Oklahoma State (3) defeated Stanford (4) in Mondays Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. The predictably high scoring game ended with Oklahoma State 41-38 (OT) but was an instant classic from the get go. With a projected 4 of the top 15 draft picks for 2012 entering the game it was clear that the game would be close but the excitement in the game was one that could only be written out of a script.
Oklahoma States Brandon Weeden threw for a 399 yards with 3 TD and 1 INT with all 3 TD to the beast of a WR Blackmon. Blackmon was the reason that Oklahoma stayed alive to get to the final plays of the game with 186 yards on 8 receptions. While the defense of Oklahoma St. allowed 27 1st downs and 590 Total Yards they were able to dodge 2 consecutive bullets when Stanford kicker Jordan Williamson hooked a 35-yard field goal left with no time remaining on the clock. After Stanford lost the OT coin toss and was forced to start on offense. Oklahoma State turned on the defense with a few key stops and again forced Williamson to kick…Yeah he missed it again and you couldn’t help but feel sorry for the freshmen kicker who had teammates so confident in the kid as he walked out on the field. Did Mike Gundy actually ice the freshman kicker or was it the nerves of winning Andrew Luck and his Stanford team a BCS Championship…Either way he missed.
Stanford played a great game and accomplished a lot this season, in Andrew Lucks final game as a Cardinal he went 27/31 for 347 YRDS with 2 TD and 1 Int. Luck played one of his best games of the year and deserved to win but sometimes things don’t work out according to plan, unfortunately for him it was out of his hands and on the foot of his kicker.
The game was spectacular from start to finish and the whole nation was able to see the talents of both Luck and Blackmon up close. It is clear that these guys have lots of NFL potential and should be interesting seeing them at the next level. Both teams in 2012 will be losing great players and will have to find player to step up if either in any position to play in a BCS game next year, but thats why they play the games.