10 Thoughts on Oklahoma State’s 38-21 Loss to Kansas

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LAWRENCE, Kansas — This marked the Cowboys’ closest Big 12 game of the season, if you’re at all into moral victories.

Oklahoma State lost to Kansas 38-21 on Saturday in the newly renovated David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. It was the Cowboys’ 15th straight Big 12 defeat (16th if you count the 2023 Big 12 title game), as the Pokes fall to 1-8 overall and 0-6 in Big 12 play this season.

Here are 10 thoughts from the game.

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1. Competitive First Half

Going into the locker room, the Cowboys trailed 10-7 but outgained the Jayhawks by 49 yards, had a higher time of possession and had a better average yard per play.

OSU received first and took the ball right down the field and got in the end zone. The Cowboys had just two more drives in the half, and got well in Kansas territory before failing to convert on a pair of field goals.

There have been spurts of competitiveness from this OSU team, and that was one of them. But it amounted to another loss in the end, the Pokes eighth straight loss of the season and their 15th straight loss to a Big 12 foe.

2. A Lead?

The Cowboys held a 7-3 lead after a quarter. That was the Pokes first lead through one quarter of a Big 12 game since holding a 3-0 lead against Utah last season — Sept. 21, 2024.

That stat is promising in that it seems like this current team is getting marginally better, but it’s also dreadful in that it shows just how bad things have been for some time now.

OSU’s opening drive saw Zane Flores, who we’ll get to, throw a 12-yard TD to Purdue transfer Shamar Rigby on a crossing route. It marked Flores’ first touchdown pass of his career and Rigby’s first receiving TD of the season.

3. The Jayhawks Scored Just About Every Time They Touched It

The OSU defense had been taking steps in the right direction in recent weeks under Clint Bowen, but the Jayhawks scored on all of their drives aside from kneeling things out at the end of the game.

Tackling wasn’t great good. KU ran 39 times for 232 yards (5.9 yards per carry).

So, KU’s drives went:

FG
TD
TD
TD
TD
TD
End of game

OSU held KU to 342 yards of total offense (about 55 yards under its season average), but that stat means a lot less when the Jayhawks scored basically every time they touched the ball.

4. Limiting Possessions Early

Kansas had the ball just two times in the first half, which sounds outrageous in modern football.

Both teams ate up clock early. Here’s how the first-half drives looked:

OSU — 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in 4:20
KU — 13-play, 59-yard field-goal drive in 6:40
OSU — 14-play, 48-yard drive that ended in a missed FG in 8:38
KU — 15-play, 73-yard touchdown drive in 6:55
OSU — 12-play, 68-yard drive that ended in a blocked FG in 3:16

That’s it. That’s the entire first half.

It was the gameplan the Pokes probably needed to stay in it. Unfortunately for them, it didn’t last long, as the Jayhawks were able to pump in some quicker touchdown drives in the second half while the OSU offense struggled to stay on the field.

5. First Downs

A big piece in the Cowboys’ first-half successes had to do with OSU staying in front of the chains.

OSU averaged 7.1 yards on first-down plays in the first half. Three of those first-down plays went for first downs. But after that efficient first half, the Cowboys averaged 3.8 yards on first downs on the second.

6. OSU’s Best Quarterback Performance of the Season

Zane Flores was in his first game back after suffering an injury in Tucson, and paired with Kevin Johns calling plays, Flores turned in the best quarterback performance the Cowboys have had this season.

He went 22-for-28 for 235 yards, two touchdowns (the first TDs of his career) and no interceptions. Flores’ first true incompletion came in the fourth quarter, as before that he had a trio of throwaways.

Saturday marked a career-high for Flores in passing yards, passing touchdowns and completion percentage. So in literally every aspect, this was his best game as a Cowboy.

He threw a few beautiful balls downfield. The first was a 33-yard gain to Gavin Freeman, where Flores placed the ball between a few defenders.

