#7 Oklahoma State 30 v. #8 Ags 29

This was a stunner.

Not because #7 Okie State came into Kyle Field and won - but because we were up 20-3 at the half and 54 seconds into the 4th quarter we were down by a TD.

What a melt down.

In the first half we completely dominated the Pokes on both sides of the ball. On the opening drive Tannehill ran a zone-read, kept the ball and sprinted 65 yards for the games opening score. Kyle Field went nuts.

We did have to settle for a couple of field goals inside the redzone that we needed to convert on, but the defense looked good and we had 350-something yards and a 17 point lead. I think everyone went into the half with good feelings and thoughts towards Arkansas and potential back-to-back weekends getting to watch top 10 teams battle it out.

The third quarter was on par with some of the worst football I've ever seen us play - and that included the entirety of the Fran era.

• We only had 11 offensive snaps. Three of those were turnovers.
  
  
• They ran 37 plays for 275 yards and scored 21 points
  
  
• Our defense was on the field for just a couple ticks shy of 11 minutes

During and after the game I was really upset because I thought we abandoned the run game waaaaaaaaay to early. In the second quarter C-Mike was running with more determination than I had ever seen him run with....5 carries for 58 yards (11.6 ypc) - he was a one man wrecking ball.

1st Drive (Score 20-10):
Tannehill scrambled for a yard
Pass to EZ for 10 yards
Pass to Fuller for 6 yards
Run by Gray for 1 yard
Incomplete pass
Punt

2nd Drive (Score 20-17):
Run by C-Mike for 4 yards
Pass to McNeal for 33 yards - but he tried to bowl over the defender and fumbled the ball away

3rd Drive (Score 20-24):
Run by C-Mike for 3 yards
INT

4th Drive (Score 20-24):
Incomplete pass
Run by Cyrus for 5 yards
INT

Thankfully, we got possession on that fourth drive on a touchback as Justin Blackmon fumbled a sure TD forward and out the back of the end zone - it really should have been 31-20 at that point. That was probably one of the most frustrating things - we had opportunities to recover but just couldn't.

We really didn't abandon the run game, we just didn't have the ball - and then in the 4th quarter, once we did, the clock dictated we need to get down field more quickly

Our defense was completely gassed. One of our defensive linemen, who I won't call out by name, wasn't even getting into a 3-point stance and was just leaning into the OL who was completely pushing him around. There was no effort - nor was he replaced. That infuriated me.

I can't figure out who stole Tim DeRuyter and who he was replaced with in that second half? He has always been excellent at making adjustments at halftime but in this case they regressed. oSu just threw little 7 yard bubble screens out to the flats over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over....

It didn't help any that Coryell Judie was out with a bad hamstring and that Sean Porter was sick and had lost 12 pounds leading up to the game.

In the 4th quarter they got it up to 30-20 and we mounted a comeback to make it 30-27....then forced them into a 3-and-out with 1:47 left on the clock. Our second snap was intercepted - game over.

They snapped the ball twice and then ran one backwards out the back of the endzone as the clock hit 0:00 for a safety.

They finished the afternoon with 94 offensive plays and accumulated 484 yards (this was after the 39 yard negative run for the safety). Brandon Weeden was 47-of-60 for 438 yards and 2 TDs. Josh Cooper had 11 receptions for 123 yards, Justin Blackmon has 11 for 120 and a TD, and Hubert Anyiam has 10 for 92 yards.

Okie State came out and handed it to us in the third quarter and we couldn't punch back. Got to tip your cap to them - they flat out wanted it more.