Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Oh So Close to Upset Again
June 21, 1999 | Cowboy Football
November 7, 1998
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Ricky Williams gained 50 of his 90 yards on the game's final drive, setting up Kris Stockton's 29-yard field goal with three seconds left as No. 20 Texas beat Oklahoma State 37-34 Saturday.
The Cowboys called three straight timeouts with seven seconds left to try icing Stockton - and it almost worked. After easily making kicks of 32, 33 and 45 yards, this one ricocheted off the left upright as it went through.
Texas (7-2, 5-1 Big 12) had to scramble for the victory after blowing leads of 21-7 and 34-21. Oklahoma State (3-6, 2-5) had a chance to go ahead with 10:25 left, but an extra-point attempt was blocked, leaving the game tied at 34.
The Longhorns began their-game winning drive at their 17 with 3:52 to play. Williams opened it with runs of 5 and 24 yards and added bursts of 2, 6 and 5 yards as Texas drove to the Oklahoma State 11. Another key play in the drive was a close pass interference penalty on Marcus Jones that gave Texas a first down after a third-down incompletion from the 32.
In the end, the Cowboys just couldn't sustain their great effort against Williams, the nation's leading rusher. They held him to just 32 yards on 16 carries over the first three quarters - including one yard in the third period - but at the end he was still going far stronger than they were.
With Williams struggling, the offensive star for Texas was freshman quarterback Major Applewhite. He went 29-for-40 for 408 yards and three touchdowns, including a 48-yarder to Williams.
The attempts and yards were school records as Applewhite, who took over in the second half of the second game following an injury to senior Richard Walton, improved to 6-1 as a starter. He's thrown for more than 200 yards in all seven starts, tying another school record.
Texas, coming off a 20-16 upset in Nebraska, has won six in a row for the first time since 1995-96.
Oklahoma State lost for the fifth time in six weeks, with each loss coming to a team that was ranked at the time. Nonetheless, the Cowboys clinched a losing season and will not make a second straight bowl appearance.
Quarterback Tony Lindsay did his best to try avoiding that, throwing for 236 yards and two touchdowns and running for two more scores and a two-point conversion.
The Cowboys defense, ranked 47th in the country and allowing 139.6 yards per game, held Williams 114 yards below his average. But he still ran for a score and had the touchdown catch, allowing him to continue breaking NCAA records.
He set the mark for consecutive games with a rushing touchdown (12) and most games with multiple touchdowns (21), and tied the mark for games with a touchdown (31).
Williams, who also leads the nation in scoring, has 1,724 yards this season and 5,879 in his career, leaving him 204 behind Tony Dorsett in the chase for No. 1 on the Division I list.
