SDSU vs Oklahoma State: Who wins the PlayStation matchup?

Now that South Dakota State is (sort of) in the game — that is, EA Sports College Football 25, of course I had to simulate their Week 1 clash with No. 17 Oklahoma State at Boone Pickens Stadium.

It is, of course, not a completely accurate simulation. While the game already comes with the Cowboys roster fully loaded and the players accurately rated, I had to create the Jackrabbits, and edit the prefabricated roster as well as I could to somewhat resemble the Jackrabbits.

My SDSU creation has an overall team rating of a 72, compared to an 84 for OSU, for what that’s worth.

Instead of ‘playing’ the game myself, I set it up and let the computer control both teams.

Here’s what happened:

– The Jacks got the ball first and moved quickly into the red zone on passes to Davin Stoffel and Devon Cole, but back to back sacks pushed SDSU all the way back to the 35, and Hunter Dustman’s 52-yard FG was wide right, and SDSU came up empty on an 11-play drive.

– The SDSU defense forces a 3 and out.

– The Jacks again move into the red zone, are again pushed back by a sack, and again miss a field goal. Still 0-0 despite two good drives for SDSU.

– The Cowboys take the lead on a 55-yard streak from Alan Bowman to Rashod Owens. 7-0 OSU.

Halftime

– OSU goes 3 and out, the drive killed by a Randy Keumonge sack.

– SDSU ties it up on a 58-yard drive that ends in a touchdown pass from Mark Gronowski to Griffin Wilde and includes a fourth-down conversion in the red zone.

– OSU answers with a 10-play, 82-yard drive, with Ollie Gordon taking it in from 3-yards out to make it 14-7.

– A pick six by OSU’s Korie Black on an underthrown fade puts the Cowboys up 21-7 with just over a minute to play in the game.

– Gronowski is sacked on three straight plays to end the game.

Final score: Oklahoma State 21, SDSU 7.

The low score is largely due to the game being played with just five minute quarters (I didn’t have the patience to sit through full 15s), but otherwise played fairly realistically. The Jacks had success moving the ball, but the OSU pass rush on 3rd down killed their drives. The Jacks did a good job on Ollie Gordon, but that left them susceptible to the pass and the veteran QB Bowman made them pay.
It will be interesting to see if any of that plays out on Saturday.

Final stats:
SDSU
Gronowski 19-24, 167 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Amar Johnson 11-35
Griffin Wilde 6-56, 1 TD
Devon Cole 4-30
Cale Reeder 6 tackles
Daeton Mcgaughy 6 tackles, 1 sack

OSU
Bowman 8-10, 150 yards, 1 TD
Gordon 10-34, 1 TD
Collin Oliver 3 sacks, 10 tackles
Collin Clay 4 tackles, 1.5 sacks

Matt Zimmer is a Sioux Falls native and longtime sports writer. He graduated from Washington High School where he played football, legion baseball and developed his lifelong love of the Minnesota Twins and Vikings. After graduating from St. Cloud State University, he returned to Sioux Falls, and began a long career in amateur baseball and sports reporting. Email Matt at mzimmer@siouxfallslive.com.