The Top 5 Quotes from Doug Meacham’s Post-Texas Tech News Conference

The Cowboys were shutout Saturday for the second time in the past two seasons.

Oklahoma State lost to Texas Tech 42-0 in Lubbock.

PFB didn’t make the voyage to Lubbock, but The Oklahoman‘s Scott Wright, Tulsa World‘s Eric Bailey and News on 6’s John Holcomb were all in the postgame presser. So, shoutout to that awesome group for getting these quotes. Here are five quotes from Meacham.

1. On the Dreadful Start

After one Texas Tech offensive play, the Red Raiders had a 13-0 lead. That’s efficiency.

J’Koby Williams housed the opening kick before the Tech defense forced a three-and-out. The Red Raiders then blocked OSU’s punt, setting up a short field for the Tech offense, which needed just one play to get back in the end zone.

The game was essentially dead on arrival.

“You’ve got to take your mind off the scoreboard and just play the next play,” Meacham said. “Don’t play the scoreboard, just play the game. Sometimes what occurs there, all of a sudden you look up and it’s 13-7. And then it’s 13-10, like, ‘OK.’ If you just focus on the scoreboard and the score the whole time, ‘Hey, we’re down like that,’ (snaps fingers) I don’t know if that helps you at all.

“You just gotta focus on the next series, the next drive, the next play, the next assignment, the next whatever. And sometimes that’s hard to do, but that’s what you have to do. Is that what you want to occur coming into a nationally ranked team’s house on the road and spotting them 13 from the jump? No. But at that point you’ve just got to hunker down and play the next one.”

2. No Zane

Quarterback Zane Flores was off the injury report this week after getting hurt during the Cowboys’ Oct. 4 game against Arizona.

But despite Flores being off the report, Meacham said he still wasn’t quite ready to go.

“Zane’s close,” Meacham said. “But I think if we would’ve thrown him out there, we may have took him two steps back. We’ll see how it goes this week.”

3. So, What Does OSU Look Like at QB Moving Forward

Hollywood wouldn’t buy a script about Oklahoma State’s quarterback room because it would be too unbelievable.

The battle coming into the season was fairly normal between Hauss Hejny and Zane Flores, but after both of those guys got hurt, things quickly got weird.

Sam Jackson V, a former quarterback, moved from receiver to quarterback. And the Cowboys added Noah Walters to the roster mid-year after Walters played at North Alabama before spending a year as a regular student at UCF.

With Flores working his way back and Jackson and Walters both playing Saturday, Meacham was asked what the plan for the quarterback room going forward was.

“I think we probably need to sit down and figure that out,” Meacham said. “Obviously, he was the starter before, and the reason he was the starter is because we thought he was the best one. A lot of times I’ve always believed that you can’t lose your job over an injury. Ya know, you got hurt. It’s no one’s fault. So I would think naturally he would be the guy when he’s ready to go. That’s how I would apply it, but we’ll figure it out. 

“You don’t want anybody to have a head start, a competitive advantage on who we’re playing at quarterback, so I’m gonna kinda maybe say we’re not sure right now.”

I respect the honesty at the end there.

4. On Rodney Fields’ Absence

Although Flores was off the injury report, OSU fans were none too excited to see Rodney Fields listed as questionable all week.

Fields ran for 163 yards last week against Cincinnati, but somewhere between then and now suffered a toe injury. He suited up Saturday but didn’t play. Meacham said Fields was in a similar boat to Flores.

“He’s close,” Meacham said. “He practiced early in the week, and he probably could’ve played. Again, I think if he would’ve played, it would’ve been two weeks, maybe three weeks. So, I think this week off will get him back to where we want him, ready to go full-bore against Kansas.”

5. Meacham Likes Trent Howland

Trent Howland’s usage has been one of the more confusing aspects of the past two seasons.

A 6-foot-2, 247-pound bruising tailback, Howland had 41 carries last season, running for 230 yards. Those 5.6 yards per carry ranked best among Cowboy running backs last season by nearly a full yard.

The Cowboys brought a crowded backfield into 2025, and Howland was perhaps lost in the shuffle early. He didn’t get a carry against UT-Martin before being just about the sole bright spot for OSU in Eugene, running for 31 yards on six carries (5.2 yards per). But he suffered an ankle injury in that game and didn’t get a carry against Tulsa.

But then in the Big 12 opener against Baylor, he carried 16 times, running for 84 yards (5.3 yards a carry) and a pair of touchdowns.

… But then over the next three games, he got six whole carries.

… But then Saturday, he was given the ball 13 times and gained 58 yards (4.5 yards a carry).

It’s been weird.

“Trent, man, I mean, Trent, his arrow’s pointed up in my opinion for a while now because he runs behind his pads,” Meacham said. “Kind of when I got here, big, pretty guy. The word on the street was not real tough at times. Shoot, he runs pretty tough to me.

“He’s got a great attitude. He runs with low pad level, and he’s a big kid. Man, I like him. I really do. I know he had that one fumble that one time, but he’s one of those guys that probably if he gets in a rhythm, you get him 12, 15 carries, he gets in a rhythm, he’s probably hard to deal with. We’ll see how it progresses for him in the future, too, but I like him.”