Cowboys Insider: Oklahoma State’s Hype Train Broke Down. Now What?
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Oklahoma State didn’t lose Saturday’s game because of nine months of hype surrounding the hiring of head coach Eric Morris and bringing in 91 new players. But it makes the 24-10 loss to Tulsa feel worse.
Since the hiring of Morris, the program has lived on vibes, so to speak. Everything felt good. Fall camp was smooth. Injuries were minimal. There was lots of positivity. Everyone associated with Oklahoma State thought the Cowboys were going to win on Saturday. Maybe not run away with it — but at least win. I thought they were going to win.
Last year’s loss to Tulsa in Stillwater, the one that triggered Mike Gundy’s firing, demanded retribution even if only 25 current Cowboys were a part of that loss.
But hype doesn’t win games. Players and coaches do. And these players and coaches put up a game that just about everyone said was “embarrassing.” Quarterback Drew Mestemaker told reporters after the game that Morris said it was the most embarrassing offensive performance he had ever been a part of.
Hype giveth. Bad football taketh away. So now what? A history lesson — and some context.
The Last Hype Train
The hype around these Cowboys was not at the level of the 2023 Colorado Buffaloes. For instance, I’m not sure if Morris owns any Louis Vuitton luggage (harkening back to Deion Sanders’ famous “I’m bringing my bags and they’re Louis” quote when he arrived in Boulder).
But there was a hype train to be sure. Before Morris flipped his roster for 91 new players, the most in recent FBS history, Sanders and Colorado had 87 newcomers on that roster, including Sanders’ two sons (Shedeur and Shilo) and eventual Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter.
Still in the Pac-12, the Buffs opened the season by paying TCU a visit during a sweltering season opener in Fort Worth in September. I covered the game. I sat next to legendary sportswriter William C. Rhoden, which was a thrill for my journalistic brain.
That was an incredible game. It was back-and-forth. It was right after TCU went to the national championship game in coach Sonny Dykes’ first season in 2022. The Buffs won, 45-42. I went to Sanders’ press conference, and you would have though Colorado was going to go 12-0 the way he was talking. At one point he called out the media for questioning whether he could do it.
“They know I'm a winner, and we're going to end up winning,” Sanders said. "Ain't none of [the media] thought we were going to end up sitting here. You were supposed to be on the other side, interviewing [TCU] or asking me, 'What happened? You said this and you said that.'
"Now what? Everybody's quiet now."
The Buffs went 4-8 and lost their final six games of the season.
While Colorado undeniably balled out that day, the questions everyone had about the Buffs entering that season — namely talent and depth on the offensive and defensive lines — are what ultimately led the Buffs to fail to reach a bowl game in his first season. The hype caught up to the Buffs. It just took a few weeks. That 42-6 loss to Oregon in Week 4 was the start of a 2-8 finish.
In this case, the hype train caught up to Oklahoma State on the first week of the season. The offensive line suffered a major injury in left tackle Jacob Sexton on the first drive, and it jumbled up the unit Morris had set since after the first scrimmage. Everyone was slow to adjust. The defense was good, but not great. But, if the offense had performed at the level expected, that defensive performance would have been enough.
Oklahoma State’s Bad Offensive Debut
For all the hype around the offense, it was that unit that led to the loss. Mestemaker committed three turnovers and made bad decisions as the pressure increased. The offensive line became more porous as the game went on and the staff looked for different O-line combinations that could beat back a Tulsa front four that was getting pressure without a blitz. Morris questioned his own play calling and had good reason to. Some of it was unimaginative and played into what became Tulsa’s strengths during the game — stopping the run up the middle and denying deep routes.
The Cowboys looked, well, they looked like a team with 91 new players, if we’re being honest. Morris talked the past couple of weeks about wanting to see what his team would do when it faced adversity. You don’t get adversity in good-on-good situations in practice. You get adversity in a live game. Oklahoma State did not handle adversity well on Saturday.
Morris said after the game that he calls Monday “Tell the Truth Monday.” There is going to be a lot of truth told on Monday to the players. But Morris and his staff are going to have to tell each other the truth on Sunday when they break down film. It wasn’t a disaster. But this team didn’t play to the identity it wants to establish. Not even close.
I wrote earlier this year that Oklahoma State’s role model in the Big 12 should be Houston. The Cougars hired Willie Fritz in mid-December in 2023 after the American Conference title game and he got a late start, much like Morris did. Fritz did what he could in the portal and on the recruiting trail, but Houston finished 4-8. The Cougars lost four of their last six games.
But, with a full year to recruit and to work the portal, the Cougars won 10 games last year and Fritz signed a rarity for Houston — a five-star recruit. Heck, after the Buffs won just four games in 2023, Deion and the Buffs went 9-4 in 2024 and nearly made the Big 12 title game.
Lost in the hype is that Morris took over a program that went 4-20 the last two seasons. It’s hard to get players to come to any school with that kind of recent track record. His most productive players are the ones imported from UNT. They knew him and they trusted him. Every Class of 2026 recruit is a three-star player or lower. Not that they won’t be great players one day. But that takes time. Success takes time. And that won’t make any Cowboys fans feel good about this season.
Hype is a dangerous drug. So is hope. So is losing hope. It’s one game. It’s one BAD game. But it’s one game. It’s why they play 12 of these each season.
Frankly, Oklahoma State needed a dose of reality. Maybe not quite one this severe. But Morris is right — coaches find out what kind of team they have when adversity strikes. Here it is. So, who are these Cowboys?
We don’t know yet. But the one positive is this gives Morris and his staff the chance to find out. And that’s not hype. That’s just the truth.
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Matthew Postins is the publisher of Oklahoma State on SI. He is an award-winning sports journalist who was formerly the editor of the College Football America Yearbook and covers the Big 12 Conference for Heartland College Sports.
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