Ollie Gordon II’s 12-yard touchdown run and successful two-point conversion catch in the second overtime led No. 16 Oklahoma State to a 39-31 victory over Arkansas on Saturday.
Gordon, who won the Doak Walker Award as the top running back last season, had just 49 yards on 17 carries.
His teammates stepped up in his stead. Alan Bowman threw for 326 yards, while Brennan Presley had 91 yards receiving, scored a touchdown, and added a rushing touchdown.
“Those are the games we’ll remember forever,” Bowman said. “We didn’t start well, but fighting back and trusting the process made it a great win.”
Arkansas (1-1) had more yards than Oklahoma State, 648 to 385. However, the Razorbacks missed two of their three field goals and committed three turnovers, while Oklahoma State (2-0) had just one turnover.
“It’s just one loss,” Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said. “It’s not an SEC loss. We’ll learn from it, move on, and come back strong. We’ve got a good team, but we need to avoid turning the ball over.”
Taylen Green threw for 416 yards and rushed for 61 yards for Arkansas. Ja’Quinden Jackson set a career high with 149 rushing yards and three touchdowns, and Andrew Armstrong had career highs of 10 catches and 164 yards.
Oklahoma State rallied from a 21-7 halftime deficit.
“Our coaches made great adjustments at halftime,” said Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy. “The players absorbed the information well, didn’t panic, and played much better in the second half.”
