Breaking Down Murray State’s Strengths, Weaknesses, & 1 Thing That Could Beat Oklahoma State

Sizing up the Murray State Racers as they prepare to visit the Oklahoma State Cowboys in September at Boone Pickens Stadium.

Oklahoma State's Ayo Adeyi carries the ball as Tate Romney tries to bring him down during a spring football game. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Oklahoma State Cowboys will play their final non-conference game on Sept. 19 against the Murray State Racers. On paper, it looks like a mismatch.

The Cowboys are coming off a 1-11 season in 2025 that led to the firing of head coach Mike Gundy and the hiring of new head coach Eric Morris. But Murray State may be worse off.

Murray State has won one game in each of the last two years. The Racers play in one of the difficult conferences FCS and haven't made the playoffs in more than 20 years.

For Oklahoma State this should be a tune-up. But they don't play the games on paper. So as the Cowboys prepare for the Racers, here's what Murray State does well here, what it doesn’t do well and the one thing that could beat OSU.

Strengths

A Murray State Racers helmet. | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Avoiding Penalties

One thing the Racers did well was avoid penalties. Looking back, Murray State committed 55 penalties in 12 games and averaged 38 penalty yards per game. Compare that to their opponents. They had a combined 80 penalties and averaged 65.7 yards per game. It's not insignificant. The Racers made fewer mistakes and gave up fewer yards on penalties than their opponents by a significant margin. In any close game, that can make a difference.

The Red Zone

The Racers didn't get many opportunities last year, but when they got in the red zone, they got points. When they were in the red zone, they scored 79% of the time and scored touchdowns 59% of the time. Granted, their opponents had higher percentages in both categories. But the Racers did a good job of maximizing their ability to score points once they got inside the 20-yard-line.

Weaknesses

Oklahoma State's KD Jones is brought down by LaDainian Fields, center, and Kobi Foreman during a spring football game. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Pass Rush

One could choose plenty of data points last year for Murray State, but this one really stands out. The Racers had six sacks in 12 games. They averaged one sack for every two games they played. It's hard to find a pass rush in Division I football that had less of an impact on the opponent than Murray State’s did a year ago. Worse, the Racers gave up 23 sacks. It's extremely difficult to affect change on the field when you can't get to the quarterback — or protect him.

Third Down Conversions

Here's another area the Racers hope to be better at in 2026. Last year they converted just 33% of their third downs, going 51-of -154 in that situation. Compare that to their opponents. They converted their third down opportunities 54% of the time, or 80-for-147. It was a bad recipe for the Racers. Murray State’s offense had a hard time converting on third down and its defense had a difficult time stopping teams on third down. That’s another bad formula.

X-Factor

Overconfidence

It’s hard to see Oklahoma State losing this game. There is a significant talent gap and there's a level of excitement around Morris’ debut season. OSU will have two games before this one to work out any issues.

The only way Oklahoma State loses this game is if it walks into Boone Pickens Stadium overconfident. And if these Cowboys need an object lesson about overconfidence, all they have to do is look back at last year's loss in Stillwater against Tulsa to understand how quickly that drug can lead to a loss. Even if everything screams mismatch, the Cowboys have to take this game seriously.