Oklahoma State football grades vs. Texas: Cowboys fail to slow down Quinn Ewers, Longhorns

ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas showed little mercy in trucking Oklahoma State 49-21 Saturday in the Big 12 Championship Game. 

Let’s get to the grades. 

Warning: They aren’t pretty. 

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Containing Texas QB Quinn Ewers: F 

Three-touchdown days are good. A three-touchdown first quarter is absurd. 

Absurdly good was Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers on Saturday. Ewers completed 11-of-11 passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns in the first quarter. 

Ewers stamped his name all over the Big 12 Championship Game record book. His 452 passing yards were the most ever in a Big 12 title game. His four touchdown passes tied a record. Ewers completed 76% (35-of-46) of his passes. 

Texas had 662 yards. 

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OSU counters Texas’ all-white uniforms: A+ 

Texas wore its classic all-whites, the Longhorns’ best look. 

OSU countered by going with all-black everything. 

So while the stadium was split by two shades of orange, neither team went with orange as its dominant uniform color. It was a cool contrast to the monochrome crowd. 

Credit to the fans by the way for setting a Big 12 Championship attendance record: 84,523. 

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Ollie Gordon II, OSU run game: F 

We all knew about Texas’ fearsome defensive line, but seeing it stifle Ollie Gordon II and OSU’s run game was something else. 

Gordon, who appeared gimpy at multiple junctures, carried 13 times for 34 yards. He averaged a measly 2.6 yards per carry as OSU’s offensive line struggled to open holes against Texas’ front. 

Factoring in lost yards due to sacks, OSU had just 31 rushing yards. 

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Alan Bowman, OSU pass game: C+ 

Alan Bowman tested the Longhorns’ secondary with early deep balls to Brennan Presley, Rashod Owens and Jaden Bray. 

OSU got a pass interference call out of one and Owens hauled in a 41-yard contested catch. 

Bowman completed 22-of-38 (58%) passes for 250 yards and three touchdowns against one interception. 

OSU’s lack of success in the run game made things harder on Bowman, but Bowman had success through the air, and his offensive line held up in pass block. 

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Limiting Texas’ big plays: D

The Longhorns had way too many chunk gains. 

Texas had 14 completions of 15-plus yards and eight runs of 10-plus yards. 

Chunk plays accounted for 478 of Texas’ 662 yards. 

Texas averaged 7.6 yards per play. 

Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.