Three More Takeaways from My Oklahoma State-Tulsa Rewatch

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The Cowboys loss to Tulsa wasn’t any prettier the second time.

After rewatching Oklahoma State’s 24-10 loss to the Golden Hurricane, here are three more things that stood out after I got over the initial shock of what I had witnessed.

1. Round 1 of the Corner Battle

The most-contested spot on OSU’s initial depth chart came at corner, where five guys were listed with ORs between them.

Four of those guys played Saturday, with Vanderbilt transfer Trudell Berry not logging any defensive snaps.

As for the others, there were ups and downs.

In terms of PFF grades, LaDainian Fields scored the highest with a (66.5) — narrowly ahead of Texas Tech transfer Mo Horn (66.3). Then Kollin Lewis (53.4) and Kobi Foreman (51.1) were also rather close in scores.

In terms of snaps, Fields played the most with 40. In order behind him was Foreman (31), Horn (26) and Lewis (24).

Fields had the big play with the second half interception. It was textbook, as he turned back to track the ball before batting it with one hand and securing it.

He nearly had another earlier in the game when he undercut a deep route, but Tulsa receiver Jimmy Calloway made an excellent play, coming over the top and ripping the ball from Fields as the two crashed to the turf.

You’d prefer Fields finish that play, but he was again in position. And after Fields intercepted a pair of passes in fairly limited work last year, that type of positioning no longer feels like a coincidence.

The only other super notable play was made against Lewis. After the Cowboy offense got stuffed on fourth down the first of many times, Tulsa took over on its own 3-yard line. From there, Baylor Hayes threw a beauty of a go route to Oran Singleton, good for 56 yards with Lewis in coverage.

2. Hawkins Touching the Ball Made a Difference in Drives

Morris made note at OSU’s Media Day last month that he wanted to lighten Caleb Hawkins’ load to keep him healthy, especially because of his physical running style.

That’s a noble thought from the head coach, but Saturday’s sample size shows that the Cowboys’ offense was much better when the bruising back was involved.

Hawkins’ first game as a Cowboy saw him carry 18 times for 79 yards and catch six passes for another 29 yards.

OSU had a 11 drives Saturday (actually 12, but I’m not counting the end of half drive). Hawkins had at least three touches in just two of those drives, and those drives garnered 70 yards and 75 yards (plus a touchdown) for the Cowboys.

In the four drives where Hawkins had exactly two touches, the OSU offense averaged 42.8 yards.

In drives were Hawkins had one or fewer touches, the Cowboy offense averaged 17.4 yards.

So, the more Hawkins touched it, the further the OSU offense went.

3. The Curious Case of Justin Bowick

It seemed like if a pass went in Justin Bowick’s direction on Saturday, it either went really well or rather poorly.

Officially, OSU’s 6-foot-5, Illinois transfer receiver had two catches for 22 yards and a touchdown on five targets. But it wasn’t exactly that straight forward.

Mestemaker to Bowick for six 🤠 pic.twitter.com/5jSawvsGYf

— OSU Cowboy Football (@CowboyFB) September 5, 2026

Bowick also drew two pass interference penalties, which together netted 27 yards.

But then he was also the intended target on both of Drew Mestemaker’s interceptions.

I don’t know what to make of all that, I just found it interesting. When the ball is headed Bowick’s way, something is gonna happen.