10 Thoughts on Oklahoma State’s 14-6 Loss to Kansas State

BOXSCORE

RECAP

The Cowboys’ defense made the most of its two weeks off. Their offense didn’t look quite so fresh.

Oklahoma State fell to Kansas State at home, getting on the board with a couple of early field goals. But after scoring five seconds into the second quarter, no drive ended favorably for the Pokes. The defense held strong, keeping KSU scoreless for nearly two quarters, but the Wildcats didn’t even need their fourth-quarter TD to win the game, technically, because the Cowboys were done at six points.

The Cowboys’ losing streak extends to nine with only a couple of chances left to beat an FBS team in 2025. Here are my 10 Thoughts on the loss.

1. The Defense Came Out Refreshed

I think it’s safe to say OSU had its best defensive performance of the year on Saturday, and it came after the Pokes’ first off week since the week following their fateful trip to Oregon. That seems like a lifetime ago in terms of staff and personnel changes and the plethora of injury and transfers that have played out over the last two months.

With his first extended off period, interim defensive coordinator Clint Bowen had his guys prepared.

The 284 yards off offense they allowed were the fewest since the season opener again UT-Martin and the fewest K-State has totaled since its Big 12 opener at Arizona on Sept. 12. It wasn’t all perfect, but if you can hold a Big 12 team to 14 points at home, that should be good enough to win.

2. The Offense Didn’t End Up Looking So Fresh

From the onset, it didn’t appear that things were as lopsided as they ended up between the Pokes’ offense and defense.

OSU was able to move the ball at times, especially early. Both teams swapped three-and-outs on two of their first three drives. The Cowboys moved the ball throughout (but just couldn’t finish drives in any way that wasn’t the worst possible way to end drives (more on that below).

Fluky numbers to note: OSU topped KSU in total yards, passing yards, rushing yards, first downs, total plays and yards per play.

We can point to the specific reasons why (we will), but this team is just fluky. It’s got guys that are engaged, which is saying a lot based on the situation they are in. But we aren’t seeing much good football, especially when the ball is in the Cowboys’ hands.

3. Flores’ Follow-up Game

To that point, Flores’ outing didn’t look quite as pretty as his return two weeks prior, but it wasn’t quite as ugly as a cursory glance at the stat sheet would indicate.

After completing 78.6% of his passes and throwing two TDs and not turning it over against Kansas, the freshman (yes, he’s still a frosh), came back to earth a bit.

First, the ugly. Flores went 24-of-36 for 233 yards (not terrible) but for no scores and he committed four turnovers. I feel inclined to qualify those TOs, though. One of those picks and both fumbles lost were caused by a defender’s direct contact with his arm/ball. That’s not an excuse for the sack-fumbles, but a little bit of an excuse for the INT. His other pick came when the Pokes were trying to get something out of nothing to close the first half, and I didn’t hate the effort.

Instead of taking a knee with 15 ticks left following K-State’s late second quarter touchdown, Trent Howland hit the sideline for 24 which gave Flores a chance to heave it to the endzone and heave it to the endzone he did. Unfortunately, Hail Mary’s are considered desperate for a reason.

Still, I like that the Cowboys tried to make something happen and Flores didn’t get rattled despite the turnovers. At one point in the third-to-fourth quarters, he completed eight-straight passes. He also made some plays with his legs, including a 25-yard run early. What does that mean for the rest of the year or beyond? Big picture for OSU’s QB situation? I have no idea. But for Flores it’s just another step in his maturity as he continues to get reps. I’m still more confident in him as a viable QB than I was when he went down with injury.

4. They Took it Back

The Wildcats has been one of the best teams in the Big 12 at creating turnovers, and that trend continued in Stillwater.

Kansas State entered the week second in the Big 12 and T-7th nationally having forced 19 turnovers in nine games. The Cats added five more on Saturday. Even if we viewed a couple of those mentioned above through orange-colored glasses, the Wildcats still forced them and without getting too deep into the statistical weeds about it, I don’t believe turnovers are a fluke. Not when you dispossess the opponent with such frequency.

