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10 Thoughts on Oklahoma State’s 56-48 Loss to Texas Tech

On Smith’s debut, Senior Day and moral victories.

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1 year ago

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[Devin Wilber/PFB]

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STILLWATER — Well, the Cowboys put up some points on Saturday, but the result was still the same.

Oklahoma State lost to Texas Tech 56-48. Here are 10 thoughts on the game.

1. The Play That About Sums This Season Up

Whenever Joe Michalski’s snap soared over Maealiuaki Smith’s head and Tech recovered it in the endzone, it felt like the perfect summation of OSU’s 2024 season. Little did I know there was a play that summed it up even better still coming.

The Cowboys scored to make it a one-score game again at 56-48. They still had a chance. The defense forced the Red Raiders into a 3rd-and-11 from their own 9-yard line with just under two minutes to play. And wouldn’t you be darned, Tech quarterback Behren Morton ran around before finding a space in the OSU defense and striding to a 12-yard gain.

OSU’s defense stinks. There’s not many better ways to put it. But the unit particularly stinks on third down. Tech was 14-for-22 (64%) on third downs Saturday afternoon, but it was actually more like 16-for-22 (73%) because the Red Raiders converted a pair of fourth downs.

Four of those conversions came on 3rd-and-10 or more. The fourth downs might’ve been even worse. Tech’s first conversion came on 4th-and-1 when Tahj Brooks bounced to the wide-open outside and ran for 16. OSU must’ve not learned its lesson because in the fourth quarter, Brooks bounced to the outside again on a 4th-and-1, this time for a 40-yard touchdown.

2. Maealiuaki Smith Is Good

The Cowboys’ 2025 quarterback room is all of a sudden super intriguing because based on his first start, Maealiuaki Smith is a guy.

After weeks of fans shouting from the rooftops to see what Smith has in this lame-duck season, he got his opportunity Saturday, and boy, did the true freshman look good. He completed 72% of his passes for 326 yards, a pair of touchdowns and a late, gotta-throw-it interception. Smith also ran for a touchdown.

Tech’s defense is among the worst in the Big 12 (hanging out with OSU’s), so I’m trying to not get too hyperbolic off one game, but seeing offensive football after being deprived of it for so long, it’s hard not to.

His touchdown pass to De’Zhaun Stribling was super impressive. It sort of looked like a bit of a broken play, as the play-action fake he carried out happened the opposite way the running back went. But Smith, cool as a cucumber, went through his progressions before working his way back to Stribling and ripping it over the middle of the field to him in the back of the end zone.

Stribling said after the game that he thinks he was the last progression on the play, which is super impressive for Smith to have the ability to work the whole way through to find him.

The second ball that really impressed me was less consequential, but Smith hit Rashod Owens on a slant route on a 2nd-and-20 in the fourth quarter that went for 30 yards. Smith had a tight window to fit it into, and considering this was his first start, him having the timing and trust with Owens on that play was impressive.

3. So What Took So Long?

Smith’s performance brings up the legitimate question of what the heck took so long? It’s an issue I’m somewhat in the middle on.

These are super odd circumstances in that going into the year, Garret Rangel and Zane Flores were both ahead of Smith behind Alan Bowman. But Rangel and Flores both got hurt. When that was the case, OSU started to work Smith in a little, picking up the final series of the Arizona State and TCU games. Then with this most recent open week, the staff probably felt it had given him enough practice time to feel comfortable with him playing.

My armchair coaching would have been to put him in at least at halftime of the TCU game when the Cowboys went into the locker room down 24-0. At that point, the bowl streak was all but toast and Smith could still redshirt.

Now, there is certainly an argument to be made that OSU could have identified that he was a dude quicker, but as I mentioned, I think that is probably tougher to do than it seems considering OSU had Rangel and Flores there, who I think everyone is still fairly high on.

OSU had unusual quarterback depth coming into the season for it being the transfer portal era. Then in a super weird way, that depth thinned because of injury while the season starter remained healthy. So, Smith went from reading cards on scout team to being the backup. Maybe OSU should’ve gone with him when Rangel got hurt in Provo, but at that point, OSU was still in that game (and Bowman truthfully did enough to get it over the line if not for the defense).

4. Ollie Delivers a Gem in (Likely) His BPS Finale

This was likely the last time Ollie Gordon will play a game in Boone Pickens Stadium, and he delivered the type of performance that OSU fans will remember him for.

Gordon did a little bit of everything Saturday. He had 15 carries for 156 rushing yards and three touchdowns. He threw a flea flicker pass out of the diamond formation that OSU broke out against TCU. Rashod Owens should perhaps get the most credit for the completion, as he made a twisting, diving catch good for a gain of 27. Gordon also caught three passes for another 30 yards.

Gordon’s 68-yard touchdown run in the first quarter was his (and OSU’s) longest run of the year. It was a Gordon classic. He made a hard cut before bursting through the line of scrimmage. Then it was fairly evident that the only player in his path, a defensive back, was going to try for Gordon’s legs because hitting him up high would’ve not ended well for the guy. Gordon didn’t necessarily hurdle the defender as much as he skipped over him and rolled the rest of the way to the end zone.

