STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said he wasn’t worried when his Cowboys fell 17 points behind Iowa State in the third quarter.
His explosive up-tempo offense showed why. James Washington caught eight passes for 152 yards and two touchdowns, and Oklahoma State beat Iowa State 38-31 on Saturday afternoon.
The Cowboys trailed 31-14 with 5:55 left in the third quarter, but Washington put Oklahoma State ahead for good when he caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Mason Rudolph with 3:40 left in the fourth. The 17-point comeback tied for the second largest in OSU history.
“We can score fast,” Gundy said. “If we were in a conventional offense, we would have been in trouble. Because we have the ability to score really fast, and we have playmakers who can pick up big chunks of yards, I didn’t feel that way. But I didn’t feel very good either.”
Rudolph passed for 351 yards and four touchdowns for Oklahoma State (4-2, 2-1 Big 12). The Cowboys were held to 108 yards rushing.
It was the second consecutive late collapse for Iowa State (1-5, 0-3). The Cyclones were trying to bounce back after a heartbreaking last-second 45-42 loss to No. 13 Baylor last Saturday and get the first conference victory for first-year coach Matt Campbell.
“I thought it was a gutsy performance, but we just have to learn to finish, and that’s part of what we’re doing,” Campbell said.
David Montgomery’s 1-yard touchdown run with 2:58 left in the second quarter put Iowa State up 17-14. The Cyclones nearly doubled time of possession in the first half and ran 55 plays to Oklahoma State’s 32.
Joel Lanning threw touchdown passes to Trever Ryen and Allen Lazard to help Iowa State take a 17-point lead in the third quarter.
Rudolph threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Washington, then a 1-yard touchdown scoring toss to Jalen McCleskey, to help the Cowboys trim Iowa State’s lead to 31-28 early in the fourth quarter.
Oklahoma State’s Ben Grogan made a 30-yard field goal to tie the score at 31 with 11:33 to play.