Oklahoma State football vs. Arizona State: Takeaways from Cowboys' win over Sun Devils

TEMPE, Ariz. — The most pleasant sights of the night were Ollie Gordon and Brennan Presley running in the open field.

Gordon’s rushing set up a go-ahead touchdown and breathed life into the Oklahoma State offense, then Presley slammed the door on a 27-15 win over Arizona State with his wide-open 16-yard touchdown catch on Saturday night at Mountain America Stadium.

The Cowboy offense sputtered for much of the first half, but came to life early in the second — thanks in large part to Gordon, who had 47 yards on a 60-yard touchdown drive. And the defense shut out the Sun Devils after halftime to improve the Pokes to 2-0 on the young season.

Here are four more takeaways from the Cowboys’ win in the desert:

More: 'Slaughtered them': How Pat Jones' 1984 Oklahoma State football team upset Arizona State

Quarterbacks for thirds

Once again, Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy chose to divide the game into thirds for his trio of quarterbacks.

The coach, however, switched up the order in which he used his QBs, starting Alan Bowman, the super-senior who transferred from Michigan in January. After four series from Bowman, Gunnar Gundy entered, with redshirt freshman Garret Rangel finishing up.

Bowman finished 11-of-16 for 113 yards with Ollie Gordon scoring a rushing touchdown on Bowman’s final possession.

Gundy was 5-of-7 for 32 yards passing, getting a boost from the run game as OSU scored 10 points with him behind center. Gordon rushed for 47 yards on a 60-yard TD drive that ended with Gundy hitting De’Zhaun Stribling for a 3-yard score.

Alex Hale made one field goal and missed another to end two of Gundy’s possessions.

And Rangel, tasked with protecting the 17-15 lead, guided the Cowboys on a field goal drive, then hit Brennan Presley on a 16-yard touchdown that extended the OSU edge to 27-15.

Rangel finished 6-of-9 for 46 yards and the TD toss to Presley.

More: Why receiver De’Zhaun Stribling has look of major contributor for Oklahoma State football

ASU takes advantage of miscues

Arizona State made OSU pay for its mistakes on two touchdown drives.

The tackling issues that bothered the Cowboys all of last year and again last week arose once more on the Sun Devils’ second drive of the game.

Primarily powered by running back Cameron Skattebo, the Sun Devils went 77 yards in 11 plays for a 7-0 lead.

After OSU tied the game, ASU responded with a four-play, 75-yard drive capped by a 65-yard pass from Jaden Rashada to Elijhah Badger. The receiver got free across the middle of the field and outran the defenders for the score.

More: How 'Beast Texas' developed Oklahoma State football's Nick Martin into 'old-school player'

Fourth-down stops

The Cowboys put their mistakes behind them and came through with big plays to end three Arizona State possessions — the last with less than seven minutes to go in the game and OSU leading 20-15.

After getting a short-yardage stop on a quarterback sneak on third down at the OSU 32, the Cowboys got tight coverage from linebacker Collin Oliver on a fourth-down throw intended for Skattebo.

From there, the offense was able to run considerable time off the clock before Rangel’s touchdown pass to Presley that essentially sealed the game.

Late in the first half, Anthony Goodlow made back-to-back tackles on third and fourth downs to end a drive near midfield.

And early in the third quarter, the Cowboys forced another turnover on downs at their own 40-yard line.

Oliver and nose tackle Justin Kirkland stopped Skattebo on a fourth-and-1 carry. OSU answered with a TD drive to take the lead, 17-15.

More: What does 'energized' Arizona State University bring to the Big 12?

Cowboys without two veterans

Oklahoma State entered the game without one key player on each side of the ball, but otherwise was healthy.

On offense, redshirt senior right tackle Jake Springfield did not play after suffering an ankle injury early last week. He was replaced by Dalton Cooper, who made his first OSU start after transferring from Texas State in the offseason.

Right guard Preston Wilson, who missed last week’s game because of non-football issues, returned to action, though he did not start. Taylor Miterko played the first couple of series at right guard.

On defense, super-senior Justin Wright was out with an injury that will keep him off the field for a few more weeks. Wright posted on social media last week that he would be back for Week 5, though he had feared he might be out for the season.

Scott Wright covers Oklahoma State athletics for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Scott? He can be reached at swright@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @ScottWrightOK. Sign up for the Oklahoma State Cowboys newsletter to access more OSU coverage. Support Scott’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 pulls away for road win vs. Arizona State