STILLWATER, Okla. — The new-look Arkansas Razorbacks found a way to tap into an old familiar script in a body blow of a double-overtime road loss at No. 16 Oklahoma State on Saturday.
The University of Arkansas dominated the first half and crushed the Cowboys statistically but committed three critical turnovers and missed a pair of field goals to fall 39-31 before an announced crowd of 52,202 at Boone Pickens Stadium.
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Linebackers Kendal Daniels and Gabe Brown combined to stop 186-pound tailback Rodney Hill on a fourth-and-1 snap from the Arkansas 16 on the final play of the second overtime.
“We’ve got to take care of the ball,” Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman said. “I like the intensity that we played with, and it came down to we turned the ball over too many times and we got beat.
“It’s early in the year. I think we’ve proved that we’ve got a good team. We’ve just got to hang on to the football and we’ll win a lot of games.”
Arkansas outgained the Cowboys 648-385 in total offense, a disparity of 263 yards. But the turnover battle went 3-1 in the Cowboys’ favor and each lost ball proved critical.
“The only thing I can say statistically is we won the turnover margin,” Oklahoma State Coach Mike Gundy said. “Obviously we won the penalties and then we were really good in overtime on both sides of the ball.”
Oklahoma State (2-0), triggered by Kale Smith’s 73-yard interception return for a touchdown when the Hogs were seemingly in control midway through the first quarter, rallied from a 21-7 deficit with the aid of two more takeaways in the second half.
The turnovers after halftime for Arkansas (1-1) were self inflicted: Big tailback Ja’Quinden Jackson, who chugged for 149 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns, simply dropped the ball on a toss play at midfield late in the third quarter, and punt returner Isaiah Sategna muffed a punt with teammate Krosse Johnson legally pushed into his lower legs early in the fourth.
Kody Walterscheid’s recovery of the Jackson fumble led to Logan Ward’s 35-yard field goal to pull the Cowboys within 21-13. Deep snapper Shea Freibaum’s recovery of the Sategna muff at the Arkansas 25 led to Brennan Presley’s 7-yard touchdown catch and a tying 2-point conversion grab by De’Zhaun Stribling with 9:37 left in regulation.
Winning tight games and winning at home, even in the face of tough odds, has become an Oklahoma State specialty. The Cowboys improved to 35-16 (.686) in one-score games since 2015, while the Razorbacks fell to 15-29 (.341).
Oklahoma State is 25-3 at home since 2020, tied for second in the FBS in home wins in that span behind Alabama. The Cowboys also broke a five-game losing streak against the Razorbacks and improved to 5-4-1 at home in the series, which Arkansas now leads 30-16-1.
Arkansas lost its fourth game when leading by 14-plus points under Pittman, joining games against BYU in 2023, Texas A&M in 2022 and Missouri in 2020. The Razorbacks, who had been 3-0 in overtime games under Pittman, lost a multiple-overtime game for the first time since a 41-38 loss at Tennessee in six overtimes in 2002.
Arkansas drove into Oklahoma State territory on 10 of its 13 offensive possessions and took another series to the 50 while enduring only one three-and-out series.
Quarterback Taylen Green completed 26 of 45 pass for 416 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 61 yards, a figure that was dinged by 43 yards in losses as the Cowboys sent consistent blitzes at him. Jackson had 170 all-purpose yards but he was slowed by cramps a few times and was not available for the last snap in double overtime. Receiver Andrew Armstrong, held out with a hamstring issue last week, had 10 catches on 13 targets for a career-high 164 yards, including 66 yards after the catch.
Oklahoma State quarterback Alan Bowman passed for 326 yards and a touchdown, while Presley scored twice and amassed 94 all-purpose yards.
Arkansas contained Ollie Gordon, the nation’s leading returning rusher, who never got heated up. Gordon had 6 carries for 11 yards at halftime and 17 attempts for 49 in the game.
“Basically we knew that if we stopped the run that would make their offense scramble,” Arkansas defensive tackle Cam Ball said. “But at the end of the day, it was only so much, because we still lost.”
A chunk of Gordon’s yards came in overtime, including his 12-yard touchdown on a pitch at left end to give the Cowboys a 37-31 lead. Gordon also caught the mandatory 2-point conversion pass. That touchdown came after linebacker Xavian Sorey committed a costly unnecessary roughness penalty with a suplex-style tackle on Presley at the Arkansas 24 when a regular tackle would have set up third and 9 in the second overtime.
Arkansas gained early control by scoring touchdowns on its second and third possessions on 5-yard Jackson runs that capped drives of 45 and 83 yards.
The Hogs’ defense stopped a fourth-and-1 play at its 20 on a Jaylon Braxton pass breakup to open the game, then dominated the rest of the half.
Leading 14-0, Arkansas was in the midst of a 55-yard march that reached the Cowboys’ 29 when the Oklahoma State defense forced a mistake. Ace pass rusher Collin Oliver hit Green as he fired a crossing route for Sategna and the pass landed in the hands of Smith, the trailing defender who returned it for a score and got the Cowboys and their fans back in the game.
The Razorbacks responded with a 75-yard touchdown drive, capped by Jackson’s 11-yard touchdown run, to make it 21-7 at the half.
Arkansas rattled off a 49-yard drive early in the fourth quarter while leading 21-13 but could not expand on it as Kyle Ramsey missed a 41-yard field-goal try just to the right.
With the game tied at 21-21, Arkansas drove to the Oklahoma State 24 and faced fourth and 5. Instead of attempting a 41-yard field goal, the Razorbacks went on fourth down and Green was stopped after a gain of 4 yards.
A scoring frenzy engulfed the last six minutes of regulation. Oklahoma State took a 28-21 lead on Presley’s end around from 3 yards out with 5:13 to play. The Razorbacks answered with a three-play sequence started by Sategna’s 31-yard catch and run and capped by Luke Hasz’s 43-yard touchdown catch to forge a tie.
Helped by two pass interference calls, the Cowboys drove 55 yards and took a 31-28 lead on Ward’s 38-yard field goal with 55 seconds remaining. Arkansas turned in a clutch, two-minute drill, with Green directing a 48-yard march, capped by Ramsey’s tying 45-yard field goal on the final play of regulation.
Both kickers missed a field goal in the first overtime, Ramsey from 46 yards and Ward from 41 yards, to set up the decisive second overtime.