Garman Leads Oklahoma St Past UTSA 43-13

 

Garman completed 16 of 30 passes for 315 yards and two touchdowns to help lead Oklahoma State to a 43-13 victory over Texas-San Antonio Saturday night.

 

Making his first start since his junior year of high school in 2009, Garman was a bit more inconsistent than he was last week, when he threw for 242 yards and two touchdowns after relieving injured starter J.W. Walsh, but still got the job done with Walsh out indefinitely.

 

"He settled himself down, he was fine," said OSU coach Mike Gundy of Garman. "Offensively, we were kind of flat, not very good for the most part."

 

Desmond Roland returned for Oklahoma State (2-1) after missing the previous game and ran for 95 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries.

 

"I'd only played about a half this year and I was anxious to step on the field today," said Roland, who exited the Cowboys' season-opening 37-31 loss to No. 1 Florida State with an undisclosed injury. "Once the game got going, the adrenaline kicked in."

 

For UTSA (1-2), freshman Blake Bogenschutz made his first career appearance, relieving injured Tucker Carter to start the second half, and threw for 82 yards on 8-of-14 passing. Bogenschutz also scoring the Roadrunners' only touchdown on a 24-yard run.

 

"He did a nice job coming in," said UTSA coach Larry Coker of Bogenschutz. "He threw the ball well, he ran the offense well and he's a true freshman so he's still learning, but he's going to be a special player, I believe."

 

Carter completed 7 of 15 passes for 51 yards before aggravating a shoulder injury he'd been dealing with.

 

"He's been nursing it all week, he'd been cleared to play, but he got banged up pretty good in the first half, so we had him out the second half," Coker said of Carter.

 

Ben Grogan's 24-yard field goal gave Oklahoma State a 27-3 lead early in the third quarter, but then the OSU offense sputtered, going three-and-out on four consecutive possessions.

 

During that time, Bogenschutz entered the contest and jump-started UTSA's attack, generating 10 points and giving the Roadrunners the momentum.

 

But just when it seemed like UTSA might be mounting a comeback attempt, Garman connected on a 43-yard pass with Marcel Ateman and a 22-yarder with David Glidden, setting up Roland's 1-yard touchdown run with 8:56 remaining, giving Oklahoma State a 34-13 advantage.

 

"I think we're making plays," said Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich. "We need to be more consistent, we like our productivity, but there's a lot of room for improvement as well."

 

The second half epitomized Garman's night, as he misfired on several long pass attempts, but also connected on a few that made a big impact.

 

"The more reps we can take together and the more times we can throw the ball, it will help us get a better feel for each other," Garman said of his still-growing comfort level with his receivers. "It gets better every day."

 

UTSA took a 3-0 lead on a 24-yard field goal by Sean Ianno and appeared ready to force the Cowboys into their second straight three-and-out possession when a pass interference penalty by Darrien Starling gave OSU its initial first down -- and new life.

 

Later on the same drive, UTSA was about to get off the field again -- holding Tyreek Hill to a 4-yard run on 3rd-and-25 -- but a personal foul infraction by Jason Neill gave Oklahoma State a fresh set of downs.

 

Several plays later, Roland broke through for a 1-yard touchdown run.

 

"We had to take advantage of the opportunity, we couldn't afford another three-and-out," Roland said of that possession. "So once we got that flag, we talked as an offense and said, `We got to get it in the end zone,' which we did."

 

Infused with momentum, the Cowboys struck quickly and methodically on their next possession, capping a 5-play, 83-yard drive in just 1:46 with Garman's 33-yard TD pass to freshman James Washington. It was Washington's first career score and gave OSU a 14-3 advantage with 1:30 left in the first quarter.

 

Coker agreed that might have been the key sequence in the game.

 

"They had three third-down penalties that kept the drive alive, that's the story of that drive, for sure," Coker said. "It really put us behind the eight-ball for the entire game, actually."