One of my favorite things Gordon did Saturday was stick up for a teammate. Redshirt freshman Camron Heard mad a miraculous catch in the third quarter where a Tech defender caught Heard off his feet and dumped him on his head. Gordon was the first Cowboy to get to the guy to let him know that wasn’t cool. (He smacked someone after the doomed snap, which was less cool.)

Gordon is in that pantheon of all-time great backs of the Gundy era. Considering he was the program’s first Doak Walker winner, he might be No. 1 on that list. If this is it for Gordon playing in Stillwater, that type of performance was a fun way for him to go.

5. Good Old Fashioned Big 12 Football

This game got in a time machine and went back to the 2010s when the Big 12 was viewed as a league with a lot of offense and little defense. The Big 12 caught a lot of flack with such a reputation, but I personally found it to be a lot of fun. If scoring a metric ton of points is wrong, I don’t want to be right.

The 104 total points scored in this game ranks second in the series between OSU and Tech since Gundy took over in Stillwater. The most during that stretch came in 2015 when the teams combined to score 123 in a 70-53 OSU win in Lubbock.

It was fun watching OSU’s 2021 defense break teams’ will, but if I have the option of defensive struggles or offensive shootouts, give me the video game numbers every single time.

“I was sitting there thinking, ‘I’ve been in a bunch of these,'” Gundy said. “… That’s exactly what I thought. I thought, ‘Golly, this is like the old days.’ Now they’ll be on national TV bad-mouthing the defenses in the Big 12 again.”

The national TV might have a point when looking at this particular game.

6. The Offense Looked Like It Was Supposed To

This single game doesn’t atone for all the sins this offense filled with experienced talent have done this year, but Smith and his Cowboys put up 508 total yards Saturday.

The only time OSU had more this season was the 560 it put up against Tulsa. And it came with a freshman quarterback.

It feels evident at this point that the Kasey Dunn offense needs a mobile guy behind center (how did 2023 happen) because it unlocks a lot.

Gordon ran for 156 yards and three touchdowns — the type of stat lines people expected of him coming into the year.

De’Zhaun Stribling (133) and Rashod Owens (124) each had 100 receiving yards. That’s the first time they’ve done so in the same game, and each had a touchdown.

Presley led the team in catches with 10 to go with 55 receiving yards.

Again, Tech is no defensive juggernaut, but this is what we all imagined the OSU offense looking like all offseason. It’s a shame it showed up in game 11 of 12.

7. De’Zhaun Stribling Is a Pro

I don’t know what De’Zhaun Stribling’s immediate future looks like, but I feel fairly confident that one day he’ll be in the NFL.

Stribling took part in OSU’s Senior Day festivities. He’s a redshirt junior. When asked after the game, he said he took part in senior day because he’s graduating but said it wasn’t indicative of what his next move is.

Hopefully for OSU’s sake, that next move is another year in Stillwater. I don’t know what his draft prospects are as of now, but if he could get a full season in an offense with a pulse, I bet his stock starts to soar.

8. Not a Great Day for the OSU Special Teams

The Cowboys’ special teams were not all that special on Saturday afternoon.

The mishaps started early in the third quarter where OSU attempted a surprise onside kick that looked like it surprised everyone but the kicker. Tech’s Kelby Valsin got ahold of the ball and returned it to the OSU 18-yard line.

Then Logan Ward rocketed the ball off an upright on a 42-yard field-goal attempt. It was the hardest I think I’ve ever seen a ball hit a goalpost, as it shook the whole thing.

Early in the fourth quarter, Drae McCray retuned a kick 45 yards. Then near the end of the game, Ward had a point after attempt blocked.

When OSU’s defense is as bad as it is, the Cowboys are going to find it tough to win games when the special teams also aren’t doing their part.

9. Reason For Optimism

In the midst of an eight-game losing streak (with this team with such aspirations), OSU fans are rightly not stoked about what’s going on in Boone Pickens Stadium.

But here is a tiny reason for optimism: the Cowboys seemed to have hit on their 2024 quarterback and running back recruits. Maealiuaki Smith and Rodney Fields — that is the hope Cowboy fans should cling to.

I’ve already written extensively about Smith, so I’ll use this thought to discuss Fields. He had three carries for 29 yards Saturday, including a 19-yard touchdown run.

Hitting on those two could give OSU the option of loading up on the line of scrimmage via the transfer portal. The Cowboys are going to need a ton of offensive linemen, and defensively, Xavier Ross, Collin Clay and Kody Walterscheid will all be out of eligibility following this season.

That might be me overreacting to limited work from Smith and Fields, but I imagine those are two expensive positions in the portal. So it feels like hitting on a quarterback and running back through traditional recruiting could be big.

10. The Big 12 Is Drunk

Does anyone want to win the Big 12? Or does everyone want to win the Big 12?

The league has been cannibalizing itself all year, but Saturday in particular was nuts. Colorado went down to Kansas (who all of a sudden looks good). BYU lost to Arizona State. It was the Cougars second consecutive loss after starting 9-0.

The only team not partaking in the fun of the mosh pit is OSU.

Are the Sun Devils and Cyclones going to play in Arlington? That would be a gross uniform matchup but perhaps a perfect representation of how wild this league has been.

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