Oklahoma State walked into this season with a buzz it hadn’t felt in a while. One loss later, that feeling has already taken a hit.
That’s the read from GoPokes.com’s Scott Wright, who said the Cowboys’ defeat to Tulsa landed as “a gut-punch in the worst way for the fanbase.” The disappointment, he said, was less about one bad afternoon and more about what it seemed to confirm: “It felt like nothing really changed, and this team is suddenly on a crash course for another 1-11 season.”
Wright added that the sky-is-falling reaction may be overdone, but the mood has clearly shifted. Before Saturday, a bowl game felt like a realistic target.
Now, he said, “it’s hard to find six wins on the schedule.” Eric Morris had helped build real optimism over the last nine months, and OSU even picked up votes in both major preseason polls, most notably from the coaches.
But after the Tulsa loss, Wright said the program suddenly feels “a little too close to the edge of the cliff.”
The roster itself is still a puzzle, and a big one. Wright said the Cowboys’ final group sits at 115 players because of a large number of Designated Student-Athletes who do not count against the 105-player limit. Only 24 players are back from last year’s OSU roster.
That means 91 newcomers are in the mix. Of those, 18 came directly from North Texas, 23 arrived from high school, and two were junior-college signings.
The rest - 66 players - are mostly traditional transfers from Power Four, Group of Six, FCS and Division II programs. Wright also noted that some of the DSA players came to OSU through unusual paths, including one who has been a student at Oklahoma State for the past three years without ever playing football.
With that much turnover, continuity was always going to be a question. Wright said there were officially seven starters from North Texas in the opener, with four on offense and three on defense, so the anticipated carryover from Morris’ old program wasn’t as obvious as expected.
Outside of quarterback Drew Mestemaker and his favorite target from last year, Wyatt Young, the offense looked like what it is: a unit built from scratch. Young led the Cowboys in targets with nine, catches with eight and receiving yards with 84.
If there was one encouraging sign from the opener, Wright believes it came on defense. He said that side of the ball performed as well or better than expected, especially considering it has the bigger rebuild. There isn’t the same kind of established connection there that exists between Morris and Mestemaker, and that matters.
Going into the opener, Wright thought pass rush might be a strength and run defense a possible weakness. Against Tulsa, the run defense held up fairly well until a couple of late breakdowns, while the pass rush was largely quiet.
He also pointed out that coordinator Skyler Cassity did not blitz often, something Wright expects to change somewhat this week. Not drastically, though.
Against a quarterback like Dante Moore, he said, you can’t gamble too much in coverage. Pressure still has to come from somewhere.
For Oklahoma State to make this game closer than Oregon expects, Wright kept coming back to the trenches. On offense, the key is pass protection.
He called Oregon’s front “frightening” for an offensive line that got pushed around by Tulsa and lost its starting left tackle during the game. The Cowboys have plenty to clean up, but if they don’t block better, they won’t do much more than the 10 points they managed last week.
On defense, Wright circled back to the run game. Oregon “gashed the Cowboys over and over again” last year, and that memory still looms large. With preseason concerns already hanging over the run defense, he said that remains a major area to watch.
In Other News...
Oregons Boise State Win Just Took On A Different Look
Oregons narrow escape against Boise State looked a little different once the first week of the season was fully digested. The Ducks still sit comfortably inside the top 10 in ESPNs Football Power Index at No. 8 with a 22.7 rating, but their season-opening win came with a smaller bump than they probably wanted after being pushed harder than expected.
The matchup also looks more workable now from Oregons side, with Oklahoma State down at No. 72 in the FPI after a loss to Tulsa and a -1.6 rating. The Cowboys are still sorting through a roster with several new faces, including quarterback Drew Mestemaker, and they also took a hit up front with starting left tackle Jacob Sexton out for the rest of the season, which only adds to the sense that this Week 2 game has changed shape since it was first circled. [Read more 🡒]
Oregons New Uniform Reveal Taps Into What Makes This Program Different
The newest Oregon uniform reveal leaned into the programs long habit of treating game day as a showcase as much as a contest, with the Ducks unveiling a combination inspired by their 2008 Mighty Oregon and Gang Green looks before facing Oklahoma State. Running back Jordon Davison modeled the set, which nods to past Ducks players such as Jeremiah Johnson while drawing on the schools well-known history of pushing the edge with its on-field style.
Oregons latest look is another product of the collaborative process that has long defined these reveals, with Nike, designers and team personnel all part of the mix. Fans are being asked to wear green to the game as part of the theme, adding another layer to an atmosphere the Ducks have helped make part of their brand, even as each new uniform drop keeps one familiar question hanging in the air about where the next idea will come from. [Read more 🡒]
Dan Lannings Freshman O-Line Message Says A Lot About Oregons Priorities
Freshmen offensive linemen Immanuel Iheanacho and Tommy Tofi are still in the early stages of the climb at Oregon, and Dan Lanning made it clear after the opener against Boise State that the Ducks are not handing out jobs based on reputation alone. Oregon leaned on a rotation of six to eight linemen in that game, with the more experienced players getting the nod to start, a sign that the staff is comfortable letting the front sort itself out while the newcomers get their footing.
For a program that has made roster depth and development part of its identity, the message to the two freshmen was as much about process as it was about patience. Lanning pointed to effort and learning the system as the key steps before either player can expect consistent snaps, which says plenty about how Oregon plans to handle the offensive line this fall. The talent is there, but the Ducks are making it clear that trust in the trenches has to be earned. [Read more 🡒]