AUSTIN, Texas — Once again a visiting team was getting ready for overtime, only to have Texas hand them a special-teams gift and a victory.
This week, it was No. 24 Oklahoma State and Cowboys kicker Ben Grogan who seized the opportunity.
Grogan, who had tied the game only about a minute earlier with a 41-yard field goal, kicked a 40-yarder with 6 seconds left Saturday, sending the Cowboys to a 30-27 win, their fourth straight victory on the Longhorns’ home field in a series historically dominated by Texas.
Grogan’s game winner came after Texas punter Michael Dickson, an Australian Rules Football player, dropped the deep snap inside the Texas 10 and scrambled to get off a left-footed punt that went only 10 yards. “It stunned everybody,” Oklahoma State defensive tackle Vincent Taylor said.
All the Cowboys (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) had to do was run a few seconds off the clock, but even that didn’t come easy in a wild finish. They nearly blew the chance when penalized for a false start with 10 seconds left, but because they still had a timeout they weren’t hit with an automatic 10-second runoff that would have ended regulation.
Grogan trotted back out and calmly drilled the winner. Texas had two timeouts left but didn’t try to ice him.
“I had already had it in my head that I was going to have to kick the game winner, so I was ready for it,” Grogan said. “But I was surprised to see that fumble. I just tried not to lose my composure.”
