Game Notes: Cowboy Football Visits TCU for Regular Season Finale

Saturday, November 24

Fort Worth, TX

7:00 p.m. CT

Oklahoma State University

TCU

Image Taken at the Oklahoma State Cowboys vs West Virginia Mountaineers Football Game, Saturday, November 17, 2018, Boone Pickens Stadium, Stillwater, OK. Bruce Waterfield/OSU Athletics

Game Notes: Cowboy Football Visits TCU for Regular Season Finale

November 19, 2018 | Cowboy Football

Complete notes

The Basics
The Oklahoma State football team (6-5 overall; 3-5 Big 12) visits TCU (5-6 overall; 3-5 Big 12) at 7 p.m. Saturday in its 2018 regular season finale.

On the Air
The game will be televised by FOX with Tim Brando, Spencer Tillman and Holly Sonders on the call. The contest will also be carried live on the Cowboy Radio Network, with Dave Hunziker handling play-by-play, John Holcomb providing analysis and Robert Allen reporting from the sideline. Fans outside of the Cowboy Radio Network can listen to the OSU broadcast for free through TuneIn Radio or the TuneIn Radio app.

The Series
Saturday's game marks the 29th meeting between Oklahoma State and TCU and the seventh consecutive season the teams have faced each other. OSU leads the all-time series, 15-11-2, while TCU holds the edge on games played in Fort Worth, 7-4-2. The Cowboys have won five of the past seven meetings, including the last time the teams met in Fort Worth - a 31-6 triumph in 2016. TCU won last year's game in Stillwater, 44-31. The Cowboys have not won back-to-back meetings in Fort Worth since 1945 and 1947, but have only visited for six games since that stretch. Mike Gundy is 4-2 in his coaching career against TCU, while Gary Patterson in 2-4 in his career against OSU.

Oklahoma State From a Distance
Oklahoma State is 6-5 on the season and is coming off of a 45-41 victory over No. 7 West Virginia last week. It was OSU's third win over a ranked opponent this season and marked the first time in school history the Cowboys have beaten A.P. top-10 opponents in consecutive home games, as they previously took down then-No. 6 Texas. The Cowboys join LSU as the only two programs in the nation with multiple wins over A.P. top-10 teams this year (the Tigers have three such victories). With last week's win, the Cowboys became bowl eligible for a school-record 13th consecutive year, which is the 10th-longest active bowl streak in the nation. As is customary for Oklahoma State during the Mike Gundy era, the Cowboys have one of the most explosive offenses in the nation. OSU ranks among the top 15 teams in the FBS in scoring offense (14th with 39.7 points per game), total offense (ninth with 520.0 yards per game), passing offense (eighth with 319.5 yards per game) and first downs (third with 297). From an individual perspective, quarterback Taylor Cornelius leads the Big 12 and ranks fourth nationally with 3,461 passing yards. His 344.9 yards of total offense per game ranks second in the Big 12 and fourth nationally and ranks as the third-most productive season for a quarterback in OSU history, trailing only Mason Rudolph's 379.9 yards per game in 2017 and Brandon Weeden's 355.8 yards per game in 2011. Cornelius is the reigning Walter Camp National Player of the Week after passing for 338 yards, rushing for 106 and accounting for six total touchdowns in the Cowboys' win over the Mountaineers. He became only the third player in Big 12 history to have 300 yards passing, 100 yards rushing and five passing touchdowns in a game, as well as the first player in OSU history to pass for 300 yards and rush for 100 yards in the same game. His primary target in the passing game is receiver Tylan Wallace, who is a legitimate candidate to win the Biletnikoff Award this year. Wallace leads the FBS in yards per reception (min. 60 catches) with 17.92, 100-yard games (seven) and 200-yard games (two). In addition, he ranks among the top five nationally in receiving yards (third with 1,344), receiving yards per game (third with 122.2) and receiving touchdowns (fifth with 11). Though he missed last game and almost all of the game before it due to injury, running back Justice Hill is a star performer as well, averaging 93.0 yards per game and 5.9 yards per rush. He needs just 70 rushing yards this season to hit the 1,000-yard mark for the third time in his career. With Hill out, redshirt freshman Chuba Hubbard has filled in admirably with back-to-back 100-yard games against a pair of top-10 opponents in Oklahoma and West Virginia. Hubbard carried 22 times for 104 yards and three touchdowns against OU and had 26 carries for 134 yards against WVU. Defensively, Oklahoma State has done its best work in opposing backfields. The Cowboys lead the Big 12 and rank fifth nationally with 3.45 sacks per game and rank second in the Big 12 and 16th nationally with 7.6 tackles for loss per game. Another area where the OSU defense has performed well is in the red zone, where the Cowboys rank third in the Big 12 and 12th nationally by limiting opponents to scores 73.3 percent of the time. Defensive end Jordan Brailford leads the Big 12 and ranks 13th in the FBS with 0.82 sacks per game and ranks third in the Big 12 and 21st nationally with 1.4 tackles for loss per game.

