10 Thoughts on Oklahoma State’s 39-17 Loss to Houston

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STILLWATER — Make it a dozen consecutive conference losses for the Cowboys over the past two seasons.

Oklahoma State fell to Houston 39-17 on Saturday in Boone Pickens Stadium in another game that wasn’t all that enjoyable to look at. Here are 10 thoughts.

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1. Fans Provide the Entertainment

This was the lowest-attended game of the Cowboys’ season — an attendance number that dropped significantly once the Pokes went into the locker room down 24-10 at halftime.

But a movement started in Boone Pickens Stadium that snowballed into something special.

Two gentlemen went up to an empty section 231, removed their shirts and started waving them over their heads.

Shoutout these guys pic.twitter.com/1pjXp4UwT5

— Tea Bag (@TylersTakes) October 11, 2025

Soon, that entire section and the two next to it were filled with shirtless Cowboy fans, waving orange, black and white shirts above their head. It didn’t matter that their team was down and unable to move the ball. They were having fun.

It was the most entertaining part of the game.

2. The Cowboys Had a Lead

OSU led a football game for the first time since going up 3-0 against Tulsa.

On the Cowboys’ opening drive, Sam Jackson V threw to Shamar Rigby behind the line of scrimmage before Rigby heaved a pass down field to a wide-open Rodney Fields Jr, and 62 yards later, Fields was in the end zone.

Got a few tricks up our sleeve 😏@OGandE | 📺: TNT pic.twitter.com/dMHLwsg1XW

— OSU Cowboy Football (@CowboyFB) October 11, 2025

The first quarter made it look like this game might be competitive, but then the second quarter happened, where the Cougars outscored the Pokes 14-3. Then Houston outscored OSU 12-0 in the third quarter.

3. Where It Got Out of Hand

The middle eight refers to the final four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second. That was not a good stretch for the Cowboys.

It actually extended a little bit past the eight-minute time frame. But after forcing a second consecutive punt, the Cowboy offense went three-and-out on a drive that it lost 11 yards on.

Houston promptly answered with a four-play, 67-yard TD drive in less than two minutes. The Cowboys went three-and-out again, and Houston went 63 yards on two plays.

After it was was tied at 10 with six minutes left in the first half, the Cowboys found themselves down 24-10 about three minutes of game time later.

Houston got the ball to start the second half and went down and kicked a field goal to make it 27-10.

That stretch of about eight minutes saw Houston outscore OSU 17-0. From there, there wasn’t much more of a game.

4. Sam Jackson, the Quarterback

OSU started a listed wide receiver at quarterback Saturday. It wasn’t pretty, but the offense wasn’t all that different than when OSU had a quarterback running the show. That goes to tell you where this OSU season is at.

Jackson went 7-for-16 for 84 yards and an interception. That’s not a stat line to get fired up about, but it’s more yards than Flores threw for against Oregon and Arizona. So, it’s not as if OSU’s passing attack fell off some cliff with the change.

Jackson had some solid throws, particularly early.

He hit Gavin Freeman for a 15-yard gain on the Cowboys’ first drive. He hit Freeman on an 11-yard out on a 3rd-and-12 on what was a rifle of a pass. Jackson then hit Division-II transfer Cam Abshire on a deep cross later in the first quarter for a gain of 35.

There were also some less-than-ideal moments.

Right after that throw to Abshire, Jackson attempted a quick screen to Freeman, but the ball sailed about five feet over Freeman’s head. Dave Hunziker called it a wild pitch on the radio broadcast.

The Cowboys also got flagged for a pair of delay of game penalties, and Jackson got dinged with an intentional grounding after he got out of the pocket but failed to get the throwaway past the line of scrimmage. That’s all probably stuff you just have to take when having a guy who has played receiver all year start a game at quarterback.

5. And Then Noah Walters Played

After the game was out of hand, OSU took out the wide receiver playing quarterback and inserted a quarterback who wasn’t on the team (or any college football team) when this season started. That also goes to tell you were this OSU football season is at.

In a single drive of work, Noah Walters went 1-for-2 with a 33-yard touchdown pass to Gavin Freeman. Freeman did a lot of the work on that play, catching a slant before making a few Houston defenders miss on his run to the end zone.

