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‘It was worth it’: OSU's Jason Taylor happy to have a numb hand after blocking field goal late

Scott Wright
Oklahoman

BOISE, Idaho — Oklahoma State’s Jason Taylor II noticed that Boise State’s placekicker, Jonah Dalmas, didn’t kick the ball very high on one of his earlier field goal attempts.

So when the teams lined up for Boise State’s potential go-ahead field goal with just over two minutes left in the game, Taylor made sure to jump.

He deflected the kick to preserve Oklahoma State’s 21-20 win over Boise State on Saturday night at Albertsons Stadium

“Really, I was just trying to make a play,” Taylor said. “I saw earlier in the game, he kicked it kinda low, and I thought I could’ve got it if I jumped. So this time, desperation, just jumped up there trying to make a play.”

Taylor said he got three fingers on the ball — more than enough to make sure it didn’t make it to the goal post. 

“My whole hand was numb for about five minutes after,” Taylor said with a laugh. “It was worth it.”

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Coaches unclear on reason for late roughing penalty

Oklahoma State defensive end Brock Martin dove and sacked Boise State quarterback Hank Bachmeier as he attempted to throw a pass late in the fourth quarter in what appeared to be a huge play for the Cowboy defense. 

Instead, it turned out to be a big swing for Boise State.

The sack would have left Boise State with a second-and-long at the 35, but Martin was flagged for roughing the passer, setting up the Broncos with a first down at the 20. The defense held, setting up the field goal that was blocked by Taylor.

But the penalty remained a confusing one for OSU coaches.

After the game, Martin told defensive coordinator Jim Knowles that the flag was because the quarterback was “defenseless in the pocket.”

“I don’t know what that means,” Knowles said. “I’m interested to see that one on film, because I have no idea what happened.”

OSU coach Mike Gundy was equally confused.

“A very unusual call,” he said. “I know what the call was, but I’m not sure how it happened. I wish I would’ve seen the replay.”

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Defensive adjustments carried Cowboys in second half

After a first half in which his players were struggling to contain Boise State, OSU defensive coordinator Jim Knowles figures he rattled off 15 adjustments he wanted made at halftime. 

“Really, I felt like it was a matter of catching up to what they were doing,” Knowles said. “They do a lot of challenging things. It’s a multiple offense with a lot of moving parts. We have a lot of veterans and there was never any panic.

“There was a lot about keeping the edge on our rush, making some coverage adjustments to get people over the top. There were some blitz adjustments and things we needed to do to keep the quarterback in the pocket.”

Knowles credited Kolby Harvell-Peel for making an adjustment in coverage that resulted in his fourth-quarter interception.

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Gundy excited by second-half time of possession

Gundy’s portion of the post-game press conference was finished and offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn was at the microphone answering questions when Gundy’s voice interrupted.

“Twenty-one minutes,” Gundy said, walking back in holding a stat sheet and pointing to the second-half time of possession. 

“Nobody ever talks about that anymore, but that’s a big deal.”

The Cowboys had the ball for 21:09 in the second half to 8:51 for Boise State, keeping the OSU defense fresh and shortening the game. 

The Pokes relied on a heavy dose of the run game, rushing it 35 times and throwing it only seven in the second half. The Cowboys also regularly huddled on offense to let the clock run more — something they rarely do in their typical up-tempo offense.

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Defense overcame early exhaustion

With the Oklahoma State offense failing to stay on the field with a string of three-and-outs early in the game, the Cowboy defense found itself going back into the game over and over again to try to contain a fast-paced Boise State offense. 

“Their tempo was good,” linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez said. “Sometimes we had a little trouble lining up.

“We just kept throwing punches and kept battling.”

The defensive line was rotating heavily when it could to try to battle the up-tempo pace of the Broncos. 

“We could definitely feel their tempo,” defensive tackle Jayden Jernigan said. “We tried to practice it as best as we could throughout the week. The first two or three drives, they were moving the ball pretty fast. But after the start of the second quarter, they started slowing down a little bit and we started getting used to it.”

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Quotable

Gundy on the first half: “When we went in at halftime, I had to look at the scoreboard. I thought we were behind by 20. I just felt like we were behind by 20. I didn’t really think we did anything other than one long run. I didn’t think we slowed ‘em down. I didn’t think we functioned very well as an offense. And I looked at the scoreboard and we were ahead by one. But it just didn’t feel that way.”

OSU's Jason Taylor (25) blocks a field-goal attempt from Boise State’s Jonah Dalmas (35) in the fourth quarter of the Cowboys' 21-20 win Saturday night at Albertsons Stadium in Boise, Idaho.