Biggest Winners and Losers from Oklahoma State Week 1 Loss Against Tulsa: An Embarrassing Opener for Cowboys

Oklahoma State head coach Eric Morris called his team’s performance “piss-poor” after the first half. He said after the game he was embarrassed.

Quarterback Drew Mestemaker used the same word — embarrassed.

For the second straight year the Cowboys lost to the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, this time 24-10. Oklahoma State’s offense sputtered and committed turnovers. The defense showed signs of life but wore out in the fourth quarter. Morris openly questioned his own play calling after the game. This team looked more like one that had taken in 91 new players as opposed to one that had a rock-solid camp and was poised to continue that momentum into September.

Here are the winners and losers from Saturday’s game.

Winners

Caleb Hawkins

You could argue that Hawkins was the best offensive player on the field for the Cowboys on Saturday. He showed why Morris was so excited to get him to transfer from North Texas.

He had 18 carries for 79 yards for an average of 4.4 yards per carry. But when Hawkins got a head of steam going, he was hard to bring down. Oklahoma State only rotated three backs on Saturday, including Ayo Adeyi and Tre Page III. They combined for 13 carries and 39 yards.

It's clear the workload will belong to Hawkins and once the offense is appropriately calibrated, he’ll put up big numbers.

Lost in all of Saturday’s numbers was that Hawkins was the Cowboys’ second-leading receiver with six catches.

Tulsa’s Future

For the second straight year the Golden Hurricane scored a huge victory over an in-state rival. This one might matter more long term. There was so much positive momentum and so much buzz around OSU going into this game and the Golden Hurricane outclassed the Cowboys. Tulsa won at the point of attack on a regular basis, its offense was more efficient, and it created the kinds of turnovers the Cowboys were hoping to create.

This opens significant doors for Tulsa both this season and beyond as head coach Tre Lamb continues to try and build his program in the image of Morris’ former team, the North Texas Mean Green.

The OSU Defense

The defense didn't have any highly productive stars among all the transfers it collected, but the unit played well, especially in the first half. For much of the game the Cowboys defense held the Golden Hurricane offense without a third down conversion. By game's end, Tulsa was 2-for-12 on third and fourth down.

OSU held Tulsa to just 53 offensive plays and 6.3 yards per play, which turned out to be more efficient than OSU’s offense (86 plays and 4.3 yards per play). The unit held the Cowboys without points on two different turnovers, both deep in Cowboys territory. Cornerback LaDainian Fields had an interception.

It wasn't perfect. The Cowboys did not sack Tulsa quarterback Baylor Hayes, and the unit clearly worn down in the fourth quarter. But, as a building block, this was a good place to start for a unit that had many question marks going into the game and the season.

Losers

Drew Mestemaker

Based on the hype this offseason Saturday was a disappointment for Drew Mestemaker. He completed fewer than 60% of its passes (29-of-49), threw two interceptions and generally looked rushed in the pocket, especially in the second half as Tulsa's front four was able to get consistent pressure on him the final 30 minutes of the game. He finished with 241 yards passing and a touchdown. He also lost a fumble.

There are a lot of things to like about the redshirt sophomore, but there's been one persistent concern and that's his ability to handle pressure in the pocket. Mestemaker didn't do much to assuage those concerns on Saturday.

Late-Down Play Calling and Execution

It's not often you get a head coach questioning his own play calls after a game but that's what Morris did after the loss to Tulsa. Specifically, he had self-criticism for some of the calls that he made on third and fourth downs. On at least two 4th-and-1 situations he opted for a simple dive running play that was stood up by Tulsa’s front four, which by then had proven it could get through Oklahoma State’s offensive line.

But the offense still must execute the play as call and the Cowboys didn’t. They were 5-of-16 on third down and 2-of-6 on fourth down. That was 7-for-22 combined, less than 33%. Morris isn’t conservative. He likes to go for it on fourth down. But he did too much of that on Saturday, in hindsight.

Offensive Line Depth

One game into the season and the Cowboys now have real concerns about their depth on the offensive line. The first quarter injury to left tackle Jacob Sexton forced the Cowboys to shuffle the offensive line.

At first, Oklahoma State used Desmond Magiya, a guard, at left tackle. By the end of the first half the Cowboys had moved right tackle Shawn Torgeson from right tackle to left tackle. The Cowboys were fortunate they came out of the game without another offensive line injury.

Oklahoma State played nine offensive linemen on Saturday. The severity of Sexton’s injury isn't clear yet, but he was carted off the field with his right leg in an air cast and that isn't a good sign. Neither is the fact that Braydon Nelson, the former North Texas left tackle, isn't yet ready to play. It's clear the Cowboys have some questions to answer up front going into the Oregon game.

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