When it comes to the non-conference schedule in college football, anyone can take down your team, especially if your team is traveling on the road. The Oklahoma State Cowboys experienced that for three quarters on Thursday night as they struggled inside Kelly/Shorts Stadium where they played against the Central Michigan Chippewas in Mount Pleasant, Michigan.

The Cowboys would be the first ones to score though, as they obtained a short field as Tre Flowers was able to pick off Central Michigan quarterback Cooper Rush. But even only being 11 yards out they were unable to punch it in for a touchdown and settled for a field goal by Ben Grogan to take an easy 3-0 lead.

Brian Eavey would match the score after nailing a 31 yard field goal of his own on the following drive as the Chippewas converted three third down conversions on their 14 play drive to tie the game at 3 a piece.

A few drives later and into the second quarter, backup quarterback J.W. Walsh was able to get into the game as a running quarterback on a third and goal and run the lone yard in to get the first touchdown of the game and for the season for the Cowboys. They were still not putting up points at a rate they were used to though, as the Cowboys are used to high scoring games against their Big 12 conference foes.

On their final drive of the first half, Central Michigan made it down into the red zone and were looking to punch it in. But after a rough false start penalty, they ended up settling for a field goal and went into the half down 6-10.

Rush was amazing on his very next drive of the game though as he accounted for 55 yards of the 75 yards needed to score. He finished the drive off with a 16 yard touchdown run and put some fear into the hearts of Cowboys fans in Stillwater as they were now losing in the second half 13-10.

Mason Rudolph, the starting quarterback for the Cowboys, took the game over in the second half though, as on the very next possession he accounted for 61 of the 64 yards needed to score and completed two long passes to David Glidden on the drive before he had a 21 yard touchdown run to retake the lead. A few drives later for the Cowboys, Rudolph would find Marcell Ateman to get the Cowboys up 24-13, which would be the final score.

It could have been a little bit further apart though, as Rudolph got the Cowboys into scoring position a few more times but the kicker, Grogan, missed two field goals on the evening. The first one he missed was a 42 yard field goal, and then with under two minutes in the game he missed a 26 yard one. Thankfully for Cowboys fans those were not a determining factor in the victory.

Statistical Leaders:

Passing: Mason Rudolph, Oklahoma State (22/32, 266 yards, 1 TD)

Rushing: Chris Carson, Oklahoma State (21 carries, 89 yards)

Receiving: Marcell Ateman, Oklahoma State (4 catches, 75 yards, 1 TD)

Next Games:

Oklahoma State is now 1-0 on the season and will head back home to Boone Pickens Stadium to face the Central Arkansas Bears on Saturday, September 12. Meanwhile the Chippewas fall to 0-1 and will face the Monmouth Hawks on that same Saturday.