Recap: Oklahoma State defeats Missouri in Liberty Bowl

The Taylor Cornelius era mercifully ended after the 5th year quarterback passed for 336 yards and four touchdowns to lead Oklahoma State to a 38-33 win over #23 Missouri.

It was looking as if the Cowboys would blow the game wide open with a 35-19 lead heading to the fourth quarter, and then Taylor Cornelius tossed two interceptions and Missouri cut the OSU lead to 35-33 early in the 4th quarter.

The only scoring the rest of the way would come on a Matt Ammendola field goal with 5:54 left in the game. Missouri was threatening to score with a minute left in the game when Drew Lock attempted to run for a first down on 4th and one. Let’s see how that worked out!

Missouri was betting on the OSU defense biting on the read option, but Kolby Peel stayed home and made the open field tackle to seal the deal. Missouri dropped to 8-5 on the season, while Oklahoma State avoided their first losing season since 2005. Instead the Cowboys secured their 13th consecutive winning season at 7-6.

Chuba Hubbard rushed for 145 yards and a touchdown, while Tyron Johnson (Swaggy T!) showed out with 141 yards and two touchdowns. Tylan Wallace contributed 83 yards and a score in the win.

On the other hand, we need to talk about the bowl game as a whole. The refs were horrible. Maybe one day they’ll be good at reffing football games, but that day seems to be a long way off. The line judges missed multiple false starts on Missouri. The Tigers scored a touchdown on one, and Taylor Cornelius threw an ill-advised pass (because he thought it was a free play) on the other.

There was also a play where Taylor Cornelius was run out of bounds and then tackled. Arlington Hambright took exception to the late hit and delivered a shoulder to the Missouri defender and was called for unsportsmanlike conduct.

On top of all of that, ESPN clearly had their E team on this game....if that’s even a thing. The announcers called both John Wozniak and Dan Hammerschmidt “Mike Yucich” during the broadcast. Viewers completely missed a Missouri touchdown because the cameraman fell asleep. It really felt like nobody outside of the teams really wanted to be there. That’s understandable for a non New Year’s Six bowl on New Year’s Eve, but the broadcast was absolutely miserable.

The good news for Oklahoma State is that they won the game and kept their winning-season streak alive. Now all eyes will be on Spencer Sanders and Dru Brown as they battle it out to be the quarterback around an excellent returning core of Chuba Hubbard, Tylan Wallace, Tyron Johnson and Dillon Stoner.