3 Takeaways From Final Loss of Oklahoma State's Dreadful Season

The Cowboys can officially begin their next chapter.

Oklahoma State Offensive Line coach Cooper Bassett talks with players before the college football game between the Oklahoma State Cowboys and the Iowa State Cyclones at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday Nov. 29, 2025. | SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Oklahoma State’s nightmare is officially over.

On Saturday, OSU lost 20-13 to Iowa State in Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater. While the Cowboys were close the entire way, they didn’t have enough to get over the hump and finished the season on an 11-game losing streak.

3 takeaways from OSU’s loss to Iowa State:

OSU needs a massive transfer portal class

Of the Cowboys on the field on Saturday against Iowa State, it’s hard to make a case that many of them could be true contributors for a winning OSU team in 2026. After seemingly making some progress over the past couple of weeks, the Cowboys looked as bad as they have for most of the season.

Although the Cyclones couldn’t do much offensively, the Cowboys couldn’t either. Simply put, when Eric Morris arrives in Stillwater, a large portion of the OSU offense should be on its way out. Considering this was another rough day for Zane Flores, it seems logical that he’ll be one of many who played their final game as a Cowboy on Saturday.

Clint Bowen has a case to stick around in some capacity

Although the Cowboys allowed the Cyclones to punish them on the ground throughout the day, going for 231 yards, the OSU pass defense was impressive against Rocco Becht. The Cowboys allowed the Iowa State quarterback to throw for only 94 yards and allowed him to complete only 8 of his 17 passes.

Over the past few weeks, Bowen’s unit has improved consistently and his job as interim defensive coordinator can’t go unnoticed. While it’s yet to be determined if Morris will keep him around, Bowen has likely earned himself a nice payday somewhere next season.

It’s finally over

The Cowboys had arguably the worst season in program history over these past few months and can now celebrate the fact that this nightmare is over. Morris is on his way into town sometime in the next few weeks and will likely be bringing a much more capable roster with him going into 2026.

Nothing went right for OSU at any point in 2025, and even the incremental improvements never did much to sway the scoreboard in the Cowboys’ direction. As the Pokes prepare for the offseason, there are plenty of folks on the field and coaching staff who deserve their flowers for how they handled this season, but ideally, this season won’t be talked about much in a few years.

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