Oklahoma State had the offense rolling at Iowa State, but the Cowboys’ special teams spent the first half handing momentum back to the Cyclones.
Two costly breakdowns on that phase of the game helped flip a contest that had been moving in OSU’s direction. Coach Eric Morris called them “two really, really timely costly mistakes for us,” and both came at moments when the Cowboys could have tightened their grip on the game.
The first swing came early in the second quarter on an onside kick. Iowa State executed a “little bunt kick” perfectly, and Morris said Oklahoma State’s coverage team reacted too early.
“We show those every week,” Morris said. “And we showed them this week.
We practice them every week. Our two guys left early on a little bunt.
We gotta execute that better.”
The Cowboys had only one of their five front-line players in position to make a real play on the ball, but the Cyclones kept close to the kick until it traveled 10 yards and then swarmed the area. What should have been a routine reset turned into a possession change that helped Iowa State keep building on its lead.
That mattered because Oklahoma State’s offense was doing its part. Iowa State had already gone touchdown, interception and three-and-out on its first three drives, and the Cowboys were still in the fight. But after the onside kick and a missed field goal by Sam Keltner - his first miss of the year - the Cyclones later hit a 43-yard touchdown pass on 3rd-and-1 and moved ahead 21-14.
The Cowboys answered. They drove the ball downfield, got past their usual red zone issues and tied the game. Even then, the defense did enough to give the offense another chance, forcing a punt after a seven-play drive that gained only six yards.
Then special teams struck again.
Punt returner Bobby Deal moved forward trying to make a diving catch instead of letting the ball bounce, touched it, and couldn’t secure it. Iowa State recovered at the OSU 36-yard line with 2:26 left in the half. The defense still limited the damage, forcing Iowa State into a 39-yard field goal on 4th-and-20, but the Cyclones still went to the locker room with a 24-21 lead.
That sequence stung because Oklahoma State’s offense had scored three touchdowns on four first-half drives. Morris and his team had every reason to think another score might have been there if they had gotten the ball back before halftime.
Instead, the Cowboys watched the final 6:19 of the half from the sideline.
“We can’t rely on the crowd to execute our plays. We can’t get caught in the swing of emotions and gotta execute at the end of the day,” quarterback Drew Mestemaker said.
After halftime, the Cowboys had a brief chance to settle in. They gained 30 yards on their first three plays of the second half, then stalled with an incompletion, a run for no gain and a false start that buried them in 3rd-and-15. Iowa State kept converting its own third downs, including 3rd-and-5 and 3rd-and-6, and stretched the lead to 10 points.
From there, Oklahoma State was chasing the rest of the way until Wyatt Young’s penalty after the go-ahead touchdown in the final minute.
The whole thing stood in sharp contrast to what the Cowboys had done at home. Against UCF, safety Evan Jackson turned a backward pass into a touchdown, and against Colorado, Quinton Hammonds recovered a fumble on the first play of the second half to set up a go-ahead score.
“Football, especially college football, it’s such a game of momentum,” Morris said after beating Colorado. “We talk about that with our players all the time.
We talk about when you have momentum, you’re fighting to keep it, and when you don’t have momentum, you’ve got to go get it. Just like leverage in life.
No difference.
“And I think football has always been one of life’s greatest teachers. And I think that’s true, and kids learn that mentality about momentum.
So, that’s something even when we have good ball, bad ball in here, and I’m showing film to the whole entire team on Mondays, momentum is a part of that. That’s important for us to capture these moments.”
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