Oklahoma State is National Team Of the Week

October 29, 2018 by Courtesy FWAA

The Oklahoma State Cowboys beat their highest-ranked opponent since 2015, and Taylor Cornelius and Tylan Wallace had banner days through the air in a 38-35 win over No. 6 Texas at Boone Pickens Stadium. For winning a fourth straight game over the Longhorns and ending their six-game win streak, Oklahoma State has earned the FWAA National Team of the Week honor for games played October 23-27.

The award is sponsored this season by Reveal Suits.

This is the third time that Oklahoma State has earned this honor, which dates to 2002, and its first since 2013. The announcement came on "Off Campus with Mark Packer" on ESPNU Radio on SiriusXM. Each Monday during the season, the Reveal Suits National Team of the Week will be unveiled during the program, which airs weekdays from 4-7 p.m. ET. The FWAA's All-America Committee selects the weekly winner and all Division I FBS and FCS schools are eligible to be selected.

Cornelius, the Cowboys’ senior quarterback, finished the first half 16-of-21 passing for 241 yards and three touchdowns and added a rushing touchdown as OSU rolled up a 31-14 halftime lead. He keyed the Cowboys’ big start with key passes on third downs, extending drives by connecting on 6-of-7 passes for 84 yards on third-down plays alone in the first half, and finished with 321 passing yards for his fourth 300-yard game of the season. Most of that yardage went to Wallace, who had already achieved career highs of 167 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns by halftime, and finished with 222 receiving yards, the eighth-best single-game total by an OSU player.

"That one was a little more fun than the last couple," coach Mike Gundy said. "We were pretty good across the board. Overall, very balanced offensively. I thought our offensive line was excellent. In fact, I thought the first half they were somewhat dominant for where we've been during the year. The crowd was fantastic, homecoming was fantastic. Obviously, the weather is beautiful. It was a good time to play and win in prime time. I'm proud of them, I want them to enjoy it tonight and we have to get back to work tomorrow."

OSU has now won seven of its last nine games against Texas. Also of note is the Cowboys have won 20 of their last 21 games when leading at halftime over the last two seasons, and are 16-3 in its last 19 games decided by less than 10 points.

The other National Team of the Week nominees were:

Arizona State (4-4): The Sun Devils snapped USC’s 19-game home winning streak with a 38-35 win at the Coliseum. The win also ended USC's 14-game Pac-12 home win streak, and was USC coach Clay Helton's first home conference loss in 20 games. Eno Benjamin ran for 185 yards and two touchdowns for ASU, and N'Keal Harry had two receiving scores.

Georgia (7-1): Jake Fromm threw three touchdown passes, each of them on third-down plays, and No. 7 Georgia beat No. 9 Florida for a second straight season, 36-17. Fromm was 17-of-24 passing for 240 yards, and the Georgia defense came up with three takeaways.

Houston (7-1): Quarterback D'Eriq King accounted for a career-high seven touchdowns, throwing for five touchdowns and 419 yards while adding two more rushing touchdowns as Houston took control of the American Conference West Division race with a 57-36 over No. 21 USF. Houston won its fifth straight with a season-high 684 yards of total offense.

Kansas (3-5): The Jayhawks’ Big 12-leading takeaway defense came up big again, recovering a fumble at their own 6-yard line with 58 seconds left to end a four-game losing streak and get their first Big 12 win. It was Kansas’ first win over TCU since 1997, before the two schools became conference foes.

Northwestern (5-3): The Wildcats took advantage of Wisconsin turnovers, and Clayton Thorson ran for two touchdowns and threw for another as Northwestern claimed the top spot in the Big Ten West Division with a 31-17 win over the No. 20 Badgers. Isaiah Bowser rushed for 117 yards and a touchdown for Northwestern.