STILLWATER - Oklahoma State’s turnaround came with a sharp message, a cleaned-up pass rush and one very public reminder that nobody in the room was getting enough attention.
Before the Cowboys stunned No. 6 Oregon 39-31 on Saturday, defensive coordinator Skyler Cassity walked into the meeting room and made sure his players knew exactly how they were being viewed. James Williams said Cassity told the defense, “Hey, you know, ESPN came in, had our interview with us, they didn’t ask about any single one of you defensive players,” and that was all the spark the group needed.
Williams said he immediately turned that slight into fuel.
“Bet, they’re gonna ask about me after the game.”
He did exactly that. With 1:55 left, Williams fell on an Oregon fumble to help put the game away, and the defensive end said the finish hit him the second he secured the ball.
“As soon as I felt it didn’t (pop out), I was like, yes, we got it, we got it, we got it, we won,” Williams said.
The result snapped a pile of streaks. Oregon had won 41 straight games against unranked opponents before Saturday.
Oklahoma State, meanwhile, entered the day with the nation’s longest active losing streak. According to ESPN, the Cowboys also became the first FBS team ever to snap a double-digit losing streak against an AP Top 10 team.
The win also marked Oklahoma State’s first top-10 victory since the Cowboys won the final Bedlam in 2023.
After last week’s 24-10 loss to Tulsa dropped the Cowboys into college football’s basement, Saturday’s performance looked like something far more dangerous. Eric Morris said it as plainly as possible in his postgame press conference.
“In my opinion, without the two tip passes that end up being interceptions in that first half, we might have won the game by 25-plus points,” he said.
Players were just as direct about how they got here. Wyatt Young said the Tulsa loss changed the way the team saw itself.
“I think that loss last week was the best thing that could have happened to us,” Young said. “Woke us up.
Realized we weren’t as good as we thought. We still are a great team, and we can go out and beat anybody we put our minds to, like I said last week.”
Young said Oregon looked overwhelming on film, calling the Ducks’ players “freaks,” but once the game started, Oklahoma State settled in and found answers everywhere. He pointed to the run game, the short passing game and the overall ease of moving the ball.
“Really (we felt we could do) anything,” Young said. “I mean, the short game worked for us, the long game was working for us all game.
I mean, obviously Caleb (Hawkins) had it over 100 yards, so he was cooking on the ground. … When you get out there against them, I mean, everybody’s just human at the end of the day.
And it’s about who makes more mistakes and who makes less mistakes.”
Williams said the same kind of comfort showed up on defense. He said the film matched what Oregon actually ran, and practice had already prepared the Cowboys for it.
“Everything I was seeing on film is exactly what they ran,” he said. “Every single thing I was seeing in practice is exactly what they ran. It was essentially like it was easier than the practice was.”
Linebacker Ethan Wesloski said the Tulsa loss also forced the defense to adjust, especially in the way it handled Oregon quarterback Dante Moore. Wesloski said the Cowboys tightened up their B-gap windows, kept a more balanced rush lane and used zone match coverage to help keep Moore from getting vertical.
“Two dynamic quarterbacks,” Wesloski said. “So we were able to learn last week about how we needed to change our game a little bit. So for us, we knew we needed to close some B-Gap windows and keep in a balanced rush lane.
“You know, we did some zone match coverage today where we were, you know, allowed to close on running backs or tight ends staying in a seven, six-man pro. So, I had a couple of them. I know Tate and Zay (Isaiah Chisom) both had a couple times where they were able to add enough, not let the quarterback get vertical down the field, and you know he dropped his eyes off the rush game and wasn’t able to make plays on the field like we’ve seen.”
Moore was the draw for a crowd that included at least 19 NFL scouts and reportedly two general managers. He finished with a 60.5 grade on PFF, his third-worst mark since taking over as Oregon’s starter last year. The only games in which he graded lower were both matchups with national champion Indiana last season.
For Oklahoma State, the bigger question now is what happens when the emotional high fades. The Cowboys have Murray State next week, then a stretch that includes West Virginia and UCF, and Williams acknowledged that the Tulsa loss still hangs over everything.
When asked whether it would be hard to move past the Oregon win, he gave a blunt answer.
“I mean, we lost to Tulsa,” Williams said.
That’s why, even after the biggest win of the season, Williams said the earlier setback still matters. He called the Tulsa loss a needed reminder to stay humble, especially with Big 12 play approaching, and said he still believes the Cowboys can win the conference.
“We needed to see that. … We needed that game,” Williams said of the TU loss.
“That was very important. I think that was going to change the entire dichotomy of the season.”
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