 seconds remaining in the first half. OSU just kneeled down to run out the clock, sendingf the teams to the locker rooms with Utah leading 10-3.

After Utah’s second-half opening drive was a three and out, OSU tried to make a spark happen as Bowman was pulled for back-up quarterback Garret Rangel, but it did not work as OSU also went three and out on its first possession of the second half.

It looked as if the Utes were going to go up by two scores on the ensuing possession. Thanks to a 48-yard run by Wilson, the Utes moved from their own 21-yard line to the OSU 18. However, the drive stalled, and Becker was called upon to attempt a 36-yard field goal. However, the kick went wide left, keeping OSU down just a score at 10-3 with 8:15 left in the third quarter.

The Utes wasted little time getting back into OSU’s red zone. Thanks to a 62-yard ramble by Utah running back Micah Bernard to take the ball from the Utah 11 to the OSU 27, the Utes drove as deep as the OSU 20yard line. However, the OSU defense stiffened and forced Utah to settle for a 38-yard field goal by Becker with 2:39 remaining in the period to increase Utah’s lead to 13-3 after three quarters.

After stopping OSU once more, Utah went from its own 30-yard line and got as deep as the OSU 23-yard line. However, once again the Utes had to settle for a Becker field goal, this one a 44-yarder, to up Utah’s advantage to 16-3 with 11:29 left in the game.

On OSU’s second possession of the fourth quarter, Bowman returned to his QB spot, but that didn’t create a spark for the Pokes, either.

On OSU’s second possession with the return of Bowman as QB, he threw a pick as Utah cornerback Elijah Davis intercepted it at the OSU 45-yard line with 6:31 remaining to play.

The Utes put the exclamation mark on the win as on the very next play, Wilson connected with Kuithe for a 45-yard touchdown pass. Utah went for two points and failed, keeping Utah ahead 22-3 with 6:21 remaining in the game.

With this, a mass exodus took place at Boone Pickens Stadium.

However, for the fans who stayed, they got to see OSU’s first TD of the game as Bowman hit Brennan Presley on a 28-yard touchdown pass. The same two hooked up for the two-point conversion to cut the OSU deficit to 22-11 with 5:37 left to play.

“Sometimes, we don’t do it a lot here, but sometimes, you’ve got to get a guy out of there and calm him down a little bit,” Gundy said about the decision to pull Bowman for Rangel. “Things move so fast during the game that it’s hard to get that part of it, but I just felt like we weren’t getting good play. We needed a relief pitcher and get somebody else in there, and Garrett had a tough day, so we switched back. But as I said, we haven’t done that a lot here, but sometimes you’ve got to get a guy out and clear your mind a little.”

After stopping Utah on its next possession, the Pokes took over possession at their own 31-yard line with 3:16 remaining to play. The Cowboys went 69 yards in seven plays as Bowman connected with Rashod Owens for a 9-yard TD pass. Bowman and Presley once again connected on the two-point conversion pass as OSU cut its deficit to 22-19 with 1:47 left in the game.

OSU tried an onside kick, which was recovered by Utah at the OSU 467yard line. The Utes ran out the clock, thanks to making one first down.

After the Utes gambled on fourth down at the OSU 32-yard line and was stopped on downs in their opening possession of the game, the Cowboys took over and drove as deep as the Utah 6. However, the Utah defense stiffened and forced OSU to settle for a 23-yard field goal by Ward for a 3-0 lead for the Pokes with 8:43 left in the first quarter.

The Cowboys got another takeaway when Rucker picked off Wilson at the OSU 41 with 7:40 remaining in the period. However, OSU could do nothing with the possession and ended up punting to the Utes with 5:39 left in the period, which saw the Pokes take a 3-0 lead into the second quarter.

The Utes took over possession at their own 13-yard line and drove as deep as the OSU 16, but a sack by OSU defensive end Xavier Ross stymied the drive, which earlier saw Utah convert a fourth down.

The Utes settled for a 43-yard field goal by Becker on the first play of the second quarter to tie the game at 3-all with 14:56 left before halftime.

The Pokes will look to rebound at 11 a.m. this Saturday in their first Big 12 road game of the season against Kansas State.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Check out last Saturday’s other college football stories on our website at www.sequoyahcountytimes.com.