Analysis: Why No. 13 BYU’s miraculous win over Oklahoma State to stay perfect will live forever in Cougar lore

Although he is relatively new to BYU football history, having grown up in the Jewish faith in Southern California with little or no knowledge of plays such as Beck-to-Harline that beat rival Utah or the Mangum-to-Mathews Hail Mary that stunned Nebraska, Jake Retzlaff already knows that what transpired late, late Friday night before the clock was about to strike zero on BYU’s undefeated season will never be forgotten.
“That was out-of-body. That was a spiritual experience. That was insane,” Retzlaff said.
Insane, indeed, unless you were on the Oklahoma State side of things. Then it was downright maddening.
Retzlaff engineered the come-from-behind 38-35 win over the Pokes much the way the greats before him — such as Robbie Bosco and the 1984 national championship team — did, finding Darius Lassiter for the game-winning 35-yard touchdown catch with 10 seconds remaining.
“It is magical, it is spiritual. How can you not be romantic about this game?” Retzlaff said, describing how teammates such as Weylin Lapuaho and Connor Pay were “in tears on the sideline” and it happened so suddenly that he couldn’t quite recall what happened 10 minutes after it did.
“It was a special experience, man, and doing it at home makes it even more fun,” Retzlaff said. “It was just unbelievable, man. That’s something that is going to be talked about for a long time, especially in my household.”
Lassiter said of all the great catches, and plays, he has made in a season and a half as a Cougar, that one ranks at the top.
“Yeah, emotions all over the place right now. I don’t know if I wanted to cry, be happy, but I am just glad we were able to get the job done,” said Lassiter, who caught six passes for 129 yards, including one the first play of the game that went for 50 yards.
Retzlaff struggled in the first half, completing just 6 of 15 passes for 104 yards and throwing two interceptions. He looked like the 2023 Jake instead of the 2024 Jake, who has been mostly outstanding and a big reason why BYU is 7-0.
He turned it around in the second half though, and finished with 218 yards and two touchdowns. Most of all, he got that signature moment — as Tanner Mangum did against Nebraska — that will live in Cougar lore forever.
“I liked the play of Jake, other than the interceptions. I liked what he did, especially on the last drive. He knows we need to be better, especially as a team, and we made too many mistakes,” said head coach Kalani Sitake. “Normally we can overcome some of those mistakes if we are being aggressive, but not against really good teams, man.
“We just gotta keep improving, getting better. Can’t deny the opportunity for us to celebrate the win. It was good for our program, good for the team, for the offense, and good for the players. I thought finding a way to get the win was a key for us.”
The drive that will live in infamy in Stillwater and could be a defining moment for BYU (7-0, 4-0) if the Cougars continue their winning ways came after Alan Bowman threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Brennan Presley with 1:13 remaining to give OSU a 35-31 lead. That gave OSU 421 total yards against a BYU defense that struggled mightily for the first time this season.
But it came too soon.
BYU and Retzlaff took over at their 25, and the first great play was made by Chase Roberts, who snared an 8-yard catch on 4th-and-7. Two plays later, Retzlaff saw an opening and ran 27 yards into OSU territory.
“Chase made a great catch on fourth down. He was huge. He was doing jumping jacks he was so open at first. I was like, that is too easy. That was incredible. Hope you guys didn’t get nervous,” Retzlaff said.
After a spike to stop the clock with 19 seconds left, the play was designed to go to redshirt freshman Jojo Phillips but somehow the throw went to Lassiter, who made two guys missed and strolled into the end zone.
“Everybody believed it. Two-minute (drill) is my thing. I love two-minute. The best situation I love is two-minute drill. I mean, every time we did it in camp, spring ball, I was ready to go,” Retzlaff said.
“We are really good at it. It was cool to do it like that, finish. … Darius made a great play on the ball, went and got it.”
Said Lassiter: “It was just a great feeling, especially doing it in front of the ROC, too.”
Lassiter said he’s been nursing a sore shoulder most of the season, which is why he briefly stayed down in the corner of the end zone after a third-down pass was incomplete and BYU settled for a 41-yard field goal by Will Ferrin that gave the Cougs a 31-28 lead with 9:44 remaining.
