Oklahoma State will take any COVID-era victory, but the Cowboys didnt look like a threat to the Sooners on – The Dallas Morning News

The eyes of the Big 12 were focused on Oklahoma State.

The Cowboys' season opener Saturday with Tulsa was the only game on the conference schedule after Baylors third attempted opener, this one against Houston, was postponed.

For most of three quarters in an eventual 16-7 win over mistake-prone Tulsa, No. 11 Oklahoma State looked much like the Big 12 teams that got eclipsed by the Sun Belt last week in their openers. Finally, with a third-string freshman quarterback and by having playmakers Chuba Hubbard and Tylan Wallace assert themselves, the Cowboys escaped.

Did they look like the biggest threat to Oklahoma in the Big 12, which was what the preseason media poll indicated? Were they as dominant and crisp as the Sooners and Texas were in their openers?

Uh, no, and its another handy example for Big 12 critics.

It was still a victory and with the weird early-season COVID-19 landscape and a key injury that may be enough for the moment.

At the end of the day, obviously it wasnt a clean win. We have a lot of things to work on, Hubbard said on a Zoom call afterward, but we won, and thats all that matters.

Hubbards streak of 100-yard rushing games ended at 11. He still finished with 93 yards on 27 carries including the go-ahead touchdown on a 3-yard run in the fourth quarter.

The biggest lingering question will be the status of starting quarterback Spencer Sanders. The redshirt sophomore from Denton Guyer limped to the locker room favoring his right ankle following a fumbled handoff in the second quarter.

He didnt return with what Oklahoma State termed a lower extremity injury and his availability was unclear for the Big 12 opener with West Virginia in a week. Coach Mike Gundy said he didnt think the injury was serious but didnt elaborate.

While Tulsa was able to take a 7-3 lead on a 16-yard pass from former Baylor quarterback Zach Smith to Josh Johnson just before halftime, the Golden Hurricane simply made far too many mistakes to complete an upset like Louisiana, Arkansas State and Coastal Carolina had done.

Limited in practice by a COVID-19 spike, which forced the postponement of the game from Sept. 12, Tulsa committed 15 penalties for 120 yards and went 0 for 11 on third down.

Credit the Oklahoma State defense for not letting the game get out of hand when Sanders left and the offense stagnated.

I told them in the locker room after the game that I was proud of them for continuing to make stop after stop, Gundy said. Sometimes when the offense doesnt play as well or sputters out as much as we did today, then defensively its hard to continue to play, but they made plays.

Junior college transfer Ethan Bullock (8 of 13 for 41 yards) replaced Sanders and was ineffective, although he didnt have much help. Oklahoma State finished with just 277 yards, very off-brand for the Big 12.

Gundy went to Shane Illingworth, a 6-6 freshman from Norco, Calif., late in the third quarter. On his first drive, he connected with Wallace on passes of 24 and 36 yards setting up Hubbards touchdown run. Illingworth would finish 4 of 5 for 74 yards providing just what Oklahoma State needed.

Wallace, who caught four passes in the second half for 94 yards in his first game since a season-ending knee injury 11 months ago, admitted to being pleasantly surprised.

Seeing him, I know he can play, I know he can run, I know he can do what hes supposed to do, but with him being a freshman and the first time out there, playing on the big stage, you dont really know what to expect, Wallace said.

He definitely exceeded my expectations, went out there and did his thing, so Im really proud of the way he played.

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Oklahoma State will take any COVID-era victory, but the Cowboys didnt look like a threat to the Sooners on - The Dallas Morning News