Three Storylines I'm Watching Most in Oklahoma State's Week 3 Matchup vs. Murray State
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The Oklahoma State Cowboys head into their contest with the Murray State Racers hope to get over .500 for the first time since Week 1 of the 2025 season.
That week, the Cowboys beat UT Martin 28-7. The Cowboys were never over .500 the rest of the season. Oklahoma State (1-1) started the season with a loss to Tulsa, followed by its surprising win over Oregon. Now, the Cowboys are hoping to get over .500 before heading to West Virginia for their Big 12 opener with the Mountaineers.
Here are three storylines that I have my eye on going into the game with the Racers.
Playing ‘The Fish’
The freshmen (or the Fish) haven’t gotten much playing time so far. In fact, going through two weeks of snap counts true freshmen have barely played for the Cowboys. Some of that was by design by Morris and his staff. He wanted an experienced team, and he was only going to get that by bringing in a mass of talent from the transfer portal, which he did. But for the 23 true freshmen on the roster, this might be their one shot at significant playing time, barring injury.
If the game turns into a blowout as many suspect, I’m curious to see how many true freshmen get some meaningful playing time. I suspect quarterback Broderick Verhs would get some over long-time collegiate Grant Jordan. This would be a good game for running back KD Jones to get some reps. The same goes for wide receivers Jabarie Thompson and Dayvon Standard, along with safety Braelen Pressley.
Since the Cowboys don’t have to worry about burning redshirts, they can play whenever they earn time. But the nature of the first two games didn’t really allow them to play. This game should allow Morris to play his freshmen more liberally.
Avoiding the ‘Hangover’
Morris was on it nearly from the start of his press conference on Saturday after the Oregon win. He was immensely proud of his team, but he was already doing the math in his head.
“We’re gonna have to be really good as coaches this week because everybody's gonna tell them how good they are now,” Morris said, less than 100 words into the answer to the first question.
Morris also said on Tuesday that he still has questions to answer about this team because between the loss to Tulsa and the win over Oregon the Cowboys have put two drastically different games on tape.
OSU hasn’t won a “big game” in nearly three years. You must go back to the Bedlam game against Oklahoma. I’m interested to see how these players manage the game early against a team that, on paper at least, looks like one the Cowboys should dominate. Murray State has won three games under head coach Jody Wright. He’s running a program that hasn’t won a conference title in 25 years.
If the Cowboys get off to a hot start early and emulate the speed and urgency with which they played against Oregon, that’s a good sign going into Big 12 action.
Playing the ‘Rest’ Game
Most college football coaches are pretty tight-lipped about injuries. Morris did talk about the players that came out of Saturday’s game banged up and that list includes wide receiver Chris Barnes, defensive tackle Iman Oates and right guard Joseph Hanson. The list also includes defensive tackle Bradyon Rigsby, who didn’t play at all against Oregon, along with two former North Texas transfers who are working their way back — left tackle Braydon Nelson and tight end Oscar Hammond.
So which of them will play? We won’t know until game time and we don’t get player availability reports until next week, which are required for Big 12 games. The first hurdle is whether they’re medically cleared to play. The second is whether Morris wants to take the risk of playing them in a non-conference game when he really needs them for Big 12 action.
I’m betting most, if not all of those listed above, won’t play on Saturday, if for no other reason to avoid the risk of losing them for longer. It’s better to be at full strength for WVU.
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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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