Oklahoma State Vs. Stanford, Fiesta Bowl: Cowboys Win Overtime Classic, 41-38

Stanford and Oklahoma State exchanged touchdown runs in the final 2:25 of the first half to go into halftime tied at 21.

Luck, the presumptive No. 1 overall pick of the 2012 NFL Draft, drove the Cardinal down the field and had the ball at the Oklahoma State 25-yard line over a minute to play. Despite having a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback, the Cardinal ran a pair of running plays and burned a minute of clock before having Williamson attempt a 35-yard field goal, which missed wide left to force overtime.

Once Blackmon showed up, however, Weeden calmed down. (Funny how that works.) He completed 24 of his final 32 passes for 373 yards and three touchdowns, all to Blackmon.

...but it’s going to happen sometimes.

No one can accuse Blackmon of padding his stats, either: all three of his touchdowns came with Okie State trailing Stanford. His first two went for a combined 110 yards in the second quarter, and his final touchdown tied the game at 31-31 in the fourth:

After the game, Blackmon confirmed that his next stop would be the NFL:

↵The face of Stanford football on January 3rd, 2012, 12:28 a.m. Eastern Time.

If last season’s Fiesta Bowl was for all the Tostitos, the 2012 Fiesta Bowl was for all the touchdowns. Stanford and Oklahoma State combined for 79 points before the Cowboys prevailed in overtime, 41-38.

Playing for the game-winning field goal, it was just the second time this season that Stanford failed to score once it entered the red zone. Here’s video of the miss:

Why, hallo there. Dreadfully sorry. You said something?

Oh, what, perchance, brings Lord Fitzgerald to the events most sportive tonight? Duchess Fitzgerald happens to be visiting her relations in France, and an evening on the manor alone seemed too much to bear even for a man of my immense mental and physical reserves. Plus my close personal chum Condi Rice is here, and I surmised she could use my opinions about a knotty piece of Central African mining policy she’s working on for a client. The evening shall conclude with champagne at the Fitzgerald manor, fresh Korean pears for a late night snack, and the playing of my new harpsichord until my fingers grow tired! To la dolce vita!

Here’s video of the Cardinal touchdown:

And, in the interest of equal coverage, here is the Cowboy’s game-tying score:

Blackmon has caught six passes for 158 yards (!) and three touchdowns (!!!) so far against the Cardinal. Stanford had not allowed an opponent to go over 100 yards receiving this season, something Blackmon did on his first two catches -- both of which were touchdowns.

For more on this super BCS bowl game, visit Oklahoma State blog Cowboys Ride for Free and Stanford blog Rule of Tree, and head over to Pac-12 blog Pacific Takes and SB Nation Bay Area.

While Oklahoma State has used quick-strike attacks to counter against Stanford’s scoring, the Cardinal continue to milk the clock on long scoring drives. This drive was more than 10 plays and lasted more than five minutes.

More at SI.com: Live Fiesta Bowl box score and Fiesta Bowl FAQ

The Oklahoma State defense has turned over its opponents with great success this season. But the Cowboys, who answered every Stanford touchdown in the first half, could not turn a fortuitous fumble recovery into seven points from just outside the Cardinal end zone.

Oklahoma State trails Stanford 28-24 nearing the end of the third quarter in the 2012 Fiesta Bowl.

SI.com: Live Fiesta Bowl box score and Fiesta Bowl FAQ

For more on this game, visit Oklahoma State blog Cowboys Ride for Free and Stanford blog Rule of Tree, plus Pac-12 blog Pacific Takes and SB Nation Bay Area.

Oklahoma State has had little success stopping Stanford in the first half, but the Cowboys have answered each Cardinal score, and end the first half tied 21-21 in the 2012 Fiesta Bowl. Something about a good offense being the best defense seems fitting here.

SI.com: Live Fiesta Bowl box score and Fiesta Bowl FAQ

SI.com: Live Fiesta Bowl box score and Fiesta Bowl FAQ

For more on this game, visit Oklahoma State blog Cowboys Ride for Free and Stanford blog Rule of Tree, plus Pac-12 blog Pacific Takes and SB Nation Bay Area.

