No. 13 BYU Rallies Late, Gets Past Oklahoma State 38-35

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Don't sleep on No. 13 BYU as injured receiver Darius Lassiter caught a 35-yard touchdown pass from Jake Retzlaff with 10 seconds left, giving the Cougars a 38-35 win over Oklahoma State on Oct. 18. The win kept BYU perfect on the season at 7-0, 4-0 in Big 12 Conference play. For the Cowboys, they played their hearts out but fell to 3-4, 0-4.

This was BYU's first victory in school history over Oklahoma State. A packed house at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah erupted when Lassiter caught Retzlaff's pass. Lassiter made a couple of moves to elude Cowboys defenders at the 10-yard line, busting his way into the end zone.

Retzlaff finished 13-of-26 passing for 218 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Lassiter had 6 catches for 129 yards and his game-winning TD reception. BYU running back LJ Martin totaled 120 yards on 20 carries and 2 TD runs.

Oklahoma State Played Tough

Oklahoma State put up a valiant effort. Brennan Presley's 6-yard TD catch gave the Cowboys a 35-31 lead with 1:13 left in the game. Star running back Ollie Gordon II, who left the game in the third quarter with an apparent leg injury, returned to the lineup on the drive resulting in that score.

Freshman RB Rodney Fields Jr. ably backed up Gordon with 16 carries, 107 yards and 2 TDs.

Sophomore quarterback Garret Rangel made his fourth career start for the Cowboys in place of Alan Bowman. But Rangel injured his shoulder, forcing Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy to put Bowman in the game.

Martin's 8-yard TD run with 5:51 left in the third quarter tied the game at 21-21. Retzlaff then hit Keelan Marion on a 34-yard TD pass with 3:43 left in the third, giving BYU a 28-21 edge. But Oklahoma State did not go quietly into the Utah night. With 14:50 to go in the fourth quarter, Bowman hit Presley (5 catches, 43 yards, 1 TD) for a 16-yard TD pass to tie things up at 28-28 all.

Will Ferrin's 41-yard field goal with 9:49 to play sent BYU back up 31-28.

Again, though, the Cowboys would not give up. Oklahoma State pushed the ball downfield, taking the 35-31 lead and setting the stage for the dramatic finish.

BYU Offense Starts Fast

In the first half, Retzlaff got the BYU offense to a quick start. He moved the Cougars down the field, eventually scoring on a 4-yard TD run to give the Cougars an early 7-0 lead.

Oklahoma State, though, answered quickly. Gordon took a handoff, got loose from a BYU tackler and headed down the right sideline 50 yards to tie the game up at 7-7.

BYU then responded with a TD on the first play of the second quarter for a 14-7 edge as Martin scored on a 1-yard run. Gordon, though, wrapped up a 10-play Oklahoma State drive with a 17-yard TD catch from Rangel, jumping over a BYU defender to get into the end zone. That made it 14-14 with less than eight minutes left in the second quarter.

With under a minute left in the first half, Gordon scored on a 2-yard TD run for a 21-14 Oklahoma State lead. Retzlaff tried leading the Cougars downfield for a tying touchdown but threw an errant pass for an interception as time ran out.