The Good, the Bad and the Ugly from OSU’s Huge Win over Oregon

The Cowboys pulled off the unthinkable, upsetting No. 6 Oregon. But more impressive was the manner in which they did it.

Oklahoma State dominated Oregon in just about every game facet of the game in the first half. If it weren’t for a couple of somewhat fluky turnovers, this would have looked like a blowout at halftime.

The Good: OSU in the Trenches

Look, there’s plenty to like about what we saw in Stillwater on Saturday, but I’m going with the biggest difference I saw that made the biggest difference since Week 1.

The Cowboys’ offensive line looked like a different unit than the one that got bullied by Tulsa. A week after Drew Mestemaker needed eyes in the back of his head, OSU was able to get real push up front against what a lot of people think was the best defensive front in the country.

We will get into this more as we move into the week, but here are some quick bullet points:

• OSU sacked Dante Moore four times, gave up zero sacks.
• OSU rushed for 247 yards at 5.9 per carry. (That’s the most by OSU, and the most given up by Oregon, since 2024.)
• OSU out-gained Oregon 554-281

Beyond all that, Mestemaker had time to go through his progressions, and he and Caleb Hawkins each rushed for more than 100 yards. The Cowboys’ defensive line lived rent-free in Dante Moore’s head (and his backfield). It was an impressive outing for both groups of bruisers.

The Bad: Fourth Downs👉Points

(I didn’t say we only had to talk OSU.)

With as much as fourth-down decision-making has been in our collective consciousness over the first two weeks of the season, I think it bears discussing. A poor (or at least high-risk) fourth-down decision that goes wrong should be looked at similarly to a turnover. And so, what about fourth down calls that lead directly to points the other way?

Both Eric Morris and Dan Lanning like to be aggressive and get every opportunity they can with the ball in their hands, but a couple of Oregon’s fourth-down calls on Saturday were head-scratching. One lost them any chance of coming back against OSU. Conversely, after getting burned a few fourth-down calls in the loss to Tulsa, Morris and Co. went 1-for-1 on fourth down.

Oregon went 0-for-3 on fourth down and all three led directly to an OSU scoring drive.

On the first one, the Ducks went for it on 4th-and-1 at midfield up 7-3. Understandable based on the situation, but it came to bite them. Moore missed on a deep ball and gave Drew Mestemaker the opportunity to lead OSU on a five-play, 47-yard TD drive.

Then in the third, Lanning went for it on 4th-and-7 at the OSU 43. Jaleel Johnson sacked Moore for a loss of five yards, and the Pokes also paid that off. This time with a field-goal drive. But he still didn’t learn. The most egregious of the three was the last one.

Fourth-and-8 at their own 33-yard line. Oregon was down 36-31 with just under seven minutes to go. I was almost mad on behalf of Oregon fans. OSU had just scored to retake the lead with Mestemaker’s acrobatic Barry Sanders impersonation, so the Pokes had all the momentum. So, I kinda get it, but logic needs to be employed — unless Lanning had zero confidence in his defense’s ability to stop OSU. Given the way things had gone, maybe that’s true. It also says something about OSU’s offense.

But the play was almost a throw-away, and the Cowboys got a very short field and essentially were able to seal the win with a field goal.

The Ugly: Oregon’s Penalties

The Ducks shot every one of their webbed toes off.

Seven penalties for 66 yards with some of those coming at very costly moments in the game. They had a false start that turned a 3rd-and-2 into a 3rd-and-7 and would lead to their turnover-on-downs in the third. Then there was a facemask in the fourth that bailed the Cowboys out of their own fourth-down failure. OSU would continue that drive with the go-ahead TD.

Then Oregon bookended the very next possession with two delay-of-game penalties, which made no sense. They got one on the opening play of that drive and then another on 4th-and-11 to give OSU better starting field position after a punt.

OSU only had two for 30, but they seemed costly at the time. After a blatant missed facemask call (which would have offset a facemask by Ayo Adeyi) cost the Cowboys a touchdown opportunity, Morris gave a little too much grief to officials. The 15 yards he earned added to the kickoff was compounded when the kickoff went out of bounds. That gave Oregon the ball at the 50-yard line. Three plays later, the Ducks took back the lead. Fortunately for OSU, they have a quarterback bent on playing Superman.