The Sports Xchange
Nov 7, 2015
STILLWATER, Okla. -- This month in the Big 12 is billed as the November to Remember, with all the top contenders set up for what amounts to a round robin.
Oklahoma State used the first Saturday to make a major statement, including one to the College Football Playoff committee: Remember the Cowboys.
Unbeaten Oklahoma State, which opened at No. 14 in the initial rankings, rolled out to a 42-16 lead against No. 8 TCU on the way to a 49-29 romp at Boone Pickens Stadium.
Cowboys quarterback Mason Rudolph passed for 352 yards and five touchdowns -- three to wide receiver James Washington.
Horned Frogs quarterback Trevone Boykin, considered a Heisman Trophy front-runner, totaled 518 yards, ran for two touchdowns and passed for one, but was intercepted three times before the Cowboys had their 42-16 lead and threw another that was returned for a touchdown in the final minute.
Oklahoma State (9-0) owns a schedule edge the rest of the way. After a trip to Iowa State next Saturday, the Cowboys are home to face both No. 6 Baylor and No. 15 Oklahoma to close the month.
It was the first matchup of the four Big 12 contenders and the first opportunity to make an impression beyond the region.
The Cowboys surely did.
Washington, too.
Washington, a sophomore wide receiver, hauled in three of Rudolph's touchdown throws and finished with five receptions for 184 yards. He started Oklahoma State's big day with two first-quarter scores and stamped it with a long third-quarter touchdown catch, a 74-yard grab that featured a spin-move out of the catch.
TCU finished with 663 yards of offense but was undone by the turnovers and two failed fourth-down conversions, including from the Oklahoma State 1-yard line with 5:01 remaining and the Frogs still clinging to hope of a comeback.
The Cowboys, underdogs at home, led 28-9 at the half. And they did it by turning things upside down for TCU, the nation's No. 2 total offense team.
Through two quarters, Oklahoma State ran 30 plays and had 28 points. TCU had nine points for its eight possessions. Rudolph had four touchdown passes and only five incompletions.
Rudolph and Washington connected twice for long touchdowns, the first a 48-yard strike that put the Cowboys in front 7-0.
On a nearly identical play down the sideline on Oklahoma State's next series, Rudolph hit Washington for a 50-yard score. And it steamrolled from there.
TCU managed a field goal, but Oklahoma State tacked on two more touchdowns before halftime, with Rudolph going deep again for one, firing to wideout Marcell Ateman on an 82-yard score.
NOTES: Saturday's Oklahoma State-TCU game matched the winningest coaches at the two schools. Mike Gundy has 92 victories to lead the Cowboys and Gary Patterson's 140 wins are tops for the Horned Frogs. ... The Cowboys were without starting senior DE Jimmy Bean, who suffered a torn ACL in last week's win at Texas Tech. Bean, with 5 1/2 sacks and 10 1/2 tackles for loss, won't return this season. ... TCU had been 47 of 47 on extra-point attempts before Vincent Taylor blocked the Frogs' first try Saturday. ... TCU lost top WR Josh Doctson to a wrist injury near the end of the first half. He did not return.