SAN ANTONIO -- Oklahoma State didn’t “just” play a football game Saturday at Texas-San Antonio. The 13th-ranked Cowboys played the role of mythbusters.
Doing the bulk of the busting was J.W. Walsh.
The sophomore quarterback, starting for the fourth time in his career and for the first time since a home game against Iowa State on Oct. 20, 2012, was efficient enough to lead OSU to a 56-35 decision and pass his way into the record book.
An Alamodome crowd of 40,977 (second-largest in the three-season history of the UTSA program) watched Walsh hit 24-of-27 passes for 326 yards and four touchdowns. He also ran for a score.
Walsh’s 88.9 completion percentage is the best in OSU history by a player with a minimum of 13 pass attempts. Knocked aside was Brandon Weeden’s 24-of-28 (85.7 percent) shredding of Kansas on Oct. 8, 2011.
Where does mythbusting have to do with any of this?
After a season-opening victory last week over Mississippi State, the myth -- or at least the reaction from an alarmed fan base -- was OSU might be easing away from an Air Raid offense and gravitating toward ground and pound under new coordinator Mike Yurcich. The Cowboys ran for 286 yards and passed for 146 in the opener.
Game two was nothing like game one. OSU passed for 518 yards and ran for 87 in improving to 2-0.
“It’s the same offense,” said coach Mike Gundy, suggesting that his team is merely taking what the defense is giving. “It’s the same plays that we ran last year -- the last few years.”
The Cowboys ran them well enough -- and at a faster pace than last week -- to score touchdowns on six of their first eight possessions. They led 42-7 at the 9:47 mark of the third quarter and Walsh took a seat on the bench.
Former starter Clint Chelf was OSU’s closer and hit 11-of-16 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns.
UTSA entered the game ranked No. 5 among FBS teams in pass defense. The Roadrunners surrendered only 84 passing yards in a season opener at New Mexico, but Walsh completed his first 10 attempts for 102 first-quarter yards.
“Last week we faced a wishbone-style offense and this week the offense got us thinking too much on defense instead of just reacting,” UTSA coach and long-ago OSU offensive coordinator Larry Coker said.
Roadrunners safety Nic Johnston described OSU’s offense as “amazing.” Said Johnston: “When you mess up, they can get you by hurrying up for the next play and it can start a downward spiral.”
Not only did OSU quarterbacks show that passing is still a major way of doing business for the offense. They showed they could pass even when the opponent knew a pass was coming.
On Walsh’s final series, he converted a third-and-24 by throwing a 31-yard pass to Blake Jackson that led to a touchdown.
And, after UTSA crept within 42-21 early in the fourth quarter, Chelf put momentum back on OSU’s side by turning a third-and-15 predicament into a 44-yard pass to Jhajuan Seales, who led the Cowboys in catches with seven for 87 yards. Two plays later, Chelf threw a 33-yard scoring pass to Charlie Moore.
It was that kind of day for the Cowboys, who won going away despite allowing UTSA to produce the most total yards (504) in the 24-game history of the program. The Roadrunners got 281 of their yards after falling behind 42-7.
“That’s a pretty good football team,” Gundy said. “I think their quarterback (Eric Soza, 308 passing yards) is a really good player. They have got some receivers that are skilled that can catch. They have good schemes on offense. I think they are well-coached. They are going to win a lot of football games.”
OSU
Browns third-string quarterback Brian Hoyer will start Sunday against Minnesota in place of Brandon Weeden, who sprained his right thumb last week.
The Big 12 Baseball Championship will be May 21-25 at Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City.
