Oklahoma State is spending the week trying to clean up the mess from Tulsa before Oregon walks into Boone Pickens Stadium on Saturday.
The Cowboys are 0-1, the Ducks are 1-0 and ranked No. 6, and the margin for error is already thin. Eric Morris didn’t spend Tuesday pretending otherwise. He talked through what went wrong against Tulsa, what has to get sharper fast, and how the Cowboys are sorting out a few key spots before kickoff.
The biggest issue from last week came on the downs and distances that usually tell you who’s in control. Oklahoma State went just 7-of-22 on third and fourth down against Tulsa, and Morris was blunt about why.
“We didn’t execute them, you know?” he said.
“The first one that we have down there, we got out executed. Second one we fumbled, not very good when you when you put the ball on the ground.
Third one we misidentified the front and went to the wrong people up front. So, there were so many problems and so many different things, right?
That answer carries a little more weight after Morris had taken some of the responsibility himself right after the game. Coming off the film, though, he sounded more focused on execution than on the call sheet. The front recognition issue is especially ugly; if the offensive line doesn’t sort out the look, the blocking scheme never has a chance.
That’s where Oregon starts to loom. Morris was asked about handling the Ducks’ pressure, and his answer turned into a warning about just how much the defense can throw at an offense.
“They play a lot of variety of coverages,” Morris said. “They play some three high stuff, they play two high stuff, they'll get into one high, they play some man coverage, so they do a great job at keeping you honest and keeping you off balance on the back end.”
That kind of disguise puts a lot on quarterback Drew Mestemaker and center Tyler Mercer, the two players who have to sort out what Oregon is showing and get everyone lined up correctly. It also comes at a bad time for Oklahoma State, which is already dealing with left tackles in Jacob Sexton and Brayden Nelson. Against a defense that can rotate looks and hide them well, the Cowboys need faster recognition than they showed last week.
Morris also addressed the backup running back situation, and this one was as direct as it gets.
“Completely open right now. So may may the best man win,” he said.
He had already said on Saturday that the staff needed to identify a backup to Caleb Hawkins, and Tuesday made it clear that nothing is settled yet. Earlier in fall camp, Morris had talked about different backs having different roles behind Hawkins, but Tre Page III and Ayo Adeyi didn’t exactly seize the moment against Tulsa. The two combined for 43 yards on 14 carries and one catch.
Morris doubled down on that message when asked specifically about Adeyi.
“That depends how he practices this week,” Morris said.
Adeyi played for Morris at UNT in 2023 and rushed for more than 1,000 yards, but that history doesn’t appear to buy him anything here. The competition is open, and practice this week will decide who gets the nod behind Hawkins against Oregon. It also leaves open the possibility that Oklahoma State could carry a fourth running back on Saturday and use him.
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Oklahoma State Draft Hopes Ride On One Massive Oregon Showcase
The spotlight for Oklahoma States trip to Oregon is already bigger than a late-September nonconference game usually gets, and the NFL has made sure of that. More than 20 scouts, including two general managers, have requested credentials for the matchup, a clear sign the visiting locker room and the Ducks sideline both figure to be under a heavy pro-grade microscope with several draftable players on the field.
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Oklahoma State Must Fix One Major Problem Before Oregon Arrives
Oklahoma State has spent the week staring straight at the same problem that showed up in last weeks loss to Tulsa: getting enough heat on the quarterback. That issue gets a lot bigger with No. 6 Oregon coming to Stillwater on Saturday, because the Ducks do what dangerous passing teams always do - make a defense pay if the rush never arrives and the secondary has to hold up too long.
Dante Moore is back on the schedule, and the Cowboys know exactly what kind of challenge he brings to the matchup. Oklahoma States defense has to find a way to disrupt him early and slow Oregons passing game, or the Ducks could settle into the kind of rhythm that has already hurt the Cowboys once before. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma State May Catch Oregon At The Worst Possible Time
Oregon is already carrying the look of a team with plenty of firepower, and the Ducks may get another piece back just in time for their meeting with Oklahoma State on ESPN. Wide receiver Dakorien Moore has been talking up Iverson Hooks growth and the kind of impact he can have, while Dan Lanning has sounded upbeat about the receivers availability after he sat out the season opener.
For the Cowboys, that timing matters. Oregon is favored going in, and adding another receiver into the mix only makes an already difficult assignment more complicated for an Oklahoma State defense that will have to sort out the Ducks passing game on the road. The matchup was tough enough already, but it looks like the Ducks might be getting healthier at exactly the wrong time for the Cowboys. [Read more 🡒]