Oklahoma State football's Brennan Presley eases Cowboys' red-zone issues to beat Kansas

STILLWATER — Naturally, Brennan Presley went into motion before each play that led him across the goal line.

First, Oklahoma State’s speedy slot receiver ran around quarterback Alan Bowman before settling behind the passer like a running back. After the snap, Presley took the handoff, stopped and pitched it back to Bowman.

Then Presley did the unexpected. He broke to the side, caught a pass as the last option and out-ran Kansas defenders to the end zone.

“It’s not something you practice all the time,” OSU offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn said.

But the next touchdown was a little more conventional.

Presley went into motion to his left and Bowman quickly snapped the football, handing off to Presley, who scooted into the end zone for a decisive 6-yard touchdown with 2:33 left in OSU’s 39-32 upset of No. 23-ranked Kansas at Boone Pickens Stadium.

OSU football vs. Kansas takeaways: Cowboys rally late for second straight win

On a day the Cowboys again got creative to pull off a victory, Presley had his best performance of the season.

He caught eight passes for 79 yards and the 20-yard touchdown. He also rushed for the other on his lone carry of the day. And he racked up 51 kick return yards.

Presley’s involvement also helped ease some of OSU’s red zone struggles to score touchdowns.

Both came in the red zone a week after scoring just once in the red zone before being limited to field goals the rest of the way.

“We spent certainly a lot of time working on it but our guys just made plays in that area,” Dunn said. “Sometimes you make them. Sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you come in afterward and say, ‘Damn, we had it.’ Just break a shoestring tackle or call this play at that time instead of the other way around and all of a sudden you walk out feeling like s**t.

“That was last week.”

This week was different.

OSU scored touchdowns three times in the red zone, with Presley’s fly sweep capping it all.

“It creased,” Dunn said. “If they roll it back right there and he runs up the field and knocks the crap out of him, you guys are calling me a dumb***. But it didn’t work out like that.”

More: Ollie Gordon puts up big numbers & more stats from Oklahoma State football's win vs. Kansas

Ollie Gordon honors Terry Miller

Earlier this week, OSU running back Ollie Gordon II ran into Terry Miller, the Cowboys’ legendary running back.

The two again crossed paths during The Walk before the game.

“He told us to go out there and handle business,” Gordon said.

On a night the Cowboys inducted Miller into their Ring of Honor, Gordon had his best performance of his young career.

He rushed for 168 yards on 29 carries and a touchdown. He caught eight passes for 116 yards and a touchdown.

“I felt like I had to do it for him,” Gordon said, “and he got inducted today. That’s my guy.”

Gordon first met Miller at the team’s media day. Gordon and Jaden Nixon took a picture with Miller.

Delivering a performance like that in front of Miller was special.

“It really shows that Oklahoma State is RBU,” Gordon said.

43 for 43: Oklahoma State football set to induct Terry Miller into Ring of Honor

OSU uses halftime clock to advantage

OSU coach Mike Gundy said his halftime speech took all of 37 seconds.

With the Cowboys down 25-24, he told his players to listen to the adjustments. He told them to play with energy, enthusiasm and effort.

Then OSU took as much time as possible to make those adjustments.

With less than one minute remaining on the clock, the Cowboys returned to the field.

“We needed every second,” Gundy said.

Gundy said defensive coordinator Bryan Nardo adjusted well in the third quarter to Kansas’ formations with an empty backfield. OSU also let linebacker Collin Oliver loose to attack quarterback Jason Bean.

And OSU also adjusted in the run game for the fourth quarter.

“The halftime adjustments were good, not great the way it panned out,” Gundy said. “The fourth-quarter adjustments were great.”

More: Why Daniel Hishaw Jr. 'wanted to be part of the answer' to Kansas football turnaround

Kansas struggles on extra points

OSU’s special teams had another big impact, this time on extra points.

Xavier Ross blocked a Kansas kick with 12:42 left in the first half, keeping OSU ahead 17-13. From there, the Jayhawks had all sorts of trouble.

Another PAT was blocked, but negated by a penalty. And Kansas also had two extra-point conversions fail.

“If you can just steal one of those a game, you can go back and do the math in your brain and see what happens,” Gundy said. “It changed the score of the game and changed what happened at the end.

“We went up seven and if the game would have played out the way it normally does with extra points and such, we would have only been up four. That’s why it’s a big deal.”

Jacob Unruh covers Oklahoma State athletics for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Jacob? He can be reached at junruh@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @jacobunruh. Sign up for the Oklahoma State Cowboys newsletter to access more OSU coverage. Support Jacob’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com or by using the link at the top of this page.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State football's Brennan Presley shines in upset of Kansas