Walters spent two seasons as North Alabama as the starter, but he spent 2024 season at UCF as a regular student. After Hauss Hejny went down after just three series into the season, the Cowboys were in need of some depth and brought Walters in.

Over two seasons with North Alabama, Walters threw for 4,495 yards and 40 touchdowns while running for another 599 yards and four scores. He was a finalist for the 2022 Jerry Rice Award, given to the top FCS freshman. All that is to say that he’s more capable than an off-the-couch quarterback could be, but it’s still odd that this is where the Cowboys are.

6. So, Who All Has Thrown Touchdown Passes Now?

The Cowboys doubled up their number of passing touchdowns for the season on Saturday, going from two to four.

All four of those passes have come from different Pokes with Hauss Hejny, Sam Jackson V, Shamar Rigby and Noah Walters all being credited with TD passes.

Fifty percent of the Cowboys’ TD passes halfway through the season have been thrown by players listed as a wide receiver, and another came from a guy who isn’t even in the media guide because he wasn’t on the team when the season started.

What sort of nightmare is this?

7. The Offense Just Isn’t Good

The Cowboy offense was inexplicably bad last season, as OSU returned most of its production from a 10-win season but still couldn’t move the ball.

It makes more sense that this offense isn’t all that good, given its on its third quarterback with an interim coach. But it doesn’t make it any more enjoyable to watch (the trick plays do make things a tad better, I guess).

OSU finished with 225 yards of total offense, marking the third time this season the Cowboys have failed to gain 300. For reference, the fewest number of yards OSU gained in Mason Rudolph’s final season was 428 yards. That group had five games of at least 600 yards and two of at least 700. Those were the days.

8. And the Defense Isn’t Much Better

Again, all the caveats — interim DC, guys hitting the portal all over the place, limited offensive support, etc. — but this was the best day Houston’s offense has had all season. The Cougars’ 39 points and 485 yards of offense were both season-highs.

Houston has played Stephen F. Austin and Rice this season, and both of those teams handled the Houston offense better than the Pokes did.

9. But Two Safeties Are Playing Well

Safety is the position that’s been hit the most with portal defections, but despite their dwindling numbers, a pair of Cowboy safeties have played well the past few weeks.

For the second week in a row, Charlotte transfer Mordecai McDaniel was the Cowboys’ leading tackler. He had 13 takedowns against the Cougars after wrapping up 10 Wildcats last week. He didn’t play a ton in the first few weeks of the season, as he didn’t eclipse more than 15 snaps in a game until the coaching change.

Sophomore Landyn Cleveland has also made some standout plays the past two weeks. Cleveland finished Saturday’s game with five tackles and had a pair of pass breakups.

Both of those PBUs were so close to being interceptions and both came deep in OSU territory. As he gains experience and awareness, him being in the right spot is likely to turn into turnovers, so that’s a bright spot in an otherwise dark period.

10. Is This What it Was Like Watching Those Bad Kansas Teams?

There used to be a free space on Big 12 teams’ schedules: Kansas.

Between 2009 and 2021, the Jayhawks went 8-106 in Big 12 games — WOOF.

KU last went 1-11 (the record it is feeling more and more like OSU is destined for) in 2017. That year saw the Jayhawks beat an FCS opponent to start the season before 11 straight losses by a combined score of 505-186. That’s, on average, a 29-point deficit those 11 losses.

OSU is now 0-5 since opening its season by beating an FCS team. The Cowboys have lost those five games by a combined score of 213-72. That’s, on average, a 28.2-point deficit in those five losses.

In some cruel twist of fate to Doug Meacham and Clint Bowen, they were the OC and DC of that Kansas squad. This stretch at OSU shouldn’t be put solely at their feet because, one, the OSU offense was poor last season before Meacham took over, and two, the defense was poor last year before Bowen got here and it was bad earlier in this season when he wasn’t even working with the defense.

But OSU fans, if you ever wondered what it was like being a Kansas football fan in the 2010s, you’re living it right now. For all of our sakes, let’s hope this doesn’t last nearly as long as Kansas’ dormancy did.

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