SI.com: Live Fiesta Bowl box score and Fiesta Bowl FAQ

The Cowboys’ second touchdown drive took just two plays and all of 38 seconds. Blackmon has now caught two passes for two touchdowns and 110 total receiving yards. Here’s video of the second touchdown:

SI.com: Live Fiesta Bowl box score and Fiesta Bowl FAQ

As you can see on the play, Blackmon was able to get wide open on the Stanford defense. Maybe Stanford was taking the two-time Biletnikoff Award winner lightly because he’s dealing with an “inner thigh infection” that supposedly limits his movement. With the score, Oklahoma State cut the lead 14-7.

SI.com: Live Fiesta Bowl box score and Fiesta Bowl FAQ

OSU’s defense gives up lots of points and yards, but makes its hay by forcing turnovers. They’ve picked off Luck once, but probably shouldn’t count on many more of those coming their way.

SI.com: Live Fiesta Bowl box score and Fiesta Bowl FAQ

The easy touchdown puts Stanford ahead early 7-0. The Oklahoma State defense played well early in the game, but if they’re going to start biting on the play action fakes of Stanford, they could be in for a long night. Literally every Okie State defensive player bit on the play action fake by Luck. Luck showed his arm off a bit on the throw as well, throwing the ball about 50-yards in the air and hitting Montgomery in stride.

SI.com: Live Fiesta Bowl box score and Fiesta Bowl FAQ

For more on this game, visit Oklahoma State blog Cowboys Ride for Free and Stanford blog Rule of Tree, plus Pac-12 blog Pacific Takes and SB Nation Bay Area.

No bowl has benefitted more by its association with the Bowl Championship Series than the Fiesta Bowl. By participating in the BCS precursors Bowl Coalition and Bowl Alliance, the young upstart found a way to usurp the Cotton Bowl and became one of the big boys dominating New Year’s Day.

Born out of the old Western Athletic Conference’s frustration of being snubbed of bowl bids, the Fiesta Bowl came of age in the 1980s when, free of conference affiliations, it was able to arrange attractive bowl matchups between major conference opponents. But the real breakthrough came in 1986, when it convinced No. 1 Miami and No. 2 Penn State, both independents at the time, to face each other in the de facto national championship game.

NOTE: Confused? See the quick glossary at the bottom.

Sometimes regret clouds excitement. It is impossible to look at a game like this and not think about these teams deserving (or at least almost deserving) a shot at the national title. And the pro-playoff folks among us will use that as EXAMPLE NO. 143,386,306 WHY WE NEED A PLAYOFF RIGHT NOW, and for the most part, they will be correct. But in a vacuum, with no regrets or negative context, this game, like the Rose Bowl, should be an absolute knockout.

Game date, time: 8:30 p.m. ET, Monday, January 2nd

Location: University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, AZ

Stanford hovered around the top few spots in the national polls all season long and perhaps missed out on a golden opportunity to play for the national title with a 53-30 loss at the hands of Pac-12 champion Oregon. After the lone loss, the Cardinal were able to post wins over both California (31-28) and Notre Dame (28-14) to close out the regular season. It is the first time in school history that Stanford has posted back-to-back 11-win campaigns.

This game marks Stanford’s 23rd bowl appearance. The Cardinal hold a 10-11-1 record in the postseason and are playing in their second straight BCS Bowl game following a 40-12 rout of Virginia Tech in last year’s Orange Bowl.

You were going to click this no matter what, because who can pass up a video of Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy riding a mechanical bull? And would you expect this 40-year-old-plus man is a deft bull rider? Of course you would, because it’s Mike Gundy.

I’m sure this was part of some pre-bowl outing, but it could just as easily be a typical Friday night for Gundy. Judging by the video, he’s been down this road before. I’m not saying he had a mechanical bull installed in his basement with some of that head coaching money, but ... well, he looks like he’s conquered his share of mechanical bulls.

Six years ago, however, they were teammates in a different sport altogether (via Standard-Examiner):

The 28-year-old Weeden ended his baseball career in 2007 and decided to focus on football. He was the first pick in the 2002 draft by the New York Yankees. Meanwhile Pratt is a 26-year-old freshman who recently ended an eight-year minor league career.

Despite missing four games and parts of at least two others due to multiple incidents, Owusu finished second among all Stanford receivers in yards and second on the team in catches.

For more on the Fiesta Bowl, visit Stanford blog Rule of Tree and Oklahoma State blog Cowboys Ride for Free.