Cowboys Start Strong, Hold on Late to Beat Texas A&M in Texas Bowl
Oklahoma State's football team had a big first half, then held off a second half rally by Texas A&M to beat the Aggies 31-23 at the Texas Bowl at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, on Wednesday night.
Brennan Presley tied a school record with 16 catches, and Rashod Owens broke OSU's record for receiving yards in a bowl game with 164.
Alan Bowman was 34-for-49 for 402 yards, with two touchdowns to Owens and two interceptions as well.
Ollie Gordon added 118 yards rushing on 27 carries and a score.
Presley finished with 152 yards receiving.
OSU ran 19 more plays than the Aggies and rolled up 570 total yards.
Texas A&M got the ball to start the game, on the first snap, Aggie quarterback Jaylen Henderson was upended while throwing the ball and suffered an injury to his right arm.
He was taken off the field and did not return.
The Aggies had to punt after making a first down, and OSU marched to a field goal on their first possession.
Ollie Gordon gained 22 yards on a run and Alan Bowman passed to Rashod Owens for a gain of 30 yards, setting up a 19-yard field goal by Alex Hale to put OSU up 3-0 with 8:38 left in the first quarter.
The Aggies responded by getting their own field goal, a 37-yarder by Randy Bond to tie the game at 3 with 4:34 left in the first quarter.
Oklahoma State answered with a 10-play, 65-yard drive, with Bowman lobbing a 13-yard touchdown pass to Owens to put the Cowboys up 10-3 with 21 seconds left in the first quarter.
Texas A&M got a big play on their ensuing possession as Reed found a wide open Jaden Platt for 39 yards.
That set up a 24-yard field goal by Bond to cut OSU's lead to 10-6 with 11:31 to play.
OSU got two big pass plays on their next possession, a 26-yard completion from Bowman to Brennan Presley, then Presley passed to Owens for a gain of 34 yards.
On the next play, Gunnar Gundy kept for a 10-yard touchdown to put OSU up 17-6 with 9:29 to play in the second quarter.
Three straight possessions ended in punts, then OSU added to their lead.
Bowman passed to Braden Cassity for a gain of 17 yards to the Aggies 1-yard line on 3rd and 9.
Ollie Gordon scored on a run on the next play to make it 24-6 Cowboys with 36 seconds left in the first half.
OSU got the ball to start the second half, but Bowman was intercepted by Dalton Brooks at the Aggies' 40-yard line.
Six plays later, A&M converted the turnover into points as Amari Daniels scored on a two-yard touchdown run to make it 24-13 Cowboys with 9:44 to play in the third quarter.
OSU answered with a six-play, 80-yard drive, with Bowman passing to Leon Johnson for 32 yards, then finding Owens for an 18-yard touchdown to put the Cowboys up 31-13 with 7:17 left in the third quarter.
A&M had the answer, going, 75 yards in six plays, with Marcel Reed keeping for a 20-yard touchdown, cutting the OSU lead to 31-20 with 4:08 to play in the third quarter.
Reed was 20-for-33 passing for 361 yards.
After forcing a Cowboys punt, the Aggies were driving to cut into the lead even more, but on a 34-yard reception by Amari Daniels, Xavier Benson knocked the ball out and Nick Martin recovered at the OSU 1-yard line.
The Cowboys got out of the shadow of their own goal line, as Bowman passed to Leon Johnson for 33 yards, but three plays later, Bowman was intercepted by Sam Matthews at the A&M 28-yard line.
Both teams then exchanged punts, then A&M cut into the OSU lead when Randy Bond kicked a 51-yard field goal that bounced on the crossbar and went through the uprights to make it 31-23 Cowboys with 5:07 to play.
OSU tried to run out the clock, but were unable to do it, and Alex Hale missed a 47-yard field goal attempt wide right with 17 seconds left.
After a 27-yard completion, the Aggies had time for one more play with five seconds left, and Kendal Daniels intercepted Reed to end it.
This was the second time in five years these two teams have met in the Texas Bowl.
OSU finished the season 10-4, the eighth 10-win season under Mike Gundy.