Oklahoma State football flattened by Arizona State after weather delay

Oklahoma State football flattened by Arizona State after weather delay | 5 takeaways

Posted by Admin November 3, 2024 Football

STILLWATER — Oklahoma State’s losing streak has reached six games, the most consecutive losses by a Mike Gundy-coached Cowboy squad.

The 42-21 loss to Arizona State on Saturday night at Boone Pickens Stadium was the latest gut punch in a season that has continued its downward swirl.

Arizona State’s Cam Skattebo — who everyone in the stadium knew was going to get the ball — had 274 yards from scrimmage, with 153 on the ground and 121 on pass receptions.

The Cowboys trailed just 21-14 at the half, but the game was delayed over 2 ½ hours by a thunderstorm.

After the long delay, OSU looked to have a shot of momentum when Kyler Pearson returned the second half kickoff 98 yards for what would have been a game-tying touchdown.

But a holding call on Raymond Gay II wiped out the touchdown and instead sent the Cowboys back to their 17-yard line to start the drive.

For the game, OSU quarterback Alan Bowman was 13 of 19 for 175 yards, but the second-half portion of those numbers were 4 of 11 for 25 yards.

The Cowboys had just 107 yards in the second half, with 49 of it coming on a late touchdown drive when the game was out of reach.

Here are four more takeaways from the Cowboy loss:

Brennan Presley inches closer to record

OSU super-senior slot receiver Brennan Presley came into the game with 281 career receptions, 12 behind OSU’s all-time leader, Rashaun Woods, with 293.

While it would’ve been a thrill to see Presley set the record on the home field, he’ll be well within striking distance when the Pokes travel to TCU next Saturday.

Presley had five catches for 29 yards, bringing his reception total to 286.

Cowboys’ bowl chances against the ropes

OSU coach Mike Gundy’s streak of seasons with at least seven wins will end at 18.

And now, the Cowboy bowl streak — also at 18 straight — is on life support.

To reach the minimum six wins, OSU must win out from here: at TCU next Saturday, at home against Texas Tech on Nov. 23 and at Colorado on Nov. 29.

The scary part, however, is that there seems to be no clear path to victory for this team. The Cowboy defense is in this position mostly because of injuries, which won’t change soon. And the offense went stagnant in the second half, needing to run the ball, but unable to do so.

The more realistic streak to continue for this team is its losing streak, which is at six games and could stretch to nine.

OSU has never gone winless in Big 12 play in the history of the conference, though OSU went winless in the Big Eight three times in the early 1990s, the last in 1994.

Maealiuaki Smith gets first action

OSU true freshman Maealiuaki Smith, who has served as the No. 2 quarterback the past two weeks, saw his first game action of the season, leading a fourth-quarter touchdown drive that ended with an impressive run by Sesi Vailahi.

Smith completed his first pass attempt for 11 yards to Ayo Shotomide-King on the drive. He also rushed for 5 yards on his first career attempt.

With just three more games remaining this season, Smith is not in danger of burning his redshirt.

Additionally, senior receiver Da’Wain Lofton played in the game, which was his fourth appearance of the season. He has a redshirt year available, but it is unclear if he will choose to use it.

Defensively, true freshmen Landyn Cleveland and David Kabongo also got their most significant playing time of the season in meaningful defensive situations.

For Cleveland, Saturday was his fifth game of the season, meaning he is no longer eligible to redshirt this season. Kabongo has now played in four games.

Game delayed nearly 3 hours

The OSU and Arizona State players went to the halftime locker room like normal just a few minutes after 4 p.m., but they wouldn’t return for nearly 2 ½ hours.

The Cowboy Marching Band performed its halftime show before lightning neared the area, leading to an announcement for fans to evacuate the stadium.

About two hours into the delay, it was determined that the game would resume at 6:55 p.m. The official length of the delay was 2 hours, 38 minutes.