No. 17 Oklahoma State ends FCS champ South Dakota State's 29-game winning streak with 44-20 victory

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Alan Bowman threw three touchdown passes, Ollie Gordon II scored three times and No. 17 Oklahoma State ended two-time defending FCS national champion South Dakota State’s 29-game winning streak with a 44-20 victory Saturday.

Bowman, beginning his seventh year of eligibility at age 24, completed 25 of 34 passes for 265 yards in the opener for both teams. He threw scoring passes of 6 yards to Brennan Presley, 22 yards to Ollie Gordon II and 58 yards to Rashod Owens.

“Overall, I was pleased with the performance from a discipline standpoint,” Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said. “We only had one penalty, which is really good, and I thought we were good in special teams. Defensively, we played good and then gave up big plays.”

Gordon, a junior who won the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s top running back last season, carried 27 times for 104 yards and two scores. His second touchdown, on a short pass from Bowman, covered 22 yards for a 24-6 lead with 10:46 left in the third.

“I thought he ran very well today, made guys miss, guys bounce off of him,” Gundy said. “He made big runs at key times today and he looks better physically running than he even did last year."

South Dakota State answered behind quarterback Mark Gronowski, the reigning Walter Payton Award winner as the top offensive player in the Football Championship Subdivision. He took the Jackrabbits 75 yards in three plays, capping the drive with a 21-yard scoring pass to Grahm Goering to make it 24-13.

Oklahoma State responded with 17 straight points to make it 41-13.

“Congratulations to Coach Gundy and Oklahoma State,” South Dakota State coach Jimmy Rogers said. “I thought they played really well, I thought they were as good as advertised. They did a lot of really, really good things offensively. And then defensively, at times they just kind of took the wind out of our sails.

“We’ll respond. This isn’t the end of the world to me. We have 11 more games to play and we’re going to give it our best.”

The Cowboys led 17-6 at the half, limiting the Jackrabbits to two field goals.

Gronowski completed 20 of 37 passes for 264 yards and two touchdowns.

South Dakota State’s 29-game winning streak, which spanned nearly two years, was the third-longest in Football Championship Subdivision history. North Dakota State won 39 straight games between 2017 and 2020 and 33 in a row between 2012 and 2014. The Jackrabbits’ last loss before Saturday came against Iowa on Sept. 3, 2022. The Hawkeyes won 7-3.

TAKEAWAY

South Dakota State moved the ball, compiling 388 yards of total offense and 17 first downs. But the Jackrabbits failed to convert in key situations, including their first two possessions of the game. They were stopped on fourth down and then Gronowski was intercepted by Kobie Black. Oklahoma State converted the turnover into points on Presley’s score.

STEPPING UP

Oklahoma State safety Trey Rucker had 15 tackles while linebacker Nick Martin contributed 10 tackles and a tackle behind the line of scrimmage that resulted in a 9-yard loss. Adam Bock led the Jackrabbits with 12 tackles.

BOTH SIDES

Former Oklahoma player Gavin Freeman, who joined Oklahoma State via the transfer portal, caught his first two passes for the Cowboys, returned a punt for 2 yards and a kickoff for 17 yards.

UP NEXT

South Dakota State: Hosts Incarnate Word on Sept. 7.

Oklahoma State: Hosts Arkansas on Sept. 7.

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South Dakota State running back Amar Johnson (3) runs past Oklahoma State safety Cameron Epps (7) in the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024, in Stillwater, Okla. (AP Photo/Mitch Alcala)

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Ja’Quinden Jackson ran for 147 yards and a touchdown and Taylen Green picked up 96 yards on the ground with two scores as Arkansas beat Alabama-Birmingham 37-27 on Saturday.

Jackson’s score, a 16-yard dash early in the third quarter, broke a 20-all tie to give Arkansas (2-1) its first lead. UAB had little answer for him whenever he ran the ball as his yardage total came on just 15 carries.

Green, Arkansas’ starting quarterback, countered his sub-par throwing day with his rushing results. He tied the game at 17 in the third quarter on a 14-yard touchdown and provided a 9-yard insurance touchdown with 3:38 left after Arkansas had taken a three-point lead. In the air, he was just 11 of 26 for 161 yards with an interception.

The Blazers (1-2) led 17-3 early in the second quarter, having scored on their first three drives. The second drive needed to go only 15 yards after Green was intercepted in his own red zone. Jared Zeno, who threw three touchdown passes for UAB, found Kam Shanks for a 15-yard score to put Arkansas down by a touchdown before Zeno connected with Amare Thomas for a 34-yard score on the next drive to make it a two-score game.

Arkansas scored five of the next six times as Braylen Russell added a rushing touchdown and Kyle Ramsey made two field goals to provide the Razorbacks with a 30-20 lead in the fourth quarter. Zeno found Dallas Payne for his third touchdown of the game midway through the fourth before Green led the 7-play, 75-yard drive that ultimately proved the game-changer.

Jackson, a Utah transfer, became the first Arkansas player with 100-yard games in each of his first three in a Razorbacks uniform since Alex Collins in 2015. Collins, Arkansas’ second-leading rusher in school history, died last year in a motorcycle wreck. He was honored during the game along with other members of the 2024 Arkansas Hall of Honor.

UAB is likely neither as bad as the team that lost to Louisiana-Monroe in Week 2 by 26 points nor as good as the team that lost to Arkansas by 10 on Saturday. The Blazers’ ride in the AAC could be just as chaotic.

Arkansas wasn’t especially impressive, but after last year’s 4-8 season and last week’s double-overtime loss to Oklahoma State, putting a team away in a close game is a large step forward.

UAB hosts Navy in AAC play on Saturday.

Arkansas travels to Auburn to open the SEC schedule on Saturday.

UAB wide receiver Kam Shanks (8) slips past Arkansas defensive back TJ Metcalf (18) to score a touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Fayetteville, Ark. (AP Photo/Michael Woods)