‘There’s a Ton To Play For’: Cowboys Not Lacking Motivation Despite Exit From Big 12 Title Hunt

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STILLWATER — The big goal of the Cowboys’ season — a Big 12 title and College Football Playoff spot — died on Saturday night with their 52-27 loss to Texas Tech.

In the modern era of college football, it’s hard to tell how a team will respond to such a harsh reality. According to the Cowboys’ coach, there’s still a lot to play for in this first season of the Eric Morris Era.

“You play for everybody in that locker room,” Morris said. “As we started building this thing, when I first got here, obviously we knew this wasn’t going to be an easy task, right? And being able to change the culture internally is something that I am proud of right now. This team responded in the right way numerous times. Has it been perfect this year? Absolutely not. And as we continue to grow this thing, I don’t think we’ll have an issue. We have too many old guys that love this place and they have two more games of the regular season left. …

“There’s a ton to play for. This is a proud group here, and they are proud of what they put on tape or what they don’t put on tape. And so, yeah, there’ll be a ton to play for.”

Although it wouldn’t be the 10-2 season that once seemed possible, 8-4 certainly looks a lot better than 6-6 or even 7-5. OSU closes with a game at Arizona State next week before hosting Kansas to close the regular season.

Mike Gundy’s tenure set a new standard for OSU football. During his 21-year tenure, OSU averaged 7.5 wins a regular season. So, while the foundation of the Gundy Era was that bowl streak, the raw average was to win more than just the six required games for a bowl.

So, there are some legacy details on the line, but another side of that — looking past the disappointment — this is just the first year of Morris’ tenure. Some of this is again a credit to Gundy for getting the program to a better place, but Morris already has more wins in his first year than Gundy’s four wins in 2005.

These six wins have also come after the Cowboys won a combined four games in the past two seasons. So, while Saturday’s result hit like a ton of bricks, there’s reason to celebrate that OSU has climbed this far out of the hole they’ve been in already.

“This is his first year here, he’s winning, we got what a couple more games left?” receiver Terrence Lewis said. “We’ll be fine. Nothing’s going wrong with this program in my opinion. Everything is increasing, everything is going forward with the coaching staff, the recruitments, everything.”

If there’s one person who would be most tempted to look at what is next, it’d be OSU quarterback Drew Mestemaker.

At this point, Mestemaker is widely believed to be the top quarterback picked in the 2027 NFL Draft, should he choose to enter said draft. Despite having his worst statistical game since the Cowboys’ opener, Mestemaker woke up on Sunday as the nation’s leading passer with 3,239 yards. His 30 passing touchdowns are also the most in the country.

“I don’t think there’s any problem with our team’s motivation at this point,” Mestemaker said. “Obviously, a Big 12 championship was the goal, but we take it day by day and week by week. The last thing we’re gonna do is give up on this season. We win out, win two more games, 8-4, it’s still a pretty good season, honestly. It’s obviously not up to our standards and how we wanted it to go and what our goals were, but the last thing we’re gonna do is quit on this season.”