The Good, the Bad and the Ugly from Oklahoma State’s Season-Opening Loss to Tulsa

The offseason hype train might have derailed, but maybe that will result, over time, result in a more nuanced, realistic view of what it takes to build a Power Four football program.

Oklahoma State is 0-1 in the Eric Morris era and is heading into the toughest game on its schedule without the slightest bit of momentum. There is plenty for Morris and his staff to coach up from the mess that happened in Tulsa, but let’s put a bow on that thing from our point of view.

Here is the Good, the Bad and the Ugly from OSU’s loss at Tulsa. Yes, there was some good. It just wasn’t sustained for very long.

The Good: When They Were Able to Run the Ball

When we put out our (misguided) predictions last week, I did make a point that in order to compete with the big boys coming up on their schedule, the Cowboys needed to be able to dominate Tulsa on the ground. It’s obvious that I was also not giving a Tulsa’s defense enough credit, but the point remains. Oh yeah, this is the “good” section.

The closest thing to good was the start of the Cowboys’ third drive. Caleb Hawkins got things going with a 14-yard run up the middle that set up consecutive chunk plays between Drew Mestemaker and Wyatt Young before he added a 13-yard run. That drive stalled and resulted in the Pokes’ lone made field goal, but it at least showed what this offense can look like when it gets going.

The injury to Jacob Sexton looms as a concern, but more concerning is that OSU can’t handle losing one offensive lineman and still pass protect for the nation’s leading passer last year or make a hole big enough for the nation’s leading rushing freshman in 2025. (This was supposed to be the good point.)

The (also) Good: Third-Down Defense

I realize I’m cherry-picking a bit here, but it’s a doom-gloom weekend for OSU fans, so why not try?

The Cowboys held the Golden Hurricane to 1-of-11 on third down attempts. Tulsa did convert its lone fourth-down attempt. OSU also forced two three-and-outs.

What really killed OSU were the chunk yardage plays. When Baylor Hayes is ripping passes of 56 and 47 yards, it’s hard to keep him out of the end zone, but there were some good things to work from defensively.

The Bad: Red Zone Failures

There’s been enough said about the fourth-down failures. To me, it’s worse that the Cowboys just couldn’t get across the goal line when they had the opportunities. In four red zone trips, OSU scored 10 points. The Cowboys also had two other drives end in Tulsa territory: one by interception and one by turnover on downs.

This comes down to offensive line issues, as discussed before, but also to execution/playcalling. Mestemaker is still a young quarterback and there is apparently still more of a learning curve that needs to be accounted for. But these are all learning opportunities and, whether it feels like it or not, the season isn’t actually over after one week.

But…

The Ugly: A Long Week into a Long Season

Maybe the most unfortunate thing about the loss is where it sets the Cowboys up moving forward. For a fanbase that’s dealt with a lot over the last two years, an offseason’s worth of hype evaporated in one balmy afternoon. And when you look ahead to BPS welcoming a team that some are picking to win it all this year in Oregon, it might be tough to trudge forward.

The question is how much of the sentiment exists inside the program.

Morris has enjoyed a tremendous amount of success in a short amount of time, but he didn’t go full world-beater in Year 1 in either of his previous stops, so expecting that while also moving up to the Power Four level, was probably not reasonable. The question now is how he keeps his players engaged and getting them prepared to face probably the best team on their schedule this year.

The word “culture” is thrown around a lot when it comes to college sports and probably too much when it came to OSU football over the last two decades, for good and bad. But that’s one thing we don’t know about Morris. How quickly can his team rebound? Can he keep a long week from turning into a long season?