San Antonio, TX – David Ash tossed a go-ahead 36-yard touchdown strike to Marquise Goodwin late in the fourth quarter to give Texas its only lead of the game, and the Longhorns knocked off No. 15 Oregon State, 31-27, in the Alamo Bowl.
Ash finished with 241 yards, two scores and one interception on 21-of-33 passing, while Goodwin caught four passes for 68 yards and added a 64-yard touchdown run for the Longhorns (9-4), who ended the season on winning note by snapping a two-game losing streak.
Jaxon Shipley caught eight balls for 88 yards and Jonathan Gray hauled in a touchdown pass for Texas, while Alex Okafor had a big game on the defensive end, racking up 4 1/2 sacks.
Storm Woods ran for 118 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries for Oregon State (9-4), while Cody Vaz threw for 194 yards on 15-of-28 passing but was intercepted twice.
Terron Ward added 25 rushing yards and a score on six carries for the Beavers, who appeared in their first bowl game since a 44-20 loss to BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 22, 2009.
Trailing 27-17 heading into the fourth quarter, the Longhorns began their comeback on their second offensive drive of the frame. Ash led a 9-play, 83- yard march to the Beavers' 15 before hitting Gray for a 15-yard touchdown strike, pulling Texas within three points with 8:18 to play.
The Texas defense came up with a huge three-and-out on its next series, setting Ash and the offense up with the ball at the Oregon State 48 with 4:35 left.
The first three plays of the drive went nowhere and the Longhorns were faced a 4th-and-1 on the 39. Gray then plowed his way forward for three yards to keep the game alive and on the very next play, Ash spotted Goodwin streaking down the right sideline and dropped the ball right into his arms for the eventual game-winning score.
"I was just trying to do my job," Ash said of getting hot in the fourth quarter. "My offensive line was blocking well and my receivers were making plays for me. I was throwing balls behind receivers and they were grabbing them for me."
Oregon State got the ball back with 2:24 left, but Vaz was sacked on 3rd down and again on a must-have 4th-and-14, allowing the Longhorns to run out the remaining 1:34.
After Vaz was intercepted on the second offensive play of the night for Oregon State, the Beavers opened the scoring on their second touch.
Starting from the Texas 37 thanks to a missed 46-yard field goal attempt by Nick Jordan, Vaz hit Connor Hamlett for 22 yards on the first play of the drive to bring the ball to the 15.
Vaz threw two incompletions as the drive stalled at the seven, but Trevor Romaine nailed a 29-yard attempt to put Oregon State up 3-0 early.
The Oregon State defense forced a three-and-out on its next series, but then it was Texas' turn to come up with a strong defensive play.
On the first snap of the ensuing Beavers' drive, Vaz was pummeled by Okafor and lost the ball. Cedric Reed scooped it up, giving the Longhorns the ball at the Oregon State 26.
Faced with a short field, Texas' first three offensive plays went nowhere and Jordan atoned for his earlier miss by hitting a 40-yard attempt to tie the game at 3-3 with 6:45 to play in the first quarter.
Oregon State responded with an impressive 12-play, 75-yard drive. Woods rushed for 43 yards along the way and capped the trek with a 12-yard sprint to the end zone for the score and a 10-3 advantage.
On the next Texas possession, the Longhorns had trouble moving the ball and faced a 4th-and-5 at their own 31, but were handed a gift when Oregon State was hit with a 5-yard offside penalty to keep the drive alive.
One play later, Goodwin took an end-around pitch and raced down the left sideline for a 64-yard touchdown, tying the game at 10-10 early in the second quarter.
The Beavers answered with another lengthy drive -- this one 12 plays for 58 yards -- and Romaine capped it with a 37-yard field goal to make it 13-10 with 9:20 to go before halftime.
Oregon State got the ball at the Texas 47 on its next touch, thanks to a 20- yard punt return by Jordan Poyer. All five plays were runs on the drive, which was capped by a 9-yard sprint to the end zone by Ward for a 20-10 lead late in the second quarter.
Vaz was picked off again on the Beavers' second drive of the second half, giving the ball back to Texas at the Oregon State 46.
From there, the Longhorns went the remainder of the field in 10 plays, with Ash scrambling 11 yards to the end zone for a 20-17 game with just over five minutes to play in the third quarter.
The Beavers made it a two-score game again late in the third quarter, when Woods capped a 5-play, 42-yard drive with a 2-yard scoring plunge for his second touchdown of the game and a 27-17 lead.
"It was a close game all the way to the end, but it was definitely a game that we feel we let slip away," Vaz said. "We don't take anything away from Texas, they're a really good team, but we definitely let this one slip out of our hands."
Game Notes
This was the third all-time meeting between these programs and the first since 1987. In that game the host Longhorns routed the Beavers, 61-16 ... Texas last appeared in a bowl game on Dec. 28, 2011, a 21-10 win over California in the Holiday Bowl ... Oregon State fell to 10-6 all-time in postseason games ... The Texas defense finished with 10 sacks ... The Longhorns outgained Oregon State by a 358-297 margin and converted 5-of-16 third-down opportunities, compared to 3-of-11 for the Beavers.
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