Why Oklahoma State’s Football Roster is Already at Turning Point Against Oregon

The Oklahoma State Cowboys know it’s a tall order to beat Oregon Saturday. But there are other things happening in the lead-up to the game that may be just as important.

Oklahoma State head coach Eric Morris. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

It's been one month since fall workouts began and it's been nearly a week since Oklahoma State lost its season opener to Tulsa, and it already feels like things are at a turning point.

It's not just about the season, though head coach Eric Morris cautioned that the season isn't over after one game. The turning point may be about his roster.

After Saturday's 24-10 loss to Tulsa, Morris told reporters that he intended to tell players the truth about how they played against the Golden Hurricane. He was asked how the players had responded to the adversity of losing a game most thought they would win. It was an answer indicative of a coach looking for answers — and looking for personnel who want to help him find those answers.

“Some good, some bad, and that's how it's going to be,” Morris said. “You know, there's going to be certain people that have their feelings hurt. They didn't think they played enough. They didn't play well and they go into the dumps. Then you're going to have some guys that have the right mentality, they're competitors at heart and they’ve got some fight in them and they're going to come back and respond the right way.”

How this roster responds on Saturday against No. 6 Oregon (11 a.m. CT, ESPN), and in the weeks ahead, may decide many things for this season and for the future.

Separating the Pack

Oklahoma State wide receiver Justin Bowick. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Morris indicated his unhappiness with his team's conditioning during their first practice in the fall camp a month ago. He saw it again on Saturday, both on the sideline and on tape after the game. He said several players were vomiting in the fourth quarter.

While some of that is reflective of the temperatures last week, he thought some of it was reflective of conditioning. That it’s still an issue a month later is a problem that can’t be solved right away. He said on Tuesday that Oklahoma State has a “group of people” working on the problem, likely the program’s trainers and nutritionists.

There could be several issues at work. Some of this could simply be a miscalibration of what certain players need to be in condition. That can be adjusted through workouts, through hydration and through nutrition. That's not about effort or desire to compete.

But if the issue is putting in the work to get there, that's a problem for Morris. And while he didn't flat out say it, he alluded to it a few times during the press conference.

“There’s a bunch of issues. I'm not discounting that,” he said. “I know that probably more than anybody. And there's things that we got to start addressing, and we got to start building the program. This is the way that that I've done it in the past, and I have full confidence in the way we're going to do it here again.”

Saturday's loss identified the key issues the Cowboys are dealing with. Morris said the work begins now to start correcting them. Conditioning is a big part of that. And that could separate who plays and who sits the rest of the season and who stays and who transfers out when the season ends. That’s why it could be a turning point this season and why it will be useful to watch snap counts on Saturday to see if Morris is already altering his philosophy based on that conditioning, or lack of it.