Field Level Media
Oct 28, 2018
Taylor Cornelius passed for 321 yards and three touchdowns and ran for two more scores as Oklahoma State held on for a 38-35 win over No. 6 Texas on Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma, in Big 12 play.
Cornelius, a fifth-year senior who has been much maligned during the difficult first half of the season for the Cowboys, was the difference against Texas. Tylan Wallace hauled in 10 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns, all career highs, as Cornelius' main target.
Oklahoma State (5-3, 2-3) built a 31-14 first-half lead but had its margin reduced to three points midway through the fourth quarter, but then Cornelius rambled 10 yards and rolled over the pylon in the front corner of the end zone for an insurance touchdown with 5:44 to play.
Texas (6-2, 4-1) cut the lead to 38-35 with 1:46 to play on Tre Watson's 1-yard touchdown run. After a failed onside kick by the Longhorns, Cornelius converted a final third down with a read-option keeper that allowed the Cowboys to run out the clock.
Longhorns quarterback Sam Ehlinger passed for 283 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two scores in the loss, which snapped a six-game winning streak for Texas. The Cowboys have defeated Texas four straight times and seven out of the past nine meetings.
Oklahoma State drove 53 yards on four plays, capped by Cornelius' 40-yard TD pass to Wallace just 1:48 into the game for a 7-0 lead.
Texas responded with a 65-yard, seven-play march to Ehlinger's shimmy-shake 5-yard touchdown run off right tackle to tie the game at 7 at the 9:58 mark of the first quarter.
The Cowboys jumped back in front on the ensuing possession on a 16-yard Cornelius scoring pass to a wide-open Jelani Woods on fourth down and one. Matt Ammendola added a 24-yard field goal on Oklahoma State's next drive to expand the Cowboys lead to 17-7.
Cornelius pushed the pile for a 1-yard TD run on a quarterback sneak five minutes into the second quarter to increase the Cowboys' advantage to 24-7.
Two dead-on throws from Ehlinger -- one for 34 yards to Lil'Jordan Humphrey and another to tight end Andrews Beck for 37 yards -- set the table for the quarterback's 2-yard scoring run that brought Texas back to 24-14.
Cornelius and Wallace connected again for a 36-yard TD over a defender who was in position but mistimed his jump and allowed the Cowboys' receiver to corral the scoring pass that garnered Oklahoma State a 31-14 lead.
After Ammendola missed a 38-yard field goal attempt midway through the third quarter, Texas drove 78 yards in six plays, with a 22-yard touchdown strike from Ehlinger to Keaontay Ingram on a wheel route cutting the deficit to 31-21 with 2:15 to play in the quarter.
--Field Level Media