With two weeks to prepare, Oklahoma State can regain some prestige with a homecoming win against No. 7 Texas on October 27.
Texas has climbed to the top of the Big 12 rankings while the Cowboys have lost three of their last four games – all in the conference.
“Me personally, I’m ready to play Texas,” said OSU offensive lineman Larry Williams. “I’ve only played them one time since I’ve been here, but I feel like it’s more of a trying to level out some things.”
“The quarterback’s a good runner. … The quarterback run game is what we will have to worry about most,” said OSU defensive end Jordan Brailford. “After that we just have to be sound on defense.”
The last five games for OSU are tough and mostly on the road. OSU hosts Texas and then plays improving Baylor and No. 11 Oklahoma. They are back home in Stillwater to play No. 13 West Virginia and then they travel to Fort Worth to play TCU in the last game of the regular season.
A trip to the Big 12 championship game seems unlikely with three conference losses but the Cowboys could decide who is in that title game.
OSU has lost three games by a combined score of 71-117.
“We had good practices this week,” Coach Mike Gundy said last week. “The guys were very enthusiastic and probably more enthusiastic than they’ve been in a while. We got a lot done. They’ve been about 15-20 minutes longer each day. We’ve done a little more individual work and have actually put in a period at the end of practice to correct mistakes, which is hard to do during the season because of legs and reps. We’ve had really good practices though.”
The 12-31 loss to Kansas State on October 13 pointed out some OSU weak points.
“We’ve got a lot of things to correct,” Gundy said. “One week we don’t block well to run the ball, the next week we don’t block well to throw the ball. One week we throw the ball well, one week we don’t throw the ball well. Defensively, we had a couple weeks where we didn’t defend the throw down the field, then the last game we defended the ball well down the field and got worn down a little bit in the running game.”
Gundy has drawn criticism from some fans in the past four weeks but support from his players.
“As players, we have all the trust in the world in Coach Gundy,” said Cowboy back Britton Abbott. “We believe in him and we believe in our staff that they are going to put us in great situations to make plays. It takes a lot of trust to play this game. We really believe in our staff. … I don’t have any worry about being in the right play call. I know we have some of the best coaches in the country so that’s a good feeling.”
How do the Cowboys get back on track?
“We started (the year) off hot, but we just need to execute better when we’re out there to get it rolling again,” said quarterback Taylor Cornelius. “We need to execute in key moments. When the defense gets a turnover or a stop, we need to go down and score.”
Running back Justice Hill said the Cowboys are using the off week to prepare for the Longhorns.
“We started right after the last game,” Hill said. “They’re a good team. They have good players on defense and they make plays.
“I just knew they had good players. It was all meant to come together eventually.”
Hill is not used to losing games.
“When it comes to a loss you are always going to be frustrated,” Hill said. “I’m not used to losing, so whenever we do lose it hits home. I’m not that social after a loss, but I have to remember that you can’t harp over one game. We live to play another game. We have five more games to play this season, we have to do what we need to do to become bowl eligible and show everyone else that we’re still here.”
Defensive tackle Enoch Smith, Jr., described the off-week practices.
“Intense, the coaches have been on us from the start of practice all the way to the end of practice demanding the best out of us,” Smith said. “Nobody has the type of attitude here where we are just going to accept losing and fall by the wayside because that is not the type of program Oklahoma State is and not the Cowboy culture. We pride ourselves on fighting from the beginning until the clock strikes zero. We all stand together. No one man defines this team, we all define this team.”
A six-game home schedule that includes visits from Oklahoma, TCU, Kansas State, Baylor, Kansas and McNeese State headlines the 2019 Oklahoma State football schedule.
The Cowboys open on a Friday night at Oregon State, with the August 30 matchup marking the farthest the Cowboys have traveled for a game since they defeated Washington State in Seattle to open the 2008 season. This is the first time the schools have met in football.
The home opener is September 7 against McNeese State and then Tulsa at Stillwater on September 14.
Big 12 play opens on September 21,
The Big 12 Championship Game is scheduled for Saturday, December 7 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
2019 Oklahoma State Football Schedule
(dates subject to change)
- August 30 at Oregon State
- September 7- McNeese State
- September 14 at Tulsa
- September 21 at Texas
- September 28 – Kansas State
- October 5 at Texas Tech
- October 12 – OPEN
- October 19 – Baylor (Homecoming)
- October 26 at Iowa State
- November 2 – TCU
- November 9 – OPEN
- November 16 – Kansas
- November 23 at West Virginia
- November 30 – Oklahoma