Oklahoma State’s Five Biggest Questions Entering Week 9 Game Against Iowa State
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The Oklahoma State Cowboys have a chance to lay the next piece of their comeback from a 1-11 2025 season on Saturday against Iowa State.
The Cowboys (5-2, 3-1 in Big 12) can claim bowl eligibility for the first time since 2023 with a victory. A win also keeps them in the race for one of the two spots in the Big 12 Championship game in December. Oklahoma State will still need a little help. But if the Cowboys keep winning, there’s still a chance.
Here are the five biggest questions the Cowboys must answer going into Saturday’s game.
The Left Tackle Question
Head coach Eric Morris wasn't asked on Tuesday whether there would be a change at left tackle between Shaun Torgeson and Brayden Nelson, but all signs point to the potential of Nelson starting against Iowa State.
Unlike Nelson's first two games back from offseason knee surgery, he essentially split snaps with Torgeson against Colorado. Per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Nelson had a far better pass blocking grade than Torgeson.
Morris has consistently praised Torgeson for how quickly he’s picked up the offense. But Nelson was pegged as the preseason starter by most analysts for a reason. Morris has consistently praised Nelson's mental makeup and his knowledge of the scheme as reasons he could slide into any position right away.
Quarterback Drew Mestemaker said on Saturday he really didn't care if the left tackle position was a tandem. He felt both linemen did their job well. And Morris may stick with a tandem at the position and that's not necessarily a bad thing considering the volume of plays the Air Raid offense runs.
Nelson is playing better. In Morris' eyes, the better player wins. We'll see if he answers that question on Saturday.
Will OSU Wear Orange Uniforms?
What an odd question. But stay with me.
Saturday is Halloween. Iowa State has already decided that it's going to be wearing all black. I hate all-black uniforms, but on Halloween it makes sense — especially in a night game.
The Cowboys could easily go to an all-orange look — orange helmets, orange jersey and orange pants. It would give the game a whole Jack-O-Lantern feel to it, which would really pop on TV. It would give the game an NFL color rush feel to it. OSU usually wears white jerseys on the road.
I wouldn't bring this up except during his radio show on Monday, Iowa State head coach Jimmy Rogers told the host that he was “almost certain” Oklahoma State was going to wear all orange. Just something to think about.
Can OSU Slow Down Aiden Flora?
Iowa State running back Aiden Flora is one of college football's most unique players. He can do just about anything you want. Earlier this season he became the second player in Big 12 history to score multiple rushing touchdowns and throw multiple passing touchdowns in the same game. The first? Texas quarterback Vince Young.
Flora is a joker in the purest sense of the word because of its versatility. As a running back, he's rushed for 716 yards and six touchdowns. Those numbers are close to what Oklahoma State’s Caleb Hawkins has put up this season. He's only caught 13 passes for 80 yards, but he also returns punts for the Cyclones. You can’t bench him.
He’s been at Iowa State since 2024 but he's finally getting a chance to shine. He only had 15 carries in his first two seasons.
He is coming off his worst game in Big 12 play as he rushed for only 36 yards and caught three passes for 15 yards against Arizona in a 39-3 loss. Whatever Arizona did to slow him down, Oklahoma State should do that.
Will Quinton Hammonds and Carson Kolb Play?
Morris talked a bit about safety Quinton Hammonds, saying that he was hopeful that he might be able to play. Morris has struck a hopeful tone with players before and they haven’t been available. We know that Hammonds had his arm in a sling after Saturday’s game, per the Cowboys Radio Network broadcast. Morris hasn’t been specific about the injury, and most college coaches aren’t. My guess is he probably won't play on Saturday.
The same goes for Carson Kolb, the tight end who won the starting job coming out of fall camp and has impressed Morris all season. I saw him wearing a walking boot on his left foot after the game. He was also using crutches to get around.
That's a strong indicator to me that he won't play on Saturday but Morris wasn't specific. He did talk about Oscar Hammond and his ability as a pass-catching tight end. My guess is if Kolb doesn't play, you'll see more of Hammond in passing situations and Morgan McPhaul in run-blocking situations.
We’ll get a sense of where the two players are at when the player availability reports start coming out.
Does Drew Mestemaker Hit 400 Yards Passing?
It feels like the redshirt sophomore quarterback has been flirting with reaching 400 yards passing in a game for the past few weeks. He got dangerously close against Colorado as he threw for 384 yards and four touchdowns. Oddly, I think the one thing that's been holding him back has been running back Caleb Hawkins, who's been exceptional the past two weeks and has given the Cowboys a great counterpoint. That’s not a bad thing.
One thing we've learned over the past few weeks is that it's not necessary for Mestemaker to have an enormous game for the Cowboys to win. But it certainly helps. Iowa State has a below average pass defense that gives up 274 yards per game passing in Big 12 games. Their overall pass defense efficiency is second worst in the league. There's a recipe there, especially if Mestemaker hits some big passes early.
To me that’s been a big hindrance. He doesn’t get big passes away early in most games. But we’ve seen it each of the last two weeks, so more of that could be coming against ISU.
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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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