For Oklahoma State, Saturday isn’t just another day in camp. It’s a full dress rehearsal.
The Cowboys are spending the day running through a “mock gameday” ahead of next Saturday’s opener against Tulsa, with new head coach Eric Morris treating the entire operation like the real thing. That means arrivals, locker room work, training room prep, stretching, special teams, position groups and game situations - all of it scripted from start to finish.
Morris said the point is simple: get everyone aligned before the season starts.
“We can practice all of our game day operations, getting special teams out, the callouts, and all that takes time and organization,” Morris said. “So just to get everybody on the same page throughout this week, and that way we can hit it with gas next week.”
The Cowboys have already spent the past three weeks working through plenty of football situations, including two scrimmages. This, though, is different.
It’s not just another practice rep. It’s a simulated game-day flow, the kind of thing many programs do at some point in fall camp - but Oklahoma State is choosing to do it the week before the opener, with purpose.
That matters because the Cowboys will play every game on Saturday this season. Morris can build the same rhythm into his team’s routine from week to week, starting now.
The logistics alone are a big part of the exercise. Players normally show up three hours before kickoff, and there’s a lot happening long before fans settle into the stands. Morris wants the team to work through the entire sequence, including the early reps without pads, then the transition to pads, special teams, skill groups, linemen, stretching, position work and 11-on-11 periods.
He also wants the players to feel the waiting period that comes with game day.
“So we like to put them through the waiting period of what's going on [pre-game],” he said. “Truly come out as a team, do all of our stretch, our pregame routine, and then we put everybody on the sideline.”
Morris is even bringing the coaches into it. With tablets available during games through the Big 12’s partnership with Microsoft, he wants his staff thinking the same way players will have to think once the game starts - quickly, clearly and with no wasted motion.
“Having our coaches actually sit down and go over how they're going to sit down, how they're going to present the material to our players [is important],” Morris said.
It’s a detailed approach, but that’s the point. Morris is taking over a program that has won four games in the last two years, and he doesn’t want anything left to chance as Tulsa gets closer.
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The mix is notable because so much of the roster has been remade, and the captaincy reflects that fresh start as much as it does on-field roles. There is some continuity in the group, but the broader picture is a team leaning on new faces to set the tone right away, which makes the opener against Tulsa feel like more than just a first game. [Read more 🡒]
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Fall camp has become part of that sales job, with a roster full of new transfers and a program that appears willing to let freshmen compete right away under the sports new eligibility rules. For recruits watching from the outside, that can make Oklahoma State look like a place where theres an actual path to playing time if they arrive ready. Orurus commitment fits that picture, and he may not be the only one in the class responding to it. [Read more 🡒]
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The encouraging part for Oklahoma State is that Oruru does not appear to be a one-off. The Cowboys are still chasing several other targets, including linebacker-safety prospect Carter Akin and cornerback Elijah Smith, and both names suggest the staff is casting a wide but purposeful net on defense as it works to stack visits and keep momentum moving. For a program trying to establish itself quickly under a new coach, the real test now is whether the early buzz turns into a run of additions. [Read more 🡒]