Bowman airs it out in bowl win vs. Texas A&M
HOUSTON — OSU passed its final exam of 2023, beating Texas A&M 31-23 Wednesday night in the Texas Bowl.
Let’s get to the grades.
Gunnar Gundy runs, Brennan Presley passes: A
What the heck is going on?
That was my thought as Gunnar Gundy subbed in at quarterback in the second quarter. It remained my thought as Gundy, on his first snap, found the end zone on a 10-yard quarterback keeper.
Atip of the hat to Mike Gundy and offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn for dialing that one up. Bowl games are supposed to be fun, and that was one of several surprise plays the Cowboys ran Wednesday.
A trick play set up the Gundy score. Receiver Brennan Presley lofted a pass to Rashod Owens, who came back on the ball for a 34-yard gain.
Rashod Owens backs up bold look: A
Owens warmed up with shades, a ski mask and no shirt. The Cowboy receiver backed up the bold look with three catches for 50 yards on OSU’s opening drive. Two of them were highlight grabs, including a diving catch at the 2-yardline to set up an OSU field goal for the Cowboys’ first score.
Owens finished with 10 catches for 164 yards and two touchdowns with the Texas Bowl MVP trophy in tow.
Alan Bowman targets Big Three: A
The OSU receiving trio of Owens, Brennan Presley and Leon Johnson III combined for 30 catches and 402 yards.
Cowboys quarterback Alan Bowman picked on a depleted Texas A&M secondary, throwing for a season-high 402 yards. Bowman was picked off twice, but he completed 69% of his passes.
Texas Bowl uniform matchup: C
Eh. A little too much white. OSU, the home team, elected to wear black jerseys with white pants and white helmets. Texas A&M wore its traditional road whites with maroon lids.
A little more orange could’ve spiced things up.
OSU struggles in pass defense: D
Texas A&M was without three of its top four receivers and the Aggies were down to their fourth-string quarterback in Marcel Reed after Jaylen Henderson exited after one snap due to an arm injury.
And still the Aggies lit up the Cowboys through the air. Texas A&M had 10 pass plays of 15-plus yards.
Reed, a true freshman from Nashville, threw for 361 yards. Before Wednesday he had thrown for a career 13 yards.
Sure, the Cowboys weren’t prepared to face Reed, but Reed wasn’t prepared to face the Cowboys, either. Maybe Reed, a former four-star prospect, will blossom into a star in Aggieland. If not, he’ll always have the Texas Bowl.
Texas Bowl atmosphere: B
The official attendance was 55,212, but that seems a thousand or ten high. NRG Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Texans, seats 72,220 and it might have been half full.
But that’s a pretty good crowd for a mid-tier bowl game. Whole sections of the upper deck were empty but the lower bowl was mostly full, especially on the Texas A&M side. Houston is only 95 miles from College Station, and the Aggies have a huge alumni base in Houston.
There was more maroon than orange, but OSU fans made a good showing.
NRG Stadium, which opened in 2002, has aged well. It will host the national championship game Jan. 8.