Oklahoma State’s season-opening loss to Tulsa left Mike Gundy’s team with no shortage of problems to clean up, and with Oregon looming on Saturday, there isn’t much breathing room to sort them out.
That makes Week 1 more than just a bad result. It becomes a quick audit.
Who helped their case with the staff? Who made life harder on themselves?
A few Cowboys clearly moved in opposite directions.
Jaylen Hawkins was the offensive bright spot, and it wasn’t especially close. Morris already knew what he had in the former North Texas back, but Week 1 made it obvious that Hawkins was the most reliable piece on the field.
He ran for 79 yards on 18 carries and added six catches for 29 yards, finishing with 108 total yards. When he wasn’t driving the offense, the run game sputtered.
If Oklahoma State’s offense is going to show up against the No. 2 Ducks, Hawkins will probably need another big day - and better help from the offensive line.
Then there was Joe Torgeson, who turned a late portal addition into a strong first impression. Coming from FCS Portland State, he ended up being one of the most useful players on the field after Jacob Sexton was injured and he had to switch from right tackle to left tackle.
He wasn’t flawless, but he handled the change on the fly and earned trust in the process. Don’t be surprised if he opens Week 2 against Oregon at left tackle.
Dez Fields also helped his standing. He and Kobi Foreman were listed as “OR” on the depth chart before the game, but Fields played nine more snaps than Foreman, picked off a pass and graded as Oklahoma State’s top cover corner on Saturday according to Pro Football Focus, subscription required. The depth chart may stay unresolved for now, but Fields did what Morris said he wanted from that spot: he made plays.
On the other side of the ledger, the backup running back situation did not help Gavin Page. He got seven carries, gained 19 yards and put the ball on the ground.
That’s the kind of mistake coaches can’t ignore from a player with a limited role. After the game, Morris said the Cowboys need to get the backup job “figured out.”
Page left that opening in play, especially with Ayo Adeyi finishing with one fewer carry but five more yards. Morris also knows Adeyi has already rushed for 1,000 yards in his offense at North Texas before transferring to James Madison.
At quarterback, the numbers were survivable until they weren’t. There are games where a quarterback can live with not hitting 60% of his throws, and Mestemaker was just under that mark Saturday.
There are also games where pressure explains a lot. He was under duress constantly.
But the turnovers are the real problem. Mestemaker threw two interceptions and lost a fumble, and Morris singled out the second interception in the end zone in the fourth quarter, comparing it to a pair of picks against Tulane in the American Conference title game last year.
The message for next week is simple: grow up and protect the ball.
Jaden Johnson’s first game didn’t line up with the expectations that had been built around him. He played 27 snaps by PFF, split evenly against the run and pass, and finished with two tackles and one pass defended.
But he didn’t record a sack, didn’t generate much pressure and was flagged for roughing the passer, a penalty that helped Tulsa reach the end zone. It wasn’t intentional, but it was the correct call.
Morris had praised Johnson all through camp, and Johnson had framed this as his last season. Week 1 didn’t reflect either of those things.
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