Malcolm Simmons Scores Twice and Thomas Castellanos Throws Four TDs as No. 10 Texas Tech Beats Oklahoma State 52-27

Fourteen seconds. That is how long a sold-out Boone Pickens Stadium got to settle in before Malcolm Simmons took the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown and set the tone for a long night in Stillwater. No. 10 Texas Tech never trailed after that, and by the end of the first quarter it led 21-0. Oklahoma State fought back to within four points before halftime, but the Red Raiders answered every push and pulled away for a 52-27 win on Saturday night.

Thomas Castellanos threw four touchdown passes on only 12 completions, J'Koby Williams ran for 124 yards and a score, and Simmons found the end zone twice, once on special teams and once as a receiver. Texas Tech improved to 9-1 overall and 6-1 in the Big 12. Oklahoma State fell to 6-4 and 4-3 in league play, losing at home for the first time this season.

The Cowboys actually finished with more total yards, 465 to 442, and more first downs, 23 to 17. What they did not have was a way to finish. Oklahoma State turned it over twice and came up empty on three of its four fourth-down tries, and Texas Tech turned almost every one of those stops into points.

A 21-0 start before the crowd could breathe

Simmons' return opened the scoring with 14:46 left in the first quarter. Texas Tech needed only two plays on its first offensive possession to double the lead, with Williams breaking a 34-yard touchdown run to cap a 70-yard drive at 12:03.

The Red Raiders' defense then took its turn. Late in the quarter, John Curry intercepted Drew Mestemaker at the Oklahoma State 29 and returned it 13 yards to the 16. Castellanos finished the short drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Terrance Carter Jr. with 53 seconds left, and Texas Tech led 21-0 after one quarter.

Oklahoma State storms back in the second quarter

Oklahoma State finally got on the board when Sam Keltner hit a 40-yard field goal at 13:30 of the second quarter. Then came the Cowboys' best stretch of the night.

With Texas Tech driving, Castellanos lost a fumble at his own 14. I. Chisom forced it and Jerry Lawson recovered at the 13, and the call stood on review. On the very next snap, Mestemaker ran 13 yards for a touchdown at 7:33 to make it 21-10. The Cowboys got the ball back and kept rolling, and Mestemaker hit Morgan McPhaul for an 18-yard touchdown at 3:55. A game that looked over after 15 minutes was suddenly 21-17.

It stayed that close for exactly one play. On Texas Tech's first snap after the kickoff, Castellanos found Micah Hudson for an 80-yard touchdown at 3:38 to push the lead back to 28-17. Hudson's two catches covered 89 yards.

Oklahoma State still got the last word of the half. The Cowboys went 70 yards in 13 plays, and Keltner made a 24-yard field goal with 10 seconds left. Texas Tech took a 28-20 lead into the locker room.

The turning point: a fourth-and-1 at midfield

The second half swung on Oklahoma State's first possession. Facing fourth-and-1 at its own 46, the Cowboys stayed on the field, and Ayo Adeyi was dropped for a 1-yard loss by Austin Romaine and Peyton Morgan. Texas Tech took over at the Oklahoma State 45 at 13:03 of the third quarter.

Castellanos wasted no time. On the first play, he hit Simmons for a 45-yard touchdown at 12:54, and the lead was back to 15 at 35-20.

Oklahoma State answered with a long drive to the Texas Tech 25, then went for it again on fourth-and-3. Mestemaker kept it himself and was stopped after 2 yards by Morgan and Trey White at 9:39. White later added a sack of Mestemaker, and the Cowboys were shut out in the third quarter.

The fourth quarter opened the same way the night started, with Texas Tech scoring fast. Castellanos threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Johnson at 14:54 for a 42-20 lead. Oklahoma State's next drive ended in another turnover on downs at its own 43 when Brice Pollock broke up a pass at 13:09. Stone Harrington followed with a 54-yard field goal at 8:59 to make it 45-20.

