Three Things Oklahoma State Coach Eric Morris Said Tuesday — And What He Meant
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The Oklahoma State Cowboys are knee deep in preparation for their Saturday showdown with the No. 6 Oregon Ducks at Boone Pickens Stadium.
For the Cowboys (0-1), it's an opportunity for redemption after losing to Tulsa. But it won't be easy. The Ducks (1-0) are one of the best teams in the country and are adjusting after a close win over Boise State.
Head coach Eric Morris spoke to the media on Tuesday and revealed a lot about how he felt about the loss to Tulsa and what lies ahead with Oregon. Below are three things he said to the media on Tuesday with some context of what he really meant by what he said.
Third and Fourth Down vs. Tulsa
Morris was asked to unpack what went wrong on third and fourth down against Tulsa, where the Cowboys were a combined 7-of-22. The specific question was around third and short and fourth and short.
“We didn’t execute them, you know?” he said. “The first one that we have down there, we got out executed. Second one we fumbled, not very good when you when you put the ball on the ground. Third one we misidentified the front and went to the wrong people up front. So, there were so many problems and so many different things, right?
What he means: Morris put many of the issues in those situations on his play calling after the game on Saturday. It now seems after watching film that he’s putting more of that on the execution. The third play he referenced — a lack of recognition of Tulsa’s defensive front — is rough. If his offensive line can't identify the right front, it can't run the right blocking scheme.
I suspect Morris and his staff have emphasized recognition of Oregon’s fronts this week in practice. But Oregon watched the tape and may have some surprises for Oklahoma State.
Recognition of Oregon’s Pass Defense
Morris was asked a general question about how to combat Oregon’s ability to blitz and rush the quarterback and the answer got into the need to get the ball downfield and for the Cowboys to recognize pass defense schemes.
“They play a lot of variety of coverages,” Morris said. “They play some three high stuff, they play two high stuff, they'll get into one high, they play some man coverage, so they do a great job at keeping you honest and keeping you off balance on the back end.”
What he means: That’s a comment that could easily be directed to quarterback Drew Mestemaker and center Tyler Mercer, the two players who will be most responsible for recognizing those schemes and getting the rest of the offense in the right spots to combat it.
It's bad enough the Cowboys are down to left tackles in Jacob Sexton and Brayden Nelson. Now they're facing one of the more complicated defenses in college football, one that has the talent and experience to play several different pass coverage schemes and do it in a way in which they can be well disguised.
If the Cowboys were having trouble recognizing the right front against Tulsa, then this is Morris’ way of saying that his quarterback and his center need to study up fast.
Backup Running Back
Morris said on Saturday that work must be done to identify a back-up running back. He was asked who would get the job against Oregon.
“Completely open right now. So may may the best man win,” he said.
What he means: For once, no subtle subtext or underlying meaning. Morris was blunt. He's going to let the best practice player back up Caleb Hawkins on Saturday. Morris spoke earlier during fall camp about how different backs would have different roles behind Hawkins. I don't think he's backed off that, but he appeared put off by how both Tre Page III and Ayo Adeyi played on Saturday — a combined 43 yards on 14 carries and just one combined catch.
He reinforced the point when he was asked how much Adeyi would play.
“That depends how he practices this week,” Morris said. Adeyi played for Morris at UNT in 2023 and rushed for more than 1,000 yards. He’s not playing favorites. The best player is going to back up Hawkins.
But it will be interesting to see if Morris carries a fourth running back on Saturday and uses him.
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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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