Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1440504
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM FEBRUARY 2022 23 The Pokes piled up 605 yards of total offense by the end of the Irish melt- down. Notre Dame gained 358 yards in the first half but only mustered 193 in the second. The Irish finished with 42 rushing yards on 21 carries with- out junior running back Kyren Wil- liams, who opted out to focus on the 2022 NFL Draft. The Irish couldn't get a ground game going with sophomore Chris Tyree (six carries for 18 yards) or freshman Logan Diggs (nine carries for 29 yards) even when the game went in Notre Dame's favor early on. Oklahoma State senior wide receiver Tay Martin torched Notre Dame sopho- more cornerback Clarence Lewis in the second half. Martin had two inexplica- ble drops in the first half but rebounded to finish the game with 10 catches for 104 yards and three touchdowns, all three of which came during the Cow- boys' stretch of 30 straight points. Redshirt junior quarterback Spencer Sanders finished with 371 passing yards and four touchdowns for the Cowboys. He also ran 17 times for 125 yards. Sand- ers connected with sophomore wideout Brennan Presley 10 times for 137 yards. Coan set a Fiesta Bowl record with his 509 passing yards and tied a Fiesta Bowl record with his five touchdown throws. But when the game got tight, Coan couldn't move the chains. Notre Dame had the ball down six with three minutes remaining but turned it over on downs in four plays. Oklahoma State cashed in with a short field goal to go up nine with 2:16 remaining. Notre Dame's final drive of the game was a throwback to the first half. The Irish scored on an eight-play, 75-yard march. But it was too little, too late. The largest comeback win in Oklahoma State history had already been effec- tively completed. And for Notre Dame, a BCS/New Year's Six bowl victory would have to wait as a result. The Irish have now dropped 10 such games in a row dat- ing back to the last win during the 1993 season. "I thought the kids prepared tremen- dously, and I thought the coaching staff did a great job," Freeman said. "But at the end of the day, we didn't execute when it mattered most." FIRST QUARTER NOTRE DAME 14, OKLAHOMA STATE 7 Top Moment: Oklahoma State sent the house on a blitz on third-and-seven, and Coan simply had to get the ball in Tyree's hands in the middle of the field. It was over from there. Tyree went 53 yards untouched to the end zone to expand the Irish lead to 14-0 just over halfway through the first frame. Feature Performer: The Notre Dame ground game was essentially nonexistent, but Tyree caught five passes for 111 yards in the first quarter. No Kyren Williams, no problem — until the second half, anyway. Stats: Notre Dame gained 160 yards to Oklahoma State's 95. Items: Tyree gained 25 yards on a passing play on the first play from scrimmage of the game … Coan com- pleted 4 of 5 passes for 75 yards on the first drive … Oklahoma State gained a first down on its first drive from scrim- mage but did not gain another in nine plays thereafter … Notre Dame rushed for minus-three yards. SECOND QUARTER NOTRE DAME 28, OKLAHOMA STATE 14 Top Moment: Kevin Austin Jr. moved the chains with a 20-yard gain on third-and-nine, and sophomore tight end Michael Mayer caught his second touchdown of the quarter two plays later to stretch Notre Dame's lead to 28-7 with 1:16 left until halftime. Feature Performer: Mayer caught his first touchdown of the game on third-and-two from the Oklahoma State 16. Notre Dame lined up in a three-tight-end formation, and some- how the Cowboys left Mayer in man- to-man coverage. He exploited that on an out route, and Coan put the ball on the money. Stats: Notre Dame gained 198 yards to Oklahoma State's 137. Items: Oklahoma State and Notre Dame missed back-to-back field goals with the score at 21-7 in the latter's favor … Irish graduate student kicker Jonathan Doerer's miss came from 41 yards … The Pokes went 75 yards in 39 seconds to score the touchdown that pulled them to within 28-14 at halftime … Notre Dame got the ball back with 37 seconds and all three timeouts but elected to run the clock out to get to the half. THIRD QUARTER OKLAHOMA STATE 31, NOTRE DAME 28 Top Moment: It wouldn't be right to put anything other than an Oklahoma State ounce of glory here. The third quarter defined the game and gave the Cowboys the victory. With six seconds remaining in the frame, OSU connected on a 38-yard field goal and took its first lead of the game. Feature Performer: Martin caught two of his three touchdowns in the third quarter. He produced 18 of Oklahoma State's 30 points in a row. Kicker Tanner Redshirt junior quarterback Spencer Sanders had a career game, compiling 496 yards of total offense — 371 passing and a career- high 125 rushing — and tossing four touch- down passes to rally the Cowboys past the Fighting Irish. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER