‘Weight Was Lifted’: Returning Cowboy Malik Charles Finally Has Something to Celebrate

Support PFB with a PFB+ membership — $8 a month or $50 for a year.

STILLWATER — Malik Charles joined Oklahoma State at the program’s lowest point in decades when he signed up as a Cowboy ahead of the 2025 season.

Only, he and the rest of the OSU’s 2025 players quickly discovered the team hadn’t hit rock bottom just yet. That came somewhere between a historic 69-3 shellacking at Oregon and a home loss to Tulsa.

So yeah, Saturday’s field-storming win against the then-No. 6 Oregon Ducks meant a lot to the defensive end.

“Yeah, this one was very personal,” Charles said. “After you lose by 66 points to somebody and they’re talking, like you see all this stuff that is being said about you guys as a team.

“Us playing them and being able to beat them this year, it meant a lot not only for me, but for the guys on last year’s team who aren’t playing no more. Like Aden Kelley, (Sitiveni Havili Kaufusi), all the D-linemen that played in that game last year that weren’t able to win. That game was for them.”

Despite playing his first-ever snaps as a Power Conference player, Charles finished as OSU’s ninth-best defender last season according to PFF grades. He finished fifth (according to PFF grades) or higher in four of his 11 games last season, including the game at Oregon.

Through two games this season, Charles grades out as the team’s second-best defender (79.5) behind only fellow defensive end James Williams (84).

On Saturday, Charles only recorded two tackles on 16 snaps, but he made the most of them since one was a 5-yard sack that saw the OSU defender either shoulder Oregon quarterback Dante Moore to the ground or wrap him up one-handed.

Either way, it looked pretty effortless and was the second-most impressive thing he did on the play.

“He bullrushes their 340-pound offensive tackle and throws him by and is able to obviously make a sack,” OSU defensive coordinator Skyler Cassity said. “And it set the tempo for the day, it really did. The physicality and effort that those guys were going to play with.”

After the play, Charles ran to the sideline with his arms stretched up in celebration and kind of looked up either at the crowd or the sky itself. On Tuesday, he confirmed that sack was his favorite play as a Cowboy.

“Not only because it was in a big game, but it was just a packed BPS stadium,” Charles said. “Like it was electric, and it was surreal. Honestly, I couldn’t hear myself when I had the sack. I kind of blacked out. I was just running around, and then I came off to the sideline, took my helmet off, and I was like, ‘Man, that really just happened.’”

Oklahoma State’s home crowds showed up last season, but it’s safe to say Charles’ experience of Boone Pickens Stadium in 2025 was a far cry from what had become the standard over the years.

Charles had to wait longer than he expected to get his first win over an FBS opponent as a Cowboy, but the defensive end said he didn’t worry that this season was about to be a repeat of last year following the Tulsa loss.

“I’ve practiced against Drew and that offense this whole summer, and I know what they’re able to do,” he said. “Yeah, that Tulsa game was frustrating, but I know we all would want to have it back. I knew after that game, we were just gonna have to attack this next week because I knew if we got Drew and [the offense the ball back], they were gonna be fine, they were gonna be on point. My whole goal last week was just try to get the defense on point, so that we would be able to give them the ball, and that’s what we went out and did.”

That’s a bit of an understatement considering Charles and the rest of the defense held Oregon to 4.8 yards per play. The Ducks averaged 7.9 yards per play against Boise State and 6.9 overall last season, after a whopping 10.2 showing against OSU.

Only two teams held Oregon to fewer yards per play last season than Oklahoma State did on Saturday. Indiana gave up 4.2 in the first meeting, and Texas Tech allowed 3.8 when they met in the playoffs.

That’s good company to keep. Not that Charles or any other player needed more of that on Saturday, considering they shared the field with all the fans after they rushed the field following the game.

“It felt like it was a win for the whole Cowboy fanbase as well,” Charles said. “We haven’t had a win in a long time around here, so it just felt like a weight was lifted off. I kind of got emotional after the game because it meant so much.”