No. 24 Oklahoma State (3-1, 1-0) took fans on a roller coaster ride Thursday night at home, but as roller coasters do, everyone came in for a smooth finish. The Cowboys racked up over 500 yards of offense but had to overcome some sloppy play along the way in a 45-28 victory over Texas Tech (2-2, 0-1). The game was marred by penalty flag after penalty flag, with Oklahoma State and Texas Tech combining for 26 penalties and 285 penalty yards.
Texas Tech lost starting quarterback Davis Webb in the fourth quarter to a shoulder injury, but the severity of the injury was not confirmed. With Webb out, the Red Raiders had to hope freshman Patrick Mahomes could pull something together. On his first possession in pace of Webb, Mahomes got caught fumbling the football, picked it up and was intercepted on a poor throw under duress. Five plays later Oklahoma State quarterback Daxx Garman took it himself for an eight-yard run for a score and a 45-28 lead following the extra point kick. That essentially was the nail in the coffin for Texas Tech on this night, although Mahomes did throw his first career touchdown later in the half to make the score a little closer.
Garman ended his night with 370 passing yards, four passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown. Marcell Ateman was the big contributor on the other end of the passing game with six receptions for a game-high 130 receiving yards, and James Washington was responsible for two touchdown catches.
If there was one thing to take away from this Big 12 opener for both Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, it may be that Oklahoma and Baylor look to be playing on a different level from the rest of the conference and should be the only two playoff contenders to come out of the Big 12. Oklahoma State’s performance against Florida State in the season opener was somewhat inspiring, but then the team lost starting quarterback J.W. Walsh (possibly for the year). The good news for Oklahoma State is the next couple of games should allow the Cowboys to be able to continue racking up big yardage and avoid the urgency to play a crisp game. Iowa State at home is next, followed by a road trip to Kansas.
Texas Tech’s situation is a bit different. While the Cowboys still look poised to play in a postseason bowl game at the end of the season, Texas Tech’s postseason chances look far less promising. Texas Tech visits Kansas State next week and still needs to scratch together four more wins in conference play. You can only play Iowa State and Kansas (and Texas?) so many times. No matter who Texas Tech plays, giving up 158 yards in penalties is not the way to go.