Flores also hit Sam Jackson V (quarterback-turned-receiver-turned-quarterback-turned-receiver) in the third quarter up the seam for a gain of 26. Think there’s an argument to be made that Flores could’ve put a bit more air under the ball and it might’ve ended in a touchdown, but there were a pair of defensive backs converging on Jackson. So, the rope that Flores put it on might’ve been the right call after all, but he said after the game he wanted that ball back.

It was admirable that Jackson stepped in at QB like he did, and he did some things with his legs that Flores simply cannot. But Jackson had eclipsed 100 passing yards just once in his stretch at QB (149 against Cincinnati).

7. And Thus, Receivers Have Solid Days

With Flores’ success, many OSU receivers had their best days of the season.

Gavin Freeman — seven catches (career-high), 78 receiving yards (career-high), one touchdown

Terrill Davis — five catches (DI-high), 78 yards (DI-high)

Shamar Rigby — three catches, 31 yards, one touchdown (first of the season)

Sam Jackson V — two catches (tied career-high), 34 yards (season-high)

8. The Costly Miscues

At the very least, the Cowboys should’ve went into the locker room tied with Kansas, but a big play at the halftime horn seemed like it shifted so much momentum.

OSU had first-and-goal from the KU 3-yard line without a minute left and got no points out of it thanks to Kansas blocking a field goal at the halftime horn. It was a 19-yard field goal, shorter than an extra point, that got blocked and meant the Jayhawks had a halftime lead.

That was one of a few miscues for the OSU offense in the first half. Another came early in the second quarter. Sam Jackson went in motion and caught a jet sweep before running for a 16-yard gain in Kansas territory, but unfortunately tight end Quinton Stewart also started going in motion when Jackson was called. Two guys can’t be in motion at the same time when the ball was snapped, so the play was wiped off the board.

After that, Flores was sacked, putting the Pokes behind the chains. OSU ended up having to settle for a 44-yard field-goal attempt, which Logan Ward hooked.

You turn those two drives into two touchdowns (which is asking a lot for this particular team), and you go into the locker room with a 21-10 lead. Then who knows what happens as KU is forced to air it out.

Instead, the Jayhawks had a lead, loaded up and ran it down the Cowboys’ throat in the second half. KU ran for 154 yards in the second half alone.

After those potential momentum swings didn’t go OSU’s way in the first half, the Jayhawks scored on their opening drive of the second half and never really looked back. This game felt somewhat similar to the Cincinnati game in the aspect of OSU was hanging around for a bit before the Cowboys got ran away from.

9. A Tough Day on the Ground

Although the Jayhawks had no issues running the ball in the second half, the Cowboys had tons of trouble running the ball all day.

OSU finished with just 72 yards on the ground, their second-fewest in a game this season trailing only Houston. It had been one of this team’s more consistent areas.

It was made more perplexing by the fact that this was the first time in a long time the Cowboys had their full compliment of tailbacks. Rodney Fields Jr., Trent Howland, Sesi Vailahi, Kalib Hicks and Freddie Brock IV all made the trip. Fields, Howland and Vailahi all carried against the Jayhawks, combining to run for 67 yards (56 from Fields) on 2.8 yards a carry.

10. Can This Team Win Again?

There have been a handful of different iterations of the 2025 Cowboys, based on QBs, play-callers, head coaches, available running backs, etc.

It’s seemed like a few of those iterations had little hope of winning another game this year, but if the Cowboys can find a way to pair that type of passing performance from Flores with the rushing and/or defensive performances from the past few weeks, the Cowboys’ might just have a win left this year.

I think the most likely spot for that would be Nov. 22 in Orlando. The Knights fell to Baylor 30-3 in Waco on Saturday. The Knights have lost four of their past five. If you want to keep this canister of hopium attached to your preferred breathing apparatus, don’t look at what happened the last time the Pokes played in Orlando.