A lot is riding on the outcome of Saturday’s game between Oklahoma State and Tulsa in Stillwater.

The Golden Hurricane (0-1) lost their season opener with UC Davis (17-19) while the Cowboys (1-0) had a close call with Missouri State, winning 23-16.

Last year, OSU slipped past Tulsa 16-7 in Stillwater in a defensive game that surprised everyone. OSU must travel to Boise, Idaho next week to face Boise State and then face a tough Big 12 schedule. Boise State opened with a narrow 31-36 at Central Florida.

If they lose to OSU, TU could start the season 0-3 because they must go to play Ohio State next week. Ohio State struggled a bit in an opening 45-31 win over Minnesota.

Against Missouri State, OSU starting quarterback Spencer Sanders was out due to coronavirus protocol. He might play vs. TU.

Sophomore quarterback Shane Illingworth started and competed 55% of his passes for 315 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

“I thought he played pretty well,” OSU coach Mike Gundy said of Illingsworth. “He doesn’t have a lot of experience. He made some throws and missed a few, but with where he is at in his career with experience, he played fine. The issue was we couldn’t rush the football. They ended up defending us a little more difficult for the pass game because we couldn’t rush the football. We need to run the football better and make it easier on him.”

The OSU rushing attack made just 1.9 yards per carry against their FCS opponent, while Illingworth’s accuracy declined from a 65.2% first-half completion percentage to 41.2% in the final two quarters.

“They played pretty good to be honest with you,” Gundy said of his running backs. “For guys that haven’t played at all, I was pleased with the way they played. Now, the competition is going to get better every week. Guys are going to get more physical, so the challenge will be greater for them; but for players that hadn’t played much in a competitive situation, I thought they played pretty well.”

Missouri State’s defense forced two turnovers and got a first-half turnover on downs. The MSU offense settled for two field goals on three possessions that ended deep in Oklahoma State territory.

The OSU defense played well. OSU stopped Missouri State twice on fourth down during the last two minutes of the fourth quarter to preserve the win.

“It doesn’t matter what happens or where the ball is, we always say give us an inch and we’ll defend it,” said OSU defensive coordinator Jim Knowles. “It’s a mentality – it really is.”

“The defense obviously did a great job,” said Gundy. “We put them in terrible situations multiple times, and they continued to make play-after-play. They faced 83 plays, which is a lot, so they really stood tall and made a bunch of plays. I told them I was proud of them after the game and that I’ve been in games that were 61-59 and this one ended up the other way where the defense continued to make plays.”

Missouri State was impressed.

“They’re a really good football team,” said MSU coach Bobby Petrino. “When you watch them, when you prepare for them, we knew it was going to be hard. Our guys responded the right way, they practiced hard, they prepared hard, and we wanted to come out here and compete for four quarters. And I feel like they certainly did that.”

What happened to TU?

The UC Davis Aggies came into favored Tulsa and walked out with a 19-17 victory. UC Davis scored their only touchdown on the first drive of the game and were held to four field goals.

Aggie quarterback Hunter Rodrigues hit 28 of 35 passing attempts to 311 yards and on TD. TU quarterback Davis Brin hit 15 of 28 attempts with no touchdowns and two costly interceptions.

Tulsa’s Deneric Prince scored on a 59-yard run and Steven Anderson added a one-yard touchdown run to go with a 41-yard field goal by Zack Long. Prince had 179 yards rushing on 14 carries and one score.

TU coach Philip Montgomery said, “We just know we got a lot of work to do. We got to get back on the practice field. Got a big test next week and got to get prepared and get ready.”

Just before the game, Tulsa announced six players were suspended from the game due to the postgame fight in the Armed Forces Bowl against Mississippi State last season.

Four starters – safety TieNeal Martin, linebackers Treyvon Reeves and Justin Wright, and offensive lineman Tyler Smith – did not play and offensive lineman Dante Bivens only played in the second half.

“I thought we were ready to play,” Montgomery said. “I thought our guys were locked in. Obviously, with the first game, there’s a lot of unknowns when it comes to it, so just got to continue to keep working and that’s where our mindset’s got to be.”

The offense never seemed to get in rhythm.

“To be honest, it’s been something that we have been working on all summer, and it’s just for us to go out there and to start fast, finish strong, and stuff like that, and it just wasn’t there tonight,” said Keylon Stokes.

“It’s something that we got to go back into the lab and just keep working and keep getting right at, keep getting better at, and we’ll come out and dominate next week.”