How Texans’ C.J. Stroud, Dare Ogunbowale combined for game-winning touchdown pass in comeback victory over Jaguars

HOUSTON – C.J. Stroud adeptly sold the play-action fake, seamlessly rolling out to his right in perfect timing with running back Dare Ogunbowale.

It was a clutch moment for the defending AFC South champion Texans as Stroud smoothly delivered the football to Ogunbowale as he spilled out of the backfield into the open flat. None of the Jacksonville Jaguars could match his burst toward the end zone as Ogunbowale and Stroud combined for a one-yard, game-winning touchdown pass with 18 seconds remaining in a 24-20 comeback victory Sunday at NRG Stadium.

The way that Ogunbowale and Stroud connected on the drive defined how the Texans overcame a lot of self-inflicted problems that included a dozen more penalties for 93 yards.

When it counted, Stroud and Ogunbowale delivered.

“It was definitely special when you give your team a chance to win and we did just that,” said Ogunbowale, who received a game ball for his efforts from coach DeMeco Ryans in the locker room after a win that improved the Texans to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in AFC South division games. “That was a good team win. Everybody had to tap in at the end of the game.

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“Resilient team. We’ve got some great leaders. Everybody knows we can win. We’ve got the confidence and poise to win. At the end of the game. We pulled it out and made plays. C.J. is special.”

It was Stroud who sparked a dormant offense that had punted five consecutive drives before the ultimate game-deciding drive, a nine-play, 69-yard march that put the winless Jaguars away and dropped them into an 0-4 hole.

In the fourth quarter, Stroud completed 10 of 14 passes for 113 yards for a 119.0 passer rating. He finished the game 27 of 40 for 345 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, rebounding from a flat third quarter during which he completed just 2 of 7 passes for seven yards.

On the final drive, Stroud scrambled for a first down to get things started. Then, he found Nico Collins for 26 yards and converted a third-down pass to tight end Dalton Schultz for a first-and-goal at the Jaguars’ 2-yard line to set up the touchdown to Ogunbowale.

“We honestly didn’t go to two-minute, but we were just clicking,” Stroud said. “I know you guys are going to ask me, but we’ve got to stop moving backwards. Every time we do that, we put ourselves in a hard position to be efficient. I feel like whenever we are on the green side or we’re doing well away from penalties, we’re moving the ball against anybody.

“I definitely think that last drive, we just did a good job of staying in front of the sticks, taking what I seen and running when I needed to and whatnot. We were just locked in. Defense gave us another shot, and that’s all we needed man. Just like they got our back, we got theirs.”

In key moments, the Texans counted on Ogunbowale, a third-down back and special-teams contributor who hit a 29-yard field goal in a win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an emergency kicker last season.

He caught four passes for 47 yards on four targets, including a 31-yard catch-and-run in the second half.

“What a special play,” Ryans said. “When we needed a play the most, to see him catch that pass and take off and get us on the plus side of the field, that was huge. Dare, again, everybody knows the touchdown he caught, but Dare’s a guy who’s doing it the right way, and a guy that we can count on. Those are the guys who I want out there, guys that we can count on, we can trust, and they’re dependable.”

Ogunbowale isn’t alone in that category in his family.

HIs sister, Arike Ogunbowale, a WNBA all-star for the Dallas Wings, was in the stands with his family cheering him on.

“Throw it to him!” she said in an Instagram video before the touchdown.

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Ogunbowale celebrated with his sister behind the Texans’ sideline. And both siblings support each other in their athletic endeavors.

“Stop playing w that boy!!” she wrote on social media.

“Huge, man,” Ogunbowale said when asked what it meant to win the game with his sister in attendance. “Huge.”

The 31-yard catch was pivotal, too.

“We always talk about checkdowns to first downs to touchdowns,” Ogunbowale said. “C.J. had to get the ball out of his hands and I was able make a play to help the team out.”

Although it was an up-and-down game, the Texans took care of business when it counted. They converted 7 of 13 third downs and finished with 435 yards of total offense with offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik dialing up the plays.

“A lot of times, a lot of games come like the first two weeks in the NFL, like 11 out of the however many games came down to one score,” Stroud said. “If you can get the lead or tie it up and not give them an opportunity to go down and drive, that’s the goal and the plan we want to do. We also do want to stay aggressive, but just be smart, time management.

“I thought DeMeco and Bobby did a great job. We ended up scoring, which is great. We knew we had a field goal, and we would tie the game up and go to overtime, or we could score and not give them much time. Either way it went, I thought that was very smart in what we did there.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.