Three Things to Know Before Oklahoma State Faces No. 6 Oregon

The Cowboys passed their FCS test, even if they are down a QB. Now comes the real test.

Oklahoma State will be in Eugene on Saturday to face No. 6 Oregon. The Cowboys are the big underdogs. The hometown Ducks are favored by four touchdowns.

Let’s take a look at the matchup.

The FCS Test

If we can compare FCS teams based on a commonish-level opponent, it might give us an idea of how they’d measure up. Maybe not, but it’s interesting all the same.

For what it’s worth, Montana State, Oregon’s Week 1 opponent, went 15-1 last season only losing in the FCS National Championship game to (by 3) to North Dakota State. The Ducks beat the Bobcats 59-13. UT-Martin is no slouch, having going 8-4 last year and sharing a title in the conference the last four seasons. But they’re not exactly coming off a dream season. OSU beat the Skyhawks 27-7.

Against their prospective FCS foe, the Ducks put up over twice Montana State’s yardage, piling on a gaudy 506 total yards (evenly split 253 passing, 253 rushing). The balance Mike Gundy dreams of. The Cowboys, on the other hand, outgained UT-Martin 359-225 (232 passing to 127 rushing). Aside from Hauss Hejny’s rushes on the Cowboys’ first two drives, OSU gained just 100 yards on the ground for a measly 2.6 yards per try.

Does a six-touchdown win versus a three-touchdown win mean Oregon is twice the team? No. Is it indicative of a better-oiled offense in Week 1? I’d say so.

About that…

A Tale of Two QB Situations

I dug into the Zane Flores-Dante Moore matchup earlier this week, but suffice it to say, the Ducks were sitting better (at least in terms of knowing what they at the QB spot at the start of the season.

For Oregon, the competition was between Moore, the former starter at UCLA and Austin Novosad, a three-year Duck who was a Top 15 quarterback recruit in 2023. The Cowboys, as we know, had zero attempted passes at the collegiate level between their two candidates. That was before Hauss Hejny broke his foot (and BPS’ heart) in the first quarter.

Flores looked good in his debut, when they let him air it out.

But the Ducks aren’t just loaded at QB…

That’s How You Reload

The Ducks had their own dream season last year, going a program-best 13-1 and making the College Football Playoff. They lost some talent, but the coaching staff did a great job of retooling, a topic which was the stuff of coaching quips between Mike Gundy and Dan Lanning earlier this week.

Well, all those NIL dollars went somewhere.

Oregon ranked No. 5 in Team Recruiting Rankings and Team Transfer Portal Rankings according to 247Sports. It was the only program to land in the Top 5 of both rankings.

The Cowboys fell somewhere below that, ranking 52nd in team recruiting (11th in the Big 12) and 35th in transfer rankings (fifth in the league).