It’s just another reminder of where OSU is and where the Cowboys need to get back to being — a team with an identity.

The Wildcats aren’t world-beaters, but they have their thing. And if you have enough things and do them effectively, you give yourself a chance to win a decent portion of your games. OSU currently doesn’t have a thing. Let’s look forward to the point at which the Cowboys have a thing.

5. That Drive Chart, Though

Oof.

It would be hard to beat Stillwater’s JV squad with so many red marks in a row. Some of those came from fluky plays or desperation, but the oof remains. The Cowboys faced what has been a pretty mediocre defense in the Big 12 and essentially got shut down for the final three quarters. The defense got their foot in the door, but the offense couldn’t deliver.

6. Rest Your Leg, Wes Paul

There is an exclusion from most of that drive chart that is notable, and not just for novelty’s sake.

If you’d have told Doug Meacham his punter wouldn’t put boot to ball for the final three and a half quarters, he might have envisioned a different outcome. He’d probably have a bigger smile on his face.

Unfortunately, that was not his mood in the postgame presser.

“Again, defense played good enough to win. Offense played good enough to win except for the turnovers,” Meacham said. “We had an opportunity down at the end, got a holding penalty that backs us up. That was kinda it. It always comes down to about five or six plays, especially when it’s a game like that, a one-score game.”

Part of the lack of punting is no doubt due to the Pokes’ desperation, but trading a couple of punts for those turnovers could have made up some of the difference in field position and momentum, especially in a game that ended so close.

7. Penalties for Points

Aside from those TOs, penalties really killed the Cowboys.

The Cowboys only got flagged four times all game, but two of those essentially amounted to all 14 of Kansas State’s points.

An offsides call wiped away a huge stop for OSU’s defense and K-State scored a 34-yard touchdown on the very next play, the Wildcats’ first TD.

Then with the Cowboys down eight with 90 seconds to go, a huge first-down conversion (the Sesi Vailahi spinning hurdle flip thingy) was called back for a holding call. That would have set the Pokes up with momentum in the redzone. Instead, they were sent back to the 29 and the drive ended with a turnover on downs.

That’s two needless penalties that would have made the difference in a loss and a win. But, as Meacham noted, that’s football, and the Cowboys have too slim a margin for those not to bite them.

8. Seven Long Years

K-State had not won in Stillwater since 2017 and before that since 1999. That’s two wins in BPS since a half decade before it was called BPS.

Back then, a high-powered top 10 OSU team was trying to run the table after a loss in that epic Bedlam game and would have done so had not the Wildcats eeked out a 45-40 upset. The stakes were much lower in this one. Kansas State moves to 5-5 (4-3) and now has a decent shot to extend its bowl streak to five under Chris Klieman, but that’s after the Cats had gained some dark-horse Big 12 buzz over the offseason.

It just goes to remind us of how quickly things can change in college sports, especially in a sport changing so quickly.

9. Big Plays Still a Concern

As good as the defense looked, the Cowboys continue to be among the worst nationally in big plays given up.

OSU entered the game tied for 124th having allowed 51 plays of 20 yards or more to opponents. The Cats added four more to that total, plus two 18-yard pass plays. Those are back-breakers for a defense that puts so much energy into getting stops and are intrinsic to one that’s left on the field so much by its counterpart.

On second thought, maybe the Cowboys do have a thing.

10. The Final Combo

Yes, I am closing my Thoughts with a uniform take, but for the superstitious slant, the final scoreboard supports my take (and that’s just where we are with a 1-9 team).

White-Black-Orange was the final unused uniform combination with the Pokes’ three traditional colors. I get why it stayed on the shelf so long.

I have been an on-the-record tri-color truther, but this color scheme looked upside down(?). From the wide shots on TV, it appeared like the Cowboys’ heads had disappeared. Or blended into to the Wildcats’ all-whites somehow. I don’t know. I just didn’t like it. It had great elements. White pants with that helmet-jersey pairing would always be nice, especially with that stripe and the Justin Blackmon badge. I dunno. Now that’s it’s checked off our arbitrary list, I think it can be retired.