Going Bowling
The 2018 season marks the 13th consecutive season Oklahoma State has qualified for a bowl - the 10th-longest active streak in the nation. With one week remaining in the regular season, here's a look at the Big 12 bowl partners next to the conference teams that are already qualified or can still qualify:

Order of Selection	Team	Record
1. College Football Playoff	Oklahoma	10-1
2. Allstate Sugar	West Virginia	8-2
3. Valero Alamo	Texas	8-3
4. Camping World	Iowa State	6-4
5. Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl	Oklahoma State	6-5
6. AutoZone Liberty	Baylor	5-6
7. Cheez-it	Kansas State	5-6
8. Lockheed Martin Armed Forces	TCU and Texas Tech	5-6

An Oklahoma State Win Would...
• Guarantee OSU a winning record for the 13th straight season, extending the longest streak in school history.
• Give OSU back-to-back wins vs. TCU in Fort Worth for the first time since 1945 and 1947 (though it should be noted that the two schools have only met in Fort Worth six times since then).
• Give OSU wins in six of its past eight meetings with TCU.
• Improve the Cowboys to 25-9 in their last 34 games and 39-14 in their last 53 games overall.
• Make the Cowboys 16-11-2 all-time vs. TCU.
• Improve Mike Gundy's record vs. TCU to 5-2.
• Make OSU 63-11 in its last 74 games vs. unranked opponents, dating back to 2010.
• Make OSU 7-3 in its past 10 true road games and 17-5 in its past 22 true road games.
• Improve Mike Gundy's record in Big 12 games to 73-47.
• Improve the Cowboys to 54-26 in Big 12 Conference games since 2010.

Notable Streaks and Trends Entering the Game
• Oklahoma State has won 24 of its last 33 games overall.
• OSU is 17-5 in its last 22 games decided by less than 10 points.
• OSU has scored a touchdown on its opening drive in five of its last seven games.
• OSU has won 20 of its last 21 games when leading at halftime, dating to Sept. 17, 2016.
• Justice Hill has a rushing touchdown in 14 of his last 16 games.
• Justice Hill has rushed for at least 100 yards in five of his last 10 games, in 12 of his last 20 games and in 16 of his last 27 games. He has 19 100-yard rushing games in his career.
• Matt Ammendola has made 25 of his last 31 field goal attempts, and 27 of his last 34 tries.
• OSU has won three straight overtime games.
• OSU has had at least one 100-yard receiver in 13 of its last 16 games.
• OSU has had a 100-yard rusher in 16 of its last 25 games.
• OSU has outrushed its opponent in 17 of its last 25 games and in 19 of its last 28 games.
• Oklahoma State has won 38 of its last 52 games overall, dating back to the end of the 2014 season.
• OSU has forced at least one turnover in 35 of its last 38 games and in 44 of the last 48 games, dating to 2015.
• Dating back to 2005, the Cowboys have won 35 of their last 37 games when not committing a turnover.
• Dating back to 2008, the Cowboys have won 58 of their last 63 games when winning the turnover battle.
• Dillon Stoner has at least one catch in each of his last 23 games.