Oklahoma State’s 30 unanswered points stunned Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl

Have a day, Spencer Sanders.

It would have been natural for Oklahoma State to have a bit of a hangover on Saturday.

After all, this is a team that got over the hump in Bedlam against Oklahoma, a rivalry game that it hadn’t won since 2014, and was one victory away from a potential College Football Playoff berth. But a lifeless performance in the Big 12 Championship against Baylor snuffed out those hopes, and the No. 9 Cowboys received a consolation prize in the form of a Fiesta Bowl appearance against No. 5 Notre Dame.

The start of the game certainly reflected that, as the Fighting Irish jumped out to a 28-7 by the final minutes of the first half. OSU managed to cut that lead to 14 before the break, but it still appeared to be dead in the water.

That was when quarterback Spencer Sanders decided it was time for one of the best games of his career. The junior quarterback is a three-year starter, but he has had a bit of a rough season and the team has instead relied on its strong defense.

But that defense was failing it early in the game. Notre Dame quarterback Jack Coan threw for 509 yards and five touchdowns — though it took him 68 attempts to get there — as the first half was all Irish.

Sanders made up for that with a phenomenal second half, finishing the game with 371 yards and four touchdowns while completing 34 of his 51 passes. He also led the team on the ground with 125 yards (a career-high) on 17 carries.

Heroics from the veteran quarterback paired with a stout defensive performance in the second half, in which the Cowboys allowed just 193 yards and seven points, aided them in scoring 30 unanswered points to take a nine-point lead. The Fighting Irish scored a late touchdown to cut the lead to two, but it wasn’t enough as they failed to recover the ensuing onside kick, sealing a 37-35 OSU victory.

In a wild game that featured a Fiesta Bowl-record nine passing touchdowns, Oklahoma State earned its first BCS/New Year’s Six Bowl win since it took down Stanford in the 2012 Fiesta Bowl. Coach Mike Gundy’s team may have missed the ultimate mark, but it ended the season on a very high note.

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