No. 14 OSU has first loss of season in Big 12 opener, falling 22-19 to No. 12 Utah

By TIM WILLERT Associated Press

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Micah Bernard rushed for a career-high 182 yards, and No. 12 Utah withstood a fourth-quarter comeback to beat No. 14 Oklahoma State 22-19 on Saturday in the Utes’ first Big 12 game after leaving the Pac-12.

Brant Kuithe scored two touchdowns and Cole Becker kicked three field goals for Utah (4-0, 1-0 Big 12).

Freshman Isaac Wilson passed for 207 yards and a touchdown and ran for 41 yards in place of injured Utes starter Cam Rising, who warmed up but didn’t play.

Oklahoma State’s Alan Bowman, benched after an ineffective first half, returned midway through the fourth quarter and passed for two touchdowns and two 2-point conversions to help Oklahoma State (3-1, 0-1) trim Utah’s lead to three points.

Utah ran 81 plays to 59 for the Cowboys and had the ball for more than 42 minutes.

“The defense was on the field all day, which made it extremely difficult for them, honestly,” Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said. “I thought they played really well. You can only be out there so much. It made it really difficult.”

Bowman, who was 8 of 22 for 89 yards in the first half, finished with 206 yards and two interceptions. Sophomore Garret Rangel played the third quarter and part of the fourth before Bowman returned with 9:26 left and the Cowboys trailing 16-3.

“Offensively, we were awful,” Gundy said. “We couldn’t get any quarterback play, and then all of a sudden, late in the game we start playing better at quarterback. They won the game, but we certainly did a lot of things to help them.”

Utah held Oklahoma State’s Ollie Gordon II to 42 yards rushing. Gordon won the Doak Walker Award for the nation’s best running back last season.

Utah turned the ball over three times in the first half but still led 10-3. Cowboys safety Trey Rucker intercepted Wilson twice before the break.

The Utes’ defense limited Oklahoma State to 119 yards and five first downs before the break, with Gordon gaining 16 yards on six carries.

The teams traded field goals before Utah forced a punt and drove 64 yards in 11 plays for the only touchdown of the first half. Kuithe scored on a direct snap from the 1-yard line.

The Takeaway
Utah limited Oklahoma State to 285 yards and forced eight punts. The Cowboys nearly completed the comeback, but couldn’t stop Bernard late, and the Utes ran out the clock.

Musical Chairs
Gundy said he pulled Bowman because “sometimes you’ve got to get a guy out of there and calm him down a little bit.”

“Things move so fast that it’s hard to get that part of it,” he said. “But I just felt like we weren’t getting good play, and we needed a relief pitcher and got somebody else in there. And Garret had a tough day, so we switched back.”

Rangel, a sophomore, completed 3 of 11 passes for 31 yards.

Up Next
Oklahoma State visits Kansas State on Saturday.