The only word to accurately describe Oklahoma State’s 49-31 victory over the Texas Longhorns is domination. That’s precisely what they did, they dominated.That’s something that doesn’t happen very often in Stillwater, OK with this being the Cowboys first win over Texas at home since 1997.
Oklahoma State got off to a great offensive start in the first quarter en route to a game where they made even more history by scoring more points than they had in the previous 31 meetings against the Longhorns. There were many shining stars in this game, but Mason Rudolph took the game ball in my book. With the pressure on him and an entire offense, he produced 392 yards passing, completing 19-of 28 passes for three touchdowns.
Freshman running back Justice Hill, former Booker T. Washington standout showed why he was so highly recruited out of high shool after running for 143 yards on 25 carries and a touchdown. He revitalized the Cowboys’ running game and proved you can’t sleep on their offense.
“We needed to change the tune, change the trend,” Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said. “I had mentioned to the juniors and seniors that have accomplished a lot here together, ‘You need to be the group that stops this.’ So I think they took a little pride in that.”
Sophomore wide receiver Jalen McClesky was one of the players that aided in changing the dominant Longhorn trend in Stillwater. The 5’10, 170-pound scrawny receiver showed that size isn’t everything after four receptions for 109 yards, one of which being a very impressive 52-yard touchdown which was just one of his two touchdown receptions. James Washington also continued his elite play with three catches for 91 yards.
Obviously, there were a lot of home runs hit, and exploitation of a sub-par Texas defense, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is the Cowboys’ 18-point win over the No. 22 Texas Longhorns who they haven’t beaten since OSU’s impact players were in diapers or in Justice hill’s case, weren’t even born.
Things could’ve been worse for the Longhorns to be honest. James Washington was knocked out of the game in the third quarter due to a massive hit delivered by Texas linebacker, Malcolm Roach. If Washington would have played the last quarter of the game it’s reasonable to think that his reception total would’ve gone up.
This win feels even better for the Cowboys because they finished it off without their star.
“James will be fine,” Rudolph said. “He’s a little soft for that (leaving the game) — we’re giving him a hard time for that — but he got hit pretty hard. I thought it should have been a penalty, but I think our guys did a great job stepping up.”
This loss could be detrimental for the Longhorns because they face off against another Oklahoma school, their rivals, the Sooners next Saturday in Dallas Texas for the Red River Rivalry. This was the game they really needed to win.
As for Oklahoma State, this win is great for them. Although they didn’t jump back into the top 25, they are looking good and with another dominant win over Iowa State Saturday they may gain access back into the polls next week. Oklahoma State is in a great position to be on top of the Big 12, a conference that doesn’t have a clear dominant team.
