10 Thoughts on Oklahoma State’s 52-0 Loss to Colorado

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It might just be November, but this season of Cowboy football has aged all who have followed it. But it’s finally over.

Oklahoma State fell to Colorado 52-0 on Friday in Boulder, as the Pokes finish their 2024 season at 3-9 and 0-9 in Big 12 play. Here are 10 thoughts on the game.

1. The Most Disappointing Season in OSU Football History Is Over

To some, the Cowboys’ 10-3 finish to the 2017 season was viewed as a disappointment. Could you imagine if that group went 3-9?

That 2017 year featured Mason Rudolph and James Washington returning for their senior seasons to pair with Justice Hill and one of the deepest wide receiver rooms OSU has ever had. There were similar vibes coming into this season with all the guys coming back, but after Big 12 play started, this thing never got off the ground.

It’s the first nine-game losing streak OSU has ever had in a single season. It’s the first time OSU hasn’t won a conference game since 1994. It’s the first time OSU has lost nine games in a season since 1991. Thank goodness it’s finally over.

2. This Offseason Feels like a Crossroads

In a lot of ways, Mike Gundy’s program has been one built on stability.

That stability starts up top with this being Gundy’s 20th season as the Cowboys’ coach, but it also extends to his staff. Of the 11 position coaches and coordinators on OSU’s staff, five have been in Stillwater for at least 10 seasons. When losses start piling up at any college football program around the country, the ire of fanbases often first turns toward the coordinators.

Kasey Dunn is in his fifth year as the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator (14th total in Stillwater). The offense has had its moments under Dunn, but it has been inconsistent at best. It might not help that Dunn is standing on the shoulders of giants when you think about the past few OSU OCs that came before him. Dana Holgorsen was OSU’s offensive coordinator in 2010, leading such a good group that he landed a head coaching job at West Virginia. Todd Monken came next, who is perhaps the best offensive coordinator in the world right now, leading the Baltimore Ravens’ offense. It’s somewhat remarkable that Mike Yurcich was then able to keep the high-powered numbers up given that pedigree, but Yurcich did. Those are the types of guys this fanbase compares Dunn to — some of the best offensive seasons ever.

OSU defensive coordinator Bryan Nardo is just in his second season in Stillwater, but the defense has not been good in these two seasons. We’ll get a little more into the defense later, but OSU ranked 10th in the Big 12 in scoring D last season and 14th (last) in yards allowed. Then this defense has been as bad as maybe any at OSU has ever seen. Injuries haven’t helped this year’s group, but while not having Collin Oliver and Nick Martin lowered the ceiling of this group, it shouldn’t have made the floor fall as far down as it did.

Given the modern landscape of college football, it would be rather unusual if a school with OSU’s expectations stood pat following such a disappointing season. It would be the ultimate bet on yourself moment if that is the route Gundy and OSU elect to go. If there are changes that get made (which Friday’s performance alone might justify), just how many changes is this program built on stability willing to make? That and how OSU uses the transfer portal might define OSU football more the next stretch of time.

3. The Future of the OSU Defense

The OSU defense has lacked an identity since Jim Knowles left for Ohio State following the 2021 season.

First came the Derek Mason year, which in hindsight sort of feels odd given how short the stint was. Then came Nardo from Gannon and the implementation of the 3-3-5 that just about everyone was super excited about. But after a year of experimentation, the Cowboys mostly reverted back to a four-man front this season. Gundy said after the Arizona State game that a lack of depth at linebacker was preventing the Cowboys from going back to the 3-3-5.

So in four consecutive seasons now, OSU has gone Knowles, Mason, 3-3-5 Nardo and four-down Nardo. If Nardo stays (which would take some convincing to many OSU fans after this season), is OSU going to go back to the 3-3-5? If not, unearthing him from Gannon seems somewhat pointless. Whatever happens next with the OSU defense, I hope it lasts more than a season.

4. The Worst Run Defense in Program History (in Yards Per Carry)

This is something I’ve been tracking for a while now ever since it was obvious that OSU had little chance of stopping the run regardless of the opponent. But now it’s official, the 5.4 yards per rush OSU allowed in 2024 is the most in program history as far back as the media guide goes (1940).

The 2,580 rushing yards OSU allowed is the most an OSU D has given up since 1988. It was bad. You’re not going to beat many teams if you can’t stop the run.

5. David Kabongo Looks Promising

True freshman safety David Kabongo has been flying around for the past month or so, and he probably had the best game of his young career Friday — despite it being part of a 52-0 shutout.

Kabongo led the team with seven tackles and had his first career sack. In what looks to be a busy portal season, Kabongo is one the Cowboys will be wanting to hold onto. Tweets like this hopefully point to him sticking around:

We will be back 😤

— David “DK” Kabongo (@kabongo_dk) November 29, 2024

6. Friday Zapped Whatever Offensive Momentum Last Week Built

Coming out of the Cowboys’ shootout loss to Texas Tech last weekend, there was a new sense of optimism around the OSU offense, mostly centering on freshman quarterback Maealiuaki Smith. Well, nothing kills offensive optimism like zero points.

