Cabbiness is unlikely hero in OSU road win
BOISE, Idaho – With the game on the line, and OSU’s passing game in tatters, and Albertsons Stadium going bonkers Saturday night, the Cowboys turned to, of course, a pass.
What else could you expect from a game this kooky?
But not just any pass. A pass to Billy Tubbs’ grandson, a non-scholarship player from Norman North that even Cowboy die-hards would be hardpressed to know was on the OSU roster.
A go-get-it, jump-ball pass that usually requires receivers with skill and sometimes toughness and preferably size. Think Rashaun Woods. Justin Blackmon. Tylan Wallace.
Now you can think Cale Cabbiness. Cabbiness made the play of the stillyoung Cowboy season with a leaping grab of Spencer Sanders’ lob for a 24yard gain, and somehow, OSU was as
sured of a 21-20 victory over Boise State.
“What a great story,” Mike Gundy said. “Local kid that busts his tail every day, all the time. Those guys don’t ever know if they’re going to get a chance to get in the game. Then he makes a bigtime catch. You can’t write a better script for that kid. Awesome.”
The game was strange. Boise State dominated the first half yet trailed 21-20 at halftime. OSU dominated the second half, yet neither team scored.
With 6:26 left in the second quarter, Boise State had a 20-7 lead and statistical edges of 39-10 in plays, 12-1 in first downs and 156-7 in passing yards.
The Cowboys seemed to have no chance of getting out of the Rockies with a victory over a Mountain West Conference fireball playing one of its biggest home games ever.
“When we went in at halftime, I had to look at the scoreboard,” Gundy said. “I thought we were behind by 20. I didn’t really think we did anything other than one long run. I didn’t think we slowed ‘em down, and I didn’t think we functioned very well as an offense.”
Then the game flipped. OSU started building on its running game, more than just on Jaylen Warren’s 75-yard touchdown that kept the Cowboys afloat in the first quarter. The OSU defense stiffened so much that Boise State went 24 game minutes without so much as a first down.
Yet nothing came easy. The Cowboys reached Boise State territory on four straight second-half possession and failed to score. And even when Jason Taylor blocked a Boise State field-goal kick late after a Warren fumbled, the Broncos weren’t out of it.
OSU faced third down on its 23-yard line, needing seven yards, with 1:52 left in the game.
Gundy ordered a pass. He did so on bad information.
“As good as we were rushing the ball, they’re going to play (defend) run,” Gundy said. “Everybody in the stands knew it. They had two timeouts, and they only needed a field goal.”
Trouble was, Boise State was out of timeouts. The Cowboys could have run the ball, then punted and likely given the Broncos the ball somewhere around their 35-yard line, with maybe a minute to navigate.
And here’s another thing to consider. OSU was down to some third-team receivers. Injuries kept Tay Martin, Braydon Johnson, Langston Anderson and Jaden Bray from even making the trip. The freshman Green twins are banged up, too; Blaine didn’t play and Bryson suffered an injured hand during the game.
OSU normally takes nine receivers on road trips. Only seven came to Boise. Which explains why Cabbiness was on the field with the game on the line.
“There’s more guys on the (injured reserve) than there are actually on the bus,” offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn said.
But turns out Cabbiness knows his way around a fade. He’s the son of Taylor Tubbs and the late Carl Cabbiness. The former is the daughter of the legendary OU basketball coach; the latter was a non-scholarship wishbone receiver for Barry Switzer in the 1980s. Cale Cabbiness came to Stillwater a year ago, worked hard and got into a couple of games. Even showed a little moxie for the fade, despite not being an overlyimposing figure.
Gundy ordered a pass, Dunn called the particular play that allowed for the fade to Cabbiness or a short pass to Brennan Presley on an inside route, and Sanders made the decision where to throw.
Sanders chose Cabbiness. Boise State cornerback Markel Reed pressed Cabbiness on the line, but Cabbiness got a good release, Sanders threw an accurate pass and Cabbiness caught it falling on his back, withstanding Reed’s attempts to wrestle it away.
“Most of the time, if you come down with it, they’re going to give you the ball,” said Cabbiness, who isn’t even the most notable recent Cowboy named Cabbiness – his cousin, baseball-veteran Cade, claims that honor. “Then the ref told us to quit fighting, it was a catch.”
What a play. What a throw. What a catch. What a game.
“Kind of a testament to all the work I put in,” Cabbiness said. “Making big plays in a big game, in an environment like this. Things you kind of dream about when you’re a kid, so it was pretty cool.”
This Cowboy win didn’t come with a pretty bow. But no trip to Boise is likely to be pristine. The Broncos are rattlesnakes. Boise State traditionally is the toughest out in the Mountain West, and it’s a league that can stage an ambush. Just Saturday night, San Diego State beat Utah and Fresno State shocked UCLA.
The Cowboys avoided such a fate, in part because of a third-team wide receiver who rarely plays.
“Hell of a play by Cabbiness,” Dunn said. “Awesome.
“I am so fired up. I was so stressed in the damn (press)box, too. But it was fun. It is absolutely worth it. It is priceless. This is what you live for as a coach and as a player. It’s a special night and special moment for us.”
Dunn is right. It was a special night. The Cowboys still have a bushel of problems, most of them offensive. They seem further, not nearer, challenging for a berth in the Big 12 Championship Game than they were when the season began.
But OSU is 3-0, they survived a trip to Idaho that most Power 5 schools won’t even consider, and they produced a tale with an unlikely hero in an unlikely game.
Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.