The nation’s 13th ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys cruised to a 45-10 victory over Tulsa in the Gateway Turnpike Classic Saturday afternoon in front of sellout crowd of 30,915 fans at H.A. Chapman Stadium.
The Cowboys amassed 560 yards of total offense while five of its six touchdowns came through the air as Alex Bowman completed 24-of-31 passes for 396 yards and five scores. The OSU run game only gained 129 yards on the ground.
Tulsa managed 352 total yards with 236 coming through the air and 116 on the ground. Kirk Francis threw for 153 yards, while Kamdyn Benjamin led Tulsa receivers with 94 yards and Anthony Watkins had a team-high 40 rushing yards. Dayne Hodge led the Tulsa defense with 11 tackles as the unit held last year’s NCAA leading rusher Ollie Gordon to just 41 yards on 17 carries.
OSU scored 28 unanswered first-half points, all coming on pass plays, while holding a 326 to 187-yard advantage in total yards. The Cowboys added 17 second-half points, while the OSU defense limited the Hurricane to just 10 fourth-quarter points.
Despite controlling possession time in the first period, 10:34 to 4:26, the Cowboys held just a 7-0 lead but exploded for 21 second-quarter points. The first OSU score came at the 8:38 mark on a 75-yard, 16-play drive.
OSU opened the second quarter just as they did a period earlier with seven points on its first second-quarter drive for a 14-0 lead with 12:47 on the game clock. OSU’s Bowman connected on a 78-yard pass to Talyn Shettron for a 21-0 lead and a possession later Bowman found Josh Ford for 18 yards and a 28-0 lead with 3:23 left in the first half.
The Cowboys expanded its lead to 35-10 with 10 points in the third period and added a fourth-quarter touchdown for the final margin of victory.