Oklahoma State’s Big Fourth Quarter Seals Win Against West Virginia

Finishing games has not been a strength of Oklahoma State this season, but Saturday told a different story.

OSU beat West Virginia 48-34 in Morgantown for its third consecutive win. But unlike other wins, this was thanks to a massive fourth quarter.

The Cowboys entered the fourth quarter with the ball, trailing 24-20, but were forced into a punt by the Mountaineers' defense. Then, the game shifted in the Cowboys’ favor.

WVU punt returner Preston Fox was hit by his teammate as he tried to grab the punt, leading to a recovery by OSU’s Parker Robertson. With OSU beginning on the WVU 27-yard line, it took advantage.

Alan Bowman threw an incomplete pass on first down, but a couple of Ollie Gordon runs finished the drive. Gordon went for a 16-yard score for his first touchdown of the quarter.

Gordon led the Cowboys’ offense all game but exploded in the final quarter. Gordon went for 149 yards and three touchdowns in the fourth alone.

After WVU answered with a field goal to tie the game, it was someone other than Gordon to put the Cowboys in the lead again. Brennan Presley took a pass from Bowman in the backfield and ran through the Mountaineers’ defense to get the lead back with seven minutes left.

Presley’s 29-yard score gave OSU a lead it would not give up. WVU reached midfield on the next drive but never got into OSU territory.

With a fourth-and-2, still down only one score, WVU quarterback Garrett Greene tried to run to the left side but was met in the backfield by Kendal Daniels. Daniels wrapped up Greene four yards behind the line of scrimmage to set up Gordon’s first big touchdown run of the last few minutes.

OSU’s offense probably went back on the field with a plan to take time off the clock. It took off 10 seconds on the drive.

Gordon took the handoff on the first play after Daniels’ big stop and went 46 yards to the house. Not only did the run give OSU its largest lead of the game, but it also put Gordon over 200 yards rushing.

In scoring 28 fourth-quarter points, OSU went for its highest-scoring game of the season. OSU scored more in just one quarter than it had in its first four games.

After OSU went up two scores, Greene led WVU downfield, and CJ Donaldson got into the end zone in only a couple of minutes to give their team a chance. With OSU roughing the kicker on the extra point, WVU attempted an onside kick at midfield.

The kick took a high bounce as Presley dove to secure the ball for OSU. Gordon nearly broke through the defense on his 8-yard gain on first down.

Gordon then put the finishing touches on the game. A 53-yard score gave Gordon his fourth touchdown of the day, plus it put OSU back up by 14.

WVU again tried to have a quick scoring drive, but the OSU defense had one last stop. D.J. McKinney broke up Greene’s fourth-down pass to Devin Carer with less than a minute to go and sealed the win for OSU.

The Cowboys had struggled to race to the finish line and spent previous fourth quarters hoping the clock would run as fast as possible. But in this game, the Cowboys raced to the finish line, showing that they could not only finish games but do so emphatically.

It was fitting that in Mike Gundy’s 400th game with OSU, the fourth quarter got him the win.

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