Ben Roberts then made sure there would be no late drama. The linebacker intercepted Mestemaker at the Oklahoma State 47 and returned it 17 yards to the 30. Williams ripped off a 28-yard run to the 2 on the next play, and Cameron Dickey scored from 2 yards out at 8:12 for a 52-20 lead. Oklahoma State added a late touchdown when William Mason ran 10 yards for a score with 54 seconds left, set up by a 37-yard run from backup quarterback Broderick Vehrs.

Standouts

Castellanos went 12 of 23 for 263 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions, spreading the scores across four receivers, and added 38 rushing yards on 11 carries. A week after throwing five touchdown passes in the 53-48 win over West Virginia, he added four more on the road.

Simmons made two touches count. The 97-yard kickoff return started the night, and the 45-yard catch on the first play after the third-quarter fourth-down stop ended Oklahoma State's best chance to take control.

Williams carried 19 times for 124 yards and a touchdown. Texas Tech ran for 171 yards on 35 carries as a team.

Roberts led the game with 13 tackles, nine of them solo, and had the fourth-quarter interception that turned into the final Texas Tech touchdown.

For Oklahoma State, Mestemaker kept the Cowboys moving for most of the night, going 27 of 42 for 277 yards with a touchdown pass and running for another score. The two interceptions both led directly to Texas Tech touchdowns, though, and that was the difference between a close loss and a lopsided one.

Caleb Hawkins ran 18 times for 91 yards for Oklahoma State, and Justin Bowick (five catches) and Terrence Lewis (four catches) each had 78 receiving yards. Safety Evan Jackson made 10 solo tackles.

The stats that told the story

Oklahoma State won most of the volume categories. It had more yards and more first downs, and it committed only two penalties for 25 yards to Texas Tech's seven for 55. Neither team was good on third down, with Texas Tech going 5 of 13 and Oklahoma State 5 of 19.

Oklahoma State converted one of four fourth downs, and the failed tries came at its own 46, at the Texas Tech 25 and at its own 43. The Cowboys also lost the turnover battle 2-1. Texas Tech scored touchdowns after both interceptions and after the third-quarter stop at midfield. Add a kickoff return touchdown, and the Red Raiders had a big edge in hidden yardage that the total yards column does not show.

What it means

Texas Tech is 9-1 and 6-1 in the Big 12 with two regular-season games left, and it keeps a firm place in the conference race. The Red Raiders came in at No. 12 in the College Football Playoff rankings released Nov. 10, and a convincing road win over a team ranked No. 25 in that same poll is the kind of result the committee can see. Texas Tech plays at Baylor on Saturday, Nov. 21, with a kickoff time to be announced, and then hosts TCU on Thanksgiving night, Nov. 26, at 7 p.m. CT.

For Oklahoma State, the loss ends a perfect home record and drops Eric Morris' first team to 6-4. The Cowboys still have two chances to finish strong. They play at Arizona State on Saturday, Nov. 21, at 9:15 p.m. CT, and close the regular season at home against Kansas on Nov. 28.

Oklahoma State moved the ball, had Texas Tech on its heels for most of the second quarter and outgained the Red Raiders. But Texas Tech under Joey McGuire played like a team that knows how to win in November. It scored on special teams, it answered the Cowboys' 17-point run with an 80-yard strike on the next snap, and its defense stopped Oklahoma State on three of four fourth-down tries. For a team chasing a Big 12 title, a 25-point road win in a sold-out stadium is a strong statement.

Texas Tech's official photos from the game are in the Red Raiders' photo gallery (opens in a new tab), and the full stats are in the ESPN box score (opens in a new tab).

Sources: ESPN box score, gamecast and play-by-play; Texas Tech Athletics (texastech.com) football schedule, CFP ranking release and game photo gallery; Oklahoma State Athletics (okstate.com) football schedule and game preview.

Photo: Texas Tech Athletics.