‘That Was Honestly Embarrassing’: Cowboys Fall Flat After Offseason of Hype

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TULSA — Eric Morris said starting Saturday night there will be some “long meetings” about things that need to be addressed with the Cowboys’ loss to Tulsa.

After an offseason of hype, the Cowboys fell flat in a 24-10 season-opening loss to the Golden Hurricane on Saturday at H.A. Chapman Stadium. The Cowboys’ leaders didn’t sugarcoat much in the fallout of the loss.

“I could sit here all night and talk about how disappointed I am for our fanbase, our administration, all the people that put so much into this,” Morris said. “And we got a lot of problems to fix, obviously. We got the number, I don’t know what they’ll be one two or three in the nation coming into town next week and boy I tell you if they watch that film they’ll be licking their chops.”

The Cowboys outgained Tulsa, had more time of possession that Tulsa and held the Golden Hurricane to 1-for-11 on third down, but in spite of all that, four turnovers and four more turnovers on downs meant Tulsa was in control for much of the contest.

In his first game as a Cowboy, quarterback Drew Mestemaker threw for 241 yards, a touchdown and two picks.

“I got to be better first of all,” Mestemaker said. “I definitely didn’t play my best game. We just got to go to watch the film and figure it out. That’s not us, and that was honestly embarrassing. We just got to figure it out, get back to the drawing board and bounce back next week.”

This loss comes after an offseason where people — even those outside of the Stillwater city limits — wondered whether the Cowboys could be on a similar trajectory to Indiana when the Hoosiers hired Curt Cignetti. 

That won’t be the talk entering OSU’s Week 2 matchup with Oregon. The talk will likely rather be whether the Cowboys are in for another doomed season considering they just lost to Tulsa for the second time in as many years.

“For a second year in a row, Tulsa, they reigned supreme on us right now on the football field,” Morris said. “And that’s a fact. I’m a fact guy, and I’m always gonna tell you guys the way I feel. There’s no way that we don’t leave this thing right now and feel all of that momentum come to a screeching halt. We gotta do something to fix that.

“And two, it’s gonna be really, really important, I’ve always believed, and I’ve done this numerous places — it’s easy to lead when things are going well and things are good. It’s hard to lead when things aren’t going well and you get punched in the mouth like that. That’s on me to be able to get us back together collectively and regroup and start fixing these problems one at a time.”

Morris and Mestemaker talked about the importance of Mestemaker growing as a leader in his redshirt sophomore season. And Morris said even before a shocking loss to Tulsa that he’s ready to see how his team responds to adversity. Well, now Mestemaker’s leadership and the team’s response will be tested.

“The first thing is everyone knows I need to play better,” Mestemaker said. “I’m not the one to point fingers. I need to play better and that’ll help the offense play better. I think it’s just being straight up with guys: That’s not us. We need to play better and it’s just on to next week.”