Injury Report: Josh Ford, Many Others Expected to Miss Cowboys’ Game against Arizona

TUCSON, Arizona — The Cowboys are light on bodies in their trip to the desert.

Along with players reportedly redshirting or redshirting and transferring, Oklahoma State is expected to be without Josh Ford (TE), Taje McCoy (DE), Will Monney (TE), Oscar Hammond (TE) and Jaleel Johnson against Arizona, according to Dave Hunziker.

The Cowboys and Wildcats will kick at 2 p.m. (Central) on TNT.

All of those absences come on top of reports that David Kabongo (S), Dylan Smith (S), DeAndre Boykins (S), De’Maron Thomas (DT) and Shea Freibaum (LS) will either enter the transfer portal, redshirt or some combination of the two.

Hunziker said to expect to see Mordecai McDaniel, who spent time at Florida and Charlotte, play at safety in the spot where Smith was the starter and Kabongo was the backup. Hunziker also said we could see some Cooper Lai, a redshirt sophomore who graduated from Cascia Hall.

McDaniel has played in four games this season but saw a big jump in activity last week against Baylor, where he played a season-high 41 snaps and made three tackles.

That’s a lot of absent tight ends, as well. I’d expect a healthy dose of redshirt senior Quinton Stewart in Tucson.

Hunziker noted UTEP transfer Kyran Duhon could get a lot of run at defensive end in the absences of McCoy and Johnson. Duhon made seven sacks as a true freshman at UTEP last season with all those coming in the final seven games of the Miners seasons.

He’s played in three games with the Cowboys this season and has made six tackles, including a tackle for loss.

All of this comes as OSU is 1-3 and has parted ways with head coach Mike Gundy and defensive coordinator Todd Grantham. Players with a redshirt available are able to play in four games while preserving their redshirts. With OSU hitting that mark last week, a handful of players have elected to shut things down in a year that has gone far from expected.

So, strap in and keep those rosters handy because the Cowboys who take the field in Tucson will have a different look to them.