What Oklahoma State football coach Eric Morris believes Cowboys must fix vs Oregon
· Yahoo Sports
TULSA — Eric Morris calls himself a truth-teller.
After Saturday’s 24-10 loss at Tulsa, the Oklahoma State football coach sat in a sweltering interview room beneath H.A. Chapman Stadium and made a declaration.
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"For a second year in a row, Tulsa, they reigned supreme on us right now on the football field,” Morris said. “And that's a fact. I'm a fact guy, and I'm always going to tell you guys the way I feel.”
After Tulsa beat OSU 19-12 a year ago in Stillwater, the Golden Hurricane backed up Tulsa football coach Tre Lamb's line about the rivalry from a February basketball game that Tulsa would, 'Beat their a-- again.'"
The Cowboys don’t have time to dance around the truth. Problems exposed by a Tulsa team projected to finish middle of the American Conference must be corrected by 11 a.m. Saturday when No. 2 Oregon comes to town. Last year, Oregon beat OSU 69-3.
“And we got a lot of problems to fix, obviously,” Morris said. “We got the No. — I don’t know what they’ll be — 1, 2 or 3 in the nation coming into town next week, and boy I tell you if they watch that film they’ll be licking their chops.”
Morris said the Tulsa out-coached, out-schemed, out-physicaled OSU. He added his play calls, specifically on the four fourth-and-1s OSU failed to convert were equally poor. Meetings to fix the problems started Saturday night.
Among the things Morris said he’ll see on film: The offensive line didn’t get enough push up front or protect off the edge without injured tackle Jacob Sexton, a still unresolved backup running back position behind Caleb Hawkins, an unnecessary roughness penalty after a third-down stop from Jaleel Johnson gave Tulsa a free second-chance touchdown and quarterback Drew Mestemaker “a little off” missing easy throws.
Morris was as blunt with his team in the locker room as he was with the media.
“He sat in there and said straight up that's the most embarrassing offensive performance he's ever been a part of, and I agree,” Mestemaker said. “I mean, I'd say the same for me. That's just not how we play offense specifically. Defense, honestly, was the only reason we were in that game.”
Along with the bluntness, Morris gave the players in his locker room another truth.
“That doesn't define our season at all, and that's exactly what Coach Morris said in the locker room,” Mestemaker said.
OSU would know. Last season, The Cowboys won their season opener against UT-Martin and didn’t win another game. In 2023, OSU lost at home 33-7 to South Alabama and rallied to win seven Big 12 games and reach the conference championship game.
“The last thing I'm going to do is lay down and forfeit the season,” Mestemaker said. “That was one game and you know we have a great opportunity next week playing probably one of the best teams in the country. Obviously, it sucks and it's embarrassing, but you know by Monday and Tuesday it's got to be gone, and we got to be on to next week.”
OSU vs. Oregon
KICKOFF: 11 a.m. Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater (ESPN)
Ben Hutchens covers OSU athletics for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Ben? He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @ben_hutchens_. Sign up for OSU Sports Minute newsletter to access more coverage of the Cowboys and Cowgirls. Support Ben's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: What Oklahoma State football coach Eric Morris believes Cowboys must fix vs Oregon