Cowboys rally late; title hopes still alive

NO. 15 OKLAHOMA STATE 49, NO. 21 IOWA STATE 42

AMES, Iowa — One week after letting Oklahoma break its heart, No. 15 Oklahoma State rallied late to stun No. 21 Iowa State — handing the Cyclones one of the most devastating defeats in school history.

Mason Rudolph threw for 376 yards and three touchdowns — including two in the final 5:55 — and Oklahoma State beat Iowa State 4942 on Saturday to keep its Big 12 title hopes alive.

Justice Hill had 134 yards and three TD runs for the Cowboys (8-2, 5-2 Big 12), who remain in a tie for second place in the league with two games to go.

“We’re very resilient. I knew it was going to be a difficult game,” Oklahoma State Coach Mike Gundy said after last week’s exhausting 62-52 loss to the rival Sooners.

The top two finishers in the Big 12 will meet in the championship game in Arlington, Texas, on Dec. 2.

But even if neither the Cyclones nor Cowboys make it to Jerry World, they still gave the Big 12 a game few in the league will ever forget.

Rudolph found Marcell Ateman for a 30-yard TD pass, and Hill’s two-point conversion run tied the game at 42 with 5:55 left. The Cowboys jumped ahead 49-42 just two minutes later as Rudolph found Dillon Stoner for a 19yard touchdown reception.

“We’ve been down so many times throughout my career. Down 14, down 21, down 17, it doesn’t matter because we know we can bounce back real quick, get points on the board, get back into the game,” Rudolph said.

The Cyclones got inside Oklahoma State’s 3-yard line with 32 seconds left, but Zeb Noland threw an interception to A.J. Green to end the game — a call that both Iowa State fans and receiver Marchie Murdock won’t soon forget.

Iowa State has now lost two in a row after winning four in a row.

“It’s a gut-wrenching loss. It’s not easy. But college football isn’t easy,” Iowa State Coach Matt Campbell said. “It’s a game of inches, and our job is to win the inch. And we came up a little bit short.”

Quarterback-linebacker Joel Lanning had a rushing and passing TD for Iowa State (6-4, 4-3). He connected with Allen Lazard on his only pass attempt of the game, a 22-yard TD strike with 14:13 left — a pass Lazard caught with one hand while falling down.

David Montgomery made it 42-34 on a subsequent 4-yard run, but Iowa State’s highly-rated defense faltered down the stretch.

Montgomery had 105 yards and 3 TDs for the Cyclones.

In other games involving top 25 teams, Travis Etienne ran for 97 yards and two touchdowns, including a 1-yarder with 3:05 left, and Clemson won the ACC Atlantic Division with a 31-14 victory over Florida State at Clemson, S.C. The Tigers (9-1, 7-1) and their dominant defense looked to have this one wrapped up when they opened a 17-0 lead with two minutes left in the third quarter. But the Seminoles (3-6, 3-5) rallied on Jacques Patrick’s 9-yard scoring run and a double flea-flicker for a 60-yard TD catch by tight end Ryan Izzo. Florida State then recovered Kelly Bryant’s fumble on the Clemson 40 with 6:46 to go, putting the Seminoles in position to spoil the Tigers’ College Football Playoff hopes. But safety Van Smith intercepted James Blackman’s pass over the middle on the next play, setting up the TD drive that secured the victory for the defending national champions. … Receiver Kendric Pryor scored twice, and Wisconsin relied on stifling defense to overcome four turnovers and Iowa cornerback Josh Jackson’s two touchdowns for a 38-14 victory in Madison, Wis. The victory allowed the Badgers (10-0, 7-0 Big Ten) to clinch a trip to the conference title game as West champions. … J.T. Barrett threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more scores, Mike Weber ran for 162 yards and two scores, and Ohio State bounced back from a deflating loss last week to rout Michigan State 48-3 at Columbus, Ohio. The Buckeyes (8-2, 6-1 Big Ten) scored on five of their first six possessions, led 35-3 at the half and cruised the rest of the way to claim sole possession of first place in the Big Ten East. Ohio State outgained Michigan State 524-195, and a defense that was smoked by unranked Iowa in last week’s 55-24 loss limited Michigan State quarterback Brian Lewerke — who threw for 445 yards last week against Penn State — to 131 yards and forced two interceptions. Barrett was 14 for 21 for 183 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. J.K. Dobbins, who split time with Weber, rushed 18 times for 124 yards. … Otis Anderson ran for 84 yards and two touchdowns, McKenzie Milton passed for 311 yards and Central Florida pulled away from Connecticut 49-24 at Orlando, Fla. Anderson had a 3-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and helped the undefeated Knights (9-0, 6-0 American Athletic Conference) break it open with a 65-yard touchdown run, making it 35-17 with 14:11 left. The freshman bounced back after he had a fumble in the third quarter. … Trace McSorley accounted for 258 total yards and three touchdowns and Penn State routed Rutgers 35-6 at State College, Pa., after a two-loss stretch. McSorley became Penn State’s career touchdown leader with 68, overtaking Daryll Clark’s record of 65 with one rushing and two passing scores, and the Nittany Lions (8-2, 5-2 Big Ten) scored 35 consecutive points after going down 6-0 in the first quarter. … Brandon Peters threw two touchdown passes, Chris Evans ran for two scores and Michigan dominated Maryland in the first half for a 35-10 victory at College Park, Md. The Wolverines (8-2, 5-2) have won three in a row. The Terrapins (4-6, 2-5) have lost five of six. Before the second quarter was halfway over, Michigan had a 28-0 lead, thanks to Peters’ passing. Peters threw touchdown passes of 33 yards to Zach Gentry and 3 yards to Sean McKeon. Henry Poggi and Evans ran for scores. Evans, who scored from a yard out in the second quarter, added a 17-yard run late in the fourth quarter. … Will Grier threw for 372 yards and four touchdowns, Justin Crawford added 113 yards rushing and West Virginia overcame its early mistakes to hold off Kansas State 28-23 at Manhattan, Kan. Ka’Raun White had eight catches for 168 yards and two scores, and David Sills V also had two TD catches, helping the Mountaineers (7-3, 5-2) stay alive in the race for the Big 12 title game. The Wildcats (5-5, 3-4) closed to 2823 early in the fourth quarter, but an offense down to third-string quarterback Skylar Thompson couldn’t get its team all the way back.