The second game of the season will feature two teams with vastly different viewpoints on the season. 

The Oklahoma State University Cowboys are looking to have a competitive year after seemingly rolling over in 2024. They will meet the Oregon Ducks, who so far have shown they are as legit as they were last season and are a team that could go further.

Oklahoma State is coming off an awful 2024 campaign where they finished just 3-9, did not win a single game past Week 3 and in that stretch were 0-9 against Big 12 teams. To say that the Cowboys needed to switch things up would be an understatement. 

So, in his 20th season at Oklahoma State, head coach Mike Gundy went all in. 

The two biggest changes came in the forms of Todd Grantham, who is coming back to college football after working with the New Orleans Saints from 2023-2024 and is taking over as OSU’s defensive coordinator. The second big change is Doug Meacham. He played for Oklahoma State from 1983-1987 and previously coached at Oklahoma State from 2005-2012 working with inside receivers and tight ends. Meacham is the new offensive coordinator.

Against the University of Tennessee Martin Skyhawks on Aug. 28, Oklahoma State won 27-7. Despite the win, starting quarterback Hauss Hejny, a redshirt freshman who transferred from Texas Christian University, had his season start off in the worst way possible. In his first start for the Cowboys, Hejny suffered a broken foot late in the first quarter and received surgery on Aug. 29. Zane Flores, who did not play or practice last year due to receiving a medical hardship waiver, took over for Hejny. 

In terms of quarterback matchups, Oregon has Oklahoma State beat. Flores ended the day against the Skyhawks at 13 of 20 passing, throwing for 136 yards but did not throw for a touchdown. In comparison, Moore played great in Week 1, finishing the day with a much better line than that of Flores with Moore finishing the day at 18 of 23 passes, 213 yards and 3 touchdowns. 

With early troubles at quarterback, the Cowboys centered their offense on the run game. Sesi Vailahi, a redshirt sophomore, had 32 yards on nine carries and a rushing touchdown. Redshirt sophomore Kalib Hicks had the most yardage on the day for the Cowboys with 56 rushing yards on 21 carries. 

The run game wasn’t great on the day though, and the Cowboys only averaged three yards per carry. 

“Unfortunately we weren’t very good on offense,” Gundy said. “I’d love to have that at four and a half yards a carry.” 

Meacham and Gundy are going to have their work cut out for them this week against A’Mauri Washington, Matayo Uiagalelei, Teitum Tuioti and Bryce Boettcher, who all contributed to shutting down the run game against Montana State. Gundy said that they need to get more space open for the run game, but Oregon will make that difficult with the persistent defensive line that got into the offensive back field easily Week 1. 

In comparison to Oregon’s running game, Oklahoma State lacks considerably. Oregon’s offense was already out performing Oklahoma State’s at halftime in terms of yards. 

Oklahoma State’s receivers had a slightly better Week 1, averaging 12.9 yards per reception. The receivers were led by Terrill Davis, a transfer from The University of Central Oklahoma and a Division II first team All-American, who had 75 yards. Shamar Rigby came in from Purdue and had 50 yards and Gavin Freeman, a redshirt junior, was the only Cowboy receiver with a touchdown. 

Against Oregon, Davis, Rigby, Freeman and the rest of the Cowboy receivers are going to have  to go up against a loaded defensive backfield consisting of Ify Obidegwu, Dillon Thieneman, talented true freshman Na’eem Offord, Peyton Woodyard and more. For an inexperienced quarterback coming off of injury, a floundering running game and a lackluster Cowboy receiving core, the Ducks have the upper hand.

The Cowboys are looking to have a better performance this week with the run game, as well as on offense and defense in general; however, given the way that Oregon played last weekend, the Cowboys could be looking at a similar story to Week 1.