What’s worse, take a look at this drive chart:

OSU went three-and-out on nine of its drives. That doesn’t even include the game-opening drive when Smith threw an interception on third down, the two-play drive that ended with a Brennan Presley fumble or the two-play drive that ended in a pick-six.

The Cowboys mustered just 10 first downs. Only one of those came in the first half. Then six of those first downs came on OSU’s final drive, which ended on the Colorado 5-yard line when the clock hit zeroes. So in OSU’s first 15 drives of the game, the Cowboys had four first downs. In those 15 drives, OSU gained 51 yards. OSU had seven drives finish with negative yards.

After Kansas ran for 331 yards on the Buffaloes last week, OSU finished with 70 rushing yards on Saturday at 2.3 yards a carry.

It’s tough to pin the day on Smith, who has making just his second start and his first one the road. His interceptions weren’t pretty, but there wasn’t much there to help him. He finished 11-for-29 (38%) for 70 yards and two interceptions. Alan Bowman closed out his career, coming in for the fourth quarter. He was 1-for-5 (20%) for seven yards.

OSU’s offense hasn’t had the best of years, certainly, but Friday’s performance felt like the worst of the season.

“To be honest with you, it was so bad, it would be hard to point something out,” said Gundy about Friday’s offensive performance. “… We had a number of passes that were competitive, and we didn’t come up with them. And we had a missed throw or two, and I don’t really feel like we run blocked very well.

“But the big picture is I just don’t think we had a good plan. I don’t think our plan was very good, and for that reason, we never could get the ball rolling and it just became a very difficult day.”

7. Thank You, Ollie

Ollie Gordon’s OSU career (likely) ends with a four-carry, 10-yard performance in Boulder, Colorado.

The performance itself won’t be how Gordon’s Cowboy career is remembered, but the fact he was even still playing is just another reason as to why Gordon should be remembered. It would have been easy (perhaps logical) for Gordon to shut it down when this thing started going south and all the goals of this year were no longer attainable. But Gordon, even with his team on the verge of a winless season in Big 12 play, was still as animated as ever Friday. Every minute he played on the field in an OSU uniform meant a great deal to him.

He’s going to be OSU’s next NFL running back — joining Justice Hill, Chuba Hubbard and Jaylen Warren in the league — but he didn’t race to get to that point. He soaked up every minute of being a Cowboy.

“I finish what I start,” said Gordon at the end of October. “My momma always told me that you finish what you start. Who would I be to give up on my team because our season is not going how we want it to go?

“So just because our season is not going how it’s supposed to I’m supposed to give up now? That’s really weird, and the way that people can just sit there and say that, it’s crazy. They’re wasting their breath saying it because I’m not giving up on my team.”

8. And Thank You, Brennan Presley

I’m not sure I’ve enjoyed covering a football player more than I’ve enjoyed covering Brennan Presley.

His play on the field was awesome. It was cool to see him turn his undersized frame into an advantage for himself and become OSU’s all-time leader in receptions. In fact, Presley finishes his career 12th in NCAA history in the stat.

But what was perhaps even more fun than watching Presley play was listening to him talk. Whether he was using his time in front of a microphone to lobby to his parents about Christmas gifts, talking about all the candy he eats or having more serious discussions about this team’s struggles, Presley was great at every turn. He’s an all-time great Cowboy, and when all is said and done he will be a shining example of the Gundy era of OSU Football.

9. Does This Poor Season Speed Up Next Season’s Timeline?

If OSU would have went 3-9 in 2025, it still would have been disappointing, but it might’ve been somewhat reasonable considering all of the experience that 2025 group is set to lose from this group in 2024.

But with how poor this season went, it feels like next season might be looked at more as a reload and less as a rebuild. These are not the type of seasons OSU or its fans want to make a habit. It’s the first time such a season has happened under Gundy.

But now it doesn’t feel like OSU has the option of sticking to the status quo that this program has been built on of developing players in-house over the span of three or four seasons. OSU has to make better use of the transfer portal, starting when it opens on Dec. 9. OSU has done a decent job the past few years at plugging holes via the portal, but starting Dec. 9, that has to change from filling holes to looking for a more than a handful starting-level contributors. I’m in the camp that it has to start on both lines. The Cowboys are losing every regular contributor on the offensive line outside of Isaia Glass, who still has eligibility remaining. Defensively, the Cowboys have some young pieces that can factor into things moving forward — like DeSean Brown and Jaleel Johnson — but the Cowboys need more there, too.

Going into this season, I think everyone expected 2025 to be a step back considering all OSU was set to lose after this season, but now 2025 can’t be a step back. I’m not even sure it can be a year of standing pat.

10. Thanks for Another Season

This was the worst year of OSU football in PFB’s history, much less since I started covering the team in college in 2015.

Despite that, it was still another fun year of being a part of such an awesome community. The OSU fanbase doesn’t always see eye to eye on everything — whether that be personnel decisions, coaching decisions or what have you — but the sense of community, the common interest is what is the most fun thing about college football, whether the team we’re all following is winning or losing.

The crowd for the Texas Tech game showed just what OSU football has began to mean to people — that no matter how poor the results are, the fans are bought in. That’s a cool spot to be in when you look at some other programs that don’t have that kind of support. It’s something the OSU faithful can be proud of, no matter the numbers on the scoreboard.