Saturday’s 42-28 win over UCF gave Oklahoma State head coach Eric Morris something to smile about, but it also pushed him into a milestone he knows won’t mean much in the long run compared with what Houston’s Willie Fritz has already built.
The victory was the 50th of Morris’ head-coaching career, a number that stretches back to his days at FCS Incarnate Word. Fritz, by comparison, has stacked up 266 wins since becoming a head coach at Blinn College in Brenham, Texas - a total Morris made sure to acknowledge with a laugh during his weekly press conference Tuesday.
“He has, you know, 200 and some odd wins - 266 or something - and there ain't no way in hell I'm going to be get to 266,” Morris joked. “I can tell you that right now. I'll be retired and doing something else at that point in my life.”
For now, though, Morris will try to shave one off that gap when No. 18 Oklahoma State hosts No.
20 Houston on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The Cowboys enter at 4-1 overall and 2-0 in Big 12 play, while the Cougars are 5-1 and 2-1 in the conference.
Morris’ own path to Stillwater has been anything but direct. After several years as Texas Tech’s offensive coordinator, he took the Incarnate Word job, a move he said during Big 12 Media Days many around him viewed as “career suicide” because the program was barely a decade old and competing at the FCS level. Instead, he helped push the Cardinals forward, finishing 6-5 in 2018, tying for first in the Southland Conference and earning an FCS playoff berth.
Three more seasons at UIW led him to North Texas, where he spent three seasons with the Mean Green before landing at Oklahoma State.
That background gives him a clear appreciation for what Fritz has done across several stops. Morris said Fritz’s rise from junior college through Division II, FCS and FBS stands out because the success has followed him everywhere.
“All he's done is build programs and win everywhere he's been,” Morris said. “He does it with different schemes, but he always has the same key ingredients to it - and you see it when you turn on the tape.”
Morris also pointed to Fritz’s ability to adapt. He’s used the triple option at Georgia Southern, coached quarterbacks with different styles and now has Conner Weigman, who Morris described as the ideal blend of runner and passer. Fritz’s résumé also includes a national title at Blinn, a pair of FCS championship game appearances at Sam Houston and a Cotton Bowl win over USC with Tulane.
Fritz is 66, and the last time he was not a head coach was 1992, when he served as a defensive backs coach at Sam Houston. Morris plainly doesn’t expect to stay in the profession that long. Still, the opportunity to face someone he views as one of the game’s best clearly matters to him.
“If I was an AD [athletic director] right now, he might be at the top of my list,” Morris said. “I don't care where I was.”
In Other News...
Oklahoma State Faces Its Biggest Big 12 Test Yet At Houston
No. 18 Oklahoma State heads to Houston for a showdown that suddenly carries real weight in the Big 12 race, with both teams sitting inside the AP top 20 and the conference-championship picture very much in play. The trip to TDECU Stadium brings together a Cowboys team that has put together four straight wins and a Cougars group that just knocked off Kansas State, a reminder that this is not just another late-season league game.
For Oklahoma State, the bigger story has been how quickly the program has steadied itself after a major roster overhaul, with first-year coach Eric Morris guiding a group that looks far more settled than it did in the fall. Houston has its own momentum and its own offensive playmakers, so this one has the feel of a true measuring-stick game for the Cowboys, with the result likely to say plenty about where they fit in the conference hierarchy. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma States Surprising Run Faces Its Biggest Test Yet
Oklahoma States rebound from a season-opening loss has turned into one of the more encouraging early stretches in the Big 12, with four straight wins capped by the upset of Oregon. Now the Cowboys head into a matchup with No. 20 Houston, a team that has found its footing too with three consecutive victories, setting up a game that feels like a real measuring stick rather than just another step in September.
Houston has been getting production from tight end Patrick Overmyer, who leads the Cougars in receptions and yards and comes in as one of the leagues more intriguing mismatches. For Oklahoma State, the challenge is clear: keep the momentum alive against a ranked opponent that is also in form, and do it on the road where small mistakes can quickly tilt a game like this. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma State Is Waiting On One Defensive Decision That Could Reshape Saturday
Oklahoma State spent part of the week waiting on the kind of defensive update that can change how a game is planned on both sides of the ball. Safety Mose Phillips III left the UCF game with a shoulder injury, and the Cowboys are still monitoring how he responds after leaving the field. Head coach Eric Morris has not sounded certain about Phillips condition, which leaves one of the back ends most important spots in flux as Saturday approaches.
If Phillips is unable to play, Oklahoma State would likely turn to Evan Jackson at boundary safety, a role he has handled before in the defensive scheme. That kind of switch is more than a simple depth-chart note for a defense that is trying to settle in, especially with the week moving toward a game plan that has to account for both availability and communication in the secondary. [Read more 🡒]