Cowboys Standout in Second Half in Win Over Colorado

STILLWATER, Okla. - Oklahoma State scored 37 unanswered points and the defensive locked in after halftime to send a Homecoming crowd at Boone Pickens Stadium home happy with a 57-24 win Saturday night over Colorado. 

When kicker Sam Keltner nailed a 41 yard field goal with 14 seconds to go before halftime the Homecoming crowd was happy to pull the game within a point as the Cowboys trailed the Deion Sanders led Colorado Bufffaloes, 24-23. What they didn’t know was those three points would kickstart the Cowboy scoring that didn’t stop as OSU proceeded to score 34 points in the second half.

The visiting Buffaloes held a 14-7 lead after the first quarter of action on a pair of Isaac Wilson touchdown passes to JaQuail Smith and DeAndre Moore Jr.. OSU jumped out to an early lead as Miles Coleman hauled in a wide-open 47 yard touchdown pass from Drew Mestemaker less than a minute into the game. 

Keltner’s first of five field goals came early in the second quarter and the Cowboys regained the lead in the second quarter with a Justin Bowick 14 yard touchdown reception from Mestemaker to put the Pokes up 17-14. Bowick and Mestemaker connected five times for a game-high 138 yards. 

“I’ve never had a receiver like him, and I don’t think there are many receiver like him out there,” said Mestemaker of Bowick. “When you think he is covered you still throw it, and he’ll make a play on it.”

The lead for the Cowboys didn’t last long as Colorado marched 75 yards on six plays in under two and a half minutes to retake the lead 20-17 on a one-yard Wilson touchdown run, his first of the season. Wilson was nearly perfect in the first half completing 14-of-16 passing for 222 yards and two touchdowns. The two teams traded field goals to head into the intermission with the visitors leading by one. 

The near perfection of Wilson became nearly capable as the Cowboy defense put on the clamps. Forcing a fumble on the first play of the second half led to a short field for the Cowboys and a Mestemaker to Morgan McPhaul three-yard passing touchdown and gave OSU a 30-24 lead that it wouldn’t relinquish. 

The Pokes would proceed to score on six of seven second-half possessions. Two touchdowns on the ground from William Mason for three yards in the third quarter and Tre Page for 18 yards in the fourth quarter. Mestemaker’s fourth touchdown pass came in the fourth quarter finding Wyatt Young for 28 yards with 9:29 remaining. 

Cowboy defensive back LaDainian Fields intercepted two passes from Wilson, both coming in the second half, as OSU’s defense held the Bufffaloes to 5-of-13 on third down conversions. But penalties proved costly for a CU team that ranks among the worst in FBS in penalties and penalty yardage per game, as the Buffaloes committed 11 penalties, six in the third quarter, and totaled 84 penalty yards. 

Buffaloes wide receiver Joseph Williams reflected on the turnovers and penalties in the second half, “I can say it’s deflating because all week at practice that was the main message for us, not to turn the ball over, no penalties.”

Running back Caleb Hawkins finished with 120 yards on 19 carries for the Cowboys. Mestemaker completed 21-of-36 passes for 386 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions and was sacked three times. Bowick led all-receivers with 138 yards on five receptions. Keltner was 5-of-5 on field goals from 21, 30, 30, 41, and 47 yards. 

“He’s a professional in everything he does,” said head coach Eric Morris of his kicker. “The way he prepares.” Mestemaker added about Keltner, “I’m glad we can even get points when we aren’t playing as well as an offense that we’ll still get points on teh board. Two of those basically add up to a touchdown, and whenever we are rolling, we can get down the field well and then to have someone that can end the drive in points, that’s big.” 

Colorado (2-5, 0-4 Big 12) was led in receiving by Joseph Williams game-high nine receptions for 135 yards. The Buffaloes were held to just 56 yards on the ground. Quarterback Isaac Wilson passed for 280 yards on 19-of-27 passing with two touchdowns and two interceptions and was sacked three times. 

Oklahoma State (5-2, 3-1 Big 12) travels to Ames, Iowa on Halloween to face Iowa State at 6 p.m. the game will be broadcast on television on FS1 and an audio broadcast via the Cowboy Radio Network.