How to Watch Oklahoma State Football vs. Murray State Preview, Breakdown, TV Channel
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The Oklahoma State Cowboys have never played the Murray State Cowboys — until Saturday.
The Cowboys (1-1) and the Racers (1-2) have never met on the gridiron. So it’s the Racers’ debut in Stillwater. Oklahoma State fans are hoping the Cowboys are as sharp for this one as they were for Oregon last Saturday.
Here's all you need to know before Saturday’s game.
How to Follow Along
Matchup: Oklahoma State (1-1) vs. Murray State (1-2)
When: Saturday, Sept. 19
Where: Boone Pickens Stadium, Stillwater, Okla.
Time: 6 p.m. CDT
Watch: ESPN+ (James Westling and Jeff Woody)
Listen: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker, John Holcomb and Deion Imade)
Internet/App Radio: The Varsity Network
Satellite Radio: SiriusXM 173 or 237 and on the SiriusXM app
All-Time Series
This is the first time that Oklahoma State and Murray State have meet in football.
Murray State Scout
Head Coach
Jody Wright | third season at Murray State and third year as head coach
Record: 3-24 at MSU and overall
Accomplishments, former assistant jobs
The former Jacksonville State running back has been an assistant coach at the collegiate and professional levels for 20 years. He was the assistant head coach and run game coordinator at UAB under Bill Clark before moving to the NFL as an assistant for the Cleveland Browns and the New York Giants. His last collegiate assistant job before Murray State was as tight ends coach at South Carolina from 2022-23.
Murray State Players to Watch
Collin Shannon | QB | Gr. | 6-1, 210 | He threw for nearly 2,000 yards for VMI last year and taken on more of the workload since the season started. He is 39-for-63 with 405 yards passing, including two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Tyrell Campbell | RB | Jr. | 5-10, 205 | Born in Canada, he played his prep ball at Rabun-Gap Nacoochee in Rabun County, Ga., before joining Murray State before the 2024 season. He leads MSU in rushing with 213 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries. That’s a robust 7.10 yards per carry.
Trey Firestone | WR | Gr. | 6-3, 200 | The former Ball State Cardinal hasn’t had many chances to shine in his collegiate career but he shares the lead in receptions with 10 and has a touchdown this season.
Clayton Ingram | LB | So. | 6-0, 245 | The Racers plucked Ingram from one of Texas’ top programs, Carthage in northeast Texas. He made an impact last year as a true freshman with 68 tackles. So far this season he leads the team with 22.
Jayden Walker | DL | Sr. | 6-2, 255 | If there is any Racers defender that has a chance to make a living in the OSU backfield on Saturday’s its Walker, who leads the team with four tackles for loss.
Outlook
One could argue that this is one of the tougher FCS jobs. The Racers play in the toughest conference in the division, the Missouri Valley Football Conference. Even with the departure of North Dakota State to FBS, the conference is still likely to produce several national championship contenders.
Add to that Murray State’s relative lack of football tradition (it hasn’t won a conference title since 2002) and Wright has his work cut out for him. That said, he's he knows where to get high school talent, as evidenced by landing Ingram. He's also managed to find some solid players in the transfer portal that helped boost his team to a road victory over Valparaiso last weekend.
Oklahoma State Scout
Head Coach
Eric Morris | First Season at Oklahoma State and eighth season as head coach
Record: 1-1 at OSU and 47-35 overall (Incarnate Word, 2018-21, North Texas, 2023-25)
As Coach
American Conference Coach of the Year (2025)
Eddie Robinson Award finalist (2021)
Southland Conference Coach of the Year (2021)
Eddie Robinson Award finalist (2018)
2018 Southland Conference Coach of the Year (2018)
As Player (Texas Tech)
2008 All-Big 12 Punt Returner (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
2007 Academic All-Big 12 First Team
Former Assistant Jobs
Houston Graduate Assistant (2010)
Houston Quality Control (2011)
Washington State Inside Wide Receivers (2012)
Texas Tech Co-Offensive Coordinator/Ins. WRs (2013)
Texas Tech Offensive Coordinator/WR (2014)
Texas Tech Offensive Coordinator/Ins. WRs (2015-17)
Washington State Offensive Coordinator/QBs (2022)
Oklahoma State Players to Watch
Drew Mestemaker | QB | rSo. | 6-3, 215 | Since he went airborne for the go-ahead touchdown against Oregon he’s been making the rounds with the media all week. Winning cures many things. After two games he’s thrown for 558 yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions, both of which last week were tipped by Oregon’s defensive line.
Caleb Hawkins | RB | So. | 6-0, 219 | Hawkins has Morris’ complete trust, and it is easy to see why. He broke the 100-yard mark last week against Oregon and he has 189 yards rushing and a touchdown in two games. He could be leaning in for another big season.
Wyatt Young | WR | Jr. | 6-0, 199 | It’s getting hard to believe he’s an OR on the depth chart. After two games he leads the Cowboys with 13 receptions and 205 yards. He caught his first touchdown of the season against Oregon.
Ethan Wesloski | LB | rSr. | 6-1, 234 | Wesloski was named one of the Big 12’s defensive players of the week for his work against Oregon. He leads the team with 16 tackles. He added a half-sack on Saturday against Oregon.
Malik Charles | DE | rSr. | 6-3, 284 | Charles was one of three defensive ends with a sack last week against Oregon. One has to be reminded that Charles missed most of spring workouts rehabbing an injury suffered against Kansas State. He’s looking more like an impact player.
Outlook
The win over Oregon certainly changed the complexion of the Cowboys season in the near term. Both Morris and Mestemaker have been doing the rounds on national television this week and that's great for the program's profile. But Morris made the point earlier this week that they've put two drastically different games on tape and they need to get a better sense of where they truly are going into Big 12 play.
Murray State offers them an opponent that, on paper, should be their easiest of the season. But Morris has preached all week that their focus is more about what they do and not what the other team does. For the Cowboys, who open Big 12 play against West Virginia next week, the goals are to play fast, play well and play healthy.
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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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