Oklahoma State (3-4, 0-4) then drove 76 yards in 17 plays — its fifth touchdown drive of 75 or more yards — and took 8:22 off the clock as the capacity crowd of 62,841 looked on in disbelief, the Cougars’ perfect season seemingly going up in smoke.
“Great game. Obviously just really happy about the win. Just really proud of the way the guys played. Man, it wasn’t easy, but proud of our guys and the fight, and the belief they have in each other, the leadership of our team,” Sitake said.
“Just proud of our guys for being able to make plays.”
Is this a team of destiny, one bound for the College Football Playoff? There were times it looked like that — such as the ending drive. There were other times when it looked no more than a mid-level Big 12 team.
Through six games, the Cougars were doing all those things well, but especially profiting from miscues from the other team. Sure, some of the turnovers against Kansas State, Arizona and SMU, specifically, were forced, but several of them were the results of opponent mistakes, such as the time Avery Johnson threw the ball directly to Tyler Batty.
BYU proved Friday night that it can win when it isn’t getting all the breaks or winning the turnover battle. That said, safety Tanner Wall’s interception and return to the 1-yard line — less than a week after he picked off a pass at his own 1-yard-line — is one of those plays that shouldn’t be forgotten.
Another key was that Oklahoma State was in position to make it a two-score game early in the second half, driving to the BYU 30, but the Cougars’ defense got some stops and Logan Ward missed a 48-yard field goal, giving BYU some life and bringing the crowd back into the game.
After getting dinged up a bit making a tackle after throwing his second interception of the first half, Retzlaff shrugged off the setback and started the second half but didn’t attempt a pass on the first possession.
Instead, BYU used seven running plays to get to the end zone and tie it at 21-21; LJ Martin’s 8-yard, tackle-breaking TD run capped the drive.
Tommy Prassas became the 10th different Cougar to get an interception this season on OSU’s next possession, snatching a high Bowman throw that was tipped by an open receiver.
The Cougars quickly cashed in, with Retzlaff throwing a 34-yard touchdown strike to Keelan Marion.
Even with Doak Walker Award winner Ollie Gordon II briefly leaving the game with another injury, however, BYU couldn’t stop OSU’s attack. Bowman, OSU’s backup, suddenly got hot after missing his first five passes, and then caught a 16-yard throwback pass from Presley to tie it at 28 apiece on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Gordon, who was averaging 68 yards per game, ran 50 yards for a touchdown on the Cowboys’ fifth play from scrimmage, breaking an arm tackle by Marque Collins and running untouched from there to the end zone.
Gordon finished with 107 yards on 16 attempts after rushing for 167 yards and five touchdowns last year against the Cougars in OSU’s 40-34 double-overtime win.
BYU was in scoring territory on its third possession, but after an odd timeout with 4 seconds left in the first quarter, the Cougars dialed up a “special” — a gadget play when it wasn’t really needed — and it backfired.
Running back Hinckley Ropati’s first-and-10 pass, a wounded duck, really, was picked off easily by Parker Robertson.
Martin’s TD plunge a play after Wall’s pick gave the Cougars a 14-7 lead and the vibe was back in Provo, but it didn’t last long. Oklahoma State answered with its second 75-yard touchdown drive to knot it at 14 apiece as Gordon took a short pass 17 yards for a score, leaping over BYU freshman backup safety Faletau Satuala en route to the end zone.
BYU’s next drive looked promising as Retzlaff broke of a career-long 29-yard run to get the Cougars in scoring position, but an ill-advised throw into double coverage was picked off by Korie Black with 3:44 left in the first half.
Then it was OSU starter Garret Rangel’s turn to make a long run, and he slipped past Tyler Batty, who had lost the edge, and scampered 54 yards to the BYU 13.
The Cougars had not allowed a play of more than 50 yards all season, but gave up two in the first half alone.
Retzlaff tried another ill-advised pass at the end of the half, and it was picked off by Lyrik Rawls. Worse, Retzlaff made the tackle and went to the locker room favoring his left arm/shoulder. After the game, he said he was fine and that it was “just one of those bumps and bruises that happen in football.”
The Cougars finished with 473 yards, eclipsing OSU in the final minute with the game-winning drive.
“That’s a game I will never forget,” Wall said.
Neither will the 60,000-plus BYU fans in attendance, a number that will likely double 10 years from now whenever the Game 7 of what could be an unforgettable season is discussed.