Saturday night in Stillwater brings together two rosters built in a similar way, even if the results have looked different so far. Colorado and Oklahoma State both reshaped themselves through the portal, leaning on veterans and new faces to remake the lineup. Now they meet at Boone Pickens Stadium with the Cowboys sitting at 4-2 and the Buffaloes trying to stop a four-game slide.
Oklahoma State has already shown the rough edges that come with that kind of overhaul. First-year coach Eric Morris inherited a program and filled it with players who followed him from North Texas, and he said Tuesday that the setup isn’t foreign to him.
What he keeps noticing is how much football his newcomers have already played. Sanders echoed that point when he spoke about Morris and the Cowboys’ roster.
“Colorado, their roster is old. They’ve got a lot of veteran players,” Morris said. “Now, they’ve come from different places, but similar to us, they’ve played a lot of football, and I think that shows up.”
Sanders, speaking at his own news conference Tuesday, said Morris “brought a ton of guys over with him.” Morris, he said, “cleaned out the house a little bit, and now got really what he wanted.”
The records tell the rest of the story. Oklahoma State comes in 4-2, 2-1 in the Big 12, a week removed from a 35-32 loss at No.
20 Houston that snapped a four-game winning streak. Colorado is 2-4 and 0-3 after a 27-24 loss to No.
11 Utah, a game in which the Buffaloes were down 13-0 at halftime before rallying. Colorado enters as a 13.5-point underdog.
For the Buffaloes, the trip to Utah produced more than just another close loss. Safety Randon Fontenette, who arrived in Boulder after stops at TCU and Vanderbilt, said hanging with Texas Tech and Utah into the fourth quarter gave the defense “extra belief” after a flat stretch.
He also pointed to Sanders’ locker-room message after the Utah game as a turning point of sorts. At 2-4, Fontenette said, “it's easy to, you know, fall apart right now,” and the message helped pull the group together.
That kind of unity matters, because both teams have had trouble getting out of the gate. Oklahoma State trailed Tulsa, West Virginia and Houston at halftime.
After the loss in Houston, Morris said, “The slow start stuff has to stop.” He added Tuesday that the Cowboys “preached it for a whole week” before that game, “and it happened again.”
When asked whether he would do anything different to address it, he said, “I'm taking suggestions.”
Colorado’s challenge is even more immediate: slow down Drew Mestemaker. The Oklahoma State quarterback followed Morris from North Texas, where he piled up more than 4,800 passing yards and 36 touchdowns over two seasons.
Opponents have noticed. West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez called him “an NFL quarterback” after the Cowboys’ 41-24 win in Morgantown.
Two weeks later, UCF’s Scott Frost made a similar point after a 42-28 loss in Stillwater.
“I think their quarterback, I'd be surprised if he's in college next year, some of the plays and throws that he made,” Frost said.
Sanders was just as direct when asked about Mestemaker on Tuesday. He called him a “bona fide leader” and “one of the best in the conference as well as in college football, to me.” Sanders also pushed back on the idea that Colorado is preparing for a running quarterback, saying “His best attribute is him throwing the football.”
Mestemaker has been more than a solo act. Marve described Oklahoma State’s skill players as “productive, smart” and said they are “really attacking the ball in the air.”
In the loss at Houston, Mestemaker threw for 365 yards and three touchdowns, while also throwing an interception and losing a fumble. Morris called it “probably not his best performance” but still said Mestemaker is “maybe the toughest kid on our team.”
The Cowboys are also trying to keep all of this in perspective with homecoming week in full swing. Oklahoma State calls Saturday “America’s Greatest Homecoming,” and Morris said he drove through campus Monday night to feel the atmosphere. The simplest way to end the celebration with everybody happy, he said, is “us winning a game against a really good Colorado team.”
Colorado would like to be the team that spoils it. With six games left, Fontenette said the Buffaloes still believe they can turn things around.
“I’m very confident in these next six games to win,” he said.
In Other News...
Reagan Kotschau Gave Colorado Fans Another Reason To Celebrate
Colorados womens soccer team kept rolling with a 4-0 win over Arizona, getting goals from four different players and another clean sheet in a season that has been defined by control on both ends. Senior midfielder Reagan Kotschau was right in the middle of it, helping the Buffaloes dictate the pace while head coach Danny Sanchez saw his group back up the momentum with another convincing road performance.
Kotschau also gave Buffaloes fans a milestone to remember, adding to a season that has already featured plenty of production from the veteran midfielder. Colorado outshot Arizona 13-5 and never let the Wildcats generate a shot on goal, which made the night feel even more complete as the Buffs locked down their ninth shutout of the year. [Read more 🡒]
Colorado Faces An Oklahoma State Threat Fans Shouldn't Overlook
Oklahoma State arrives with more than just a dangerous offense, because Drew Mestemaker has become one of the more talked-about quarterbacks in the country. The buzz around him has been loud enough to push him into first-round NFL Draft conversations, and some mock drafts have even sent him as high as No. 2. He has been a major reason the program has regained national attention, with head coach Eric Morris leaning into modern recruiting methods and an offensive system that fits Mestemaker's skill set.
For Colorado, the challenge is obvious: this is a quarterback who can swing a game with his arm and command a defense's full attention. The concern for Oklahoma State, though, is that the hype comes with some volatility, and Mestemaker has already thrown six interceptions this season. That makes him a fascinating threat to prepare for, because the ceiling is enormous even if the margin for error has not disappeared. [Read more 🡒]
Colorado Injury News Could Change What Oklahoma State Faces Saturday
Colorados injury report for Saturdays visit from Oklahoma State brought a little more clarity, even if it still leaves the Buffaloes short-handed heading into Week 8. The official list shows seven players unavailable, but there was at least some movement in the right direction as Ashley and Lester were upgraded from questionable to probable, giving Deion Sanders team a bit more optimism on the margins.
The more revealing part of the report came with Richardson and Atkins being taken off the injury list altogether, which usually points to something bigger than a simple week-to-week setback. For Colorado, that matters in a few different spots, from depth on defense to the tight end room, and it leaves the Buffs still sorting out who is truly close to returning before they try to handle an Oklahoma State team that will be watching those updates just as closely. [Read more 🡒]