BYU 2-6, 5-6) at No. 21 Oklahoma State (6-2, 8-3)
Kickoff: Saturday, 1:30 p.m. MST.
Venue: Boone Pickens Stadium (Capacity: 60,000)
TV: ABC
Livestream: ESPN.com/watch
Radio: 1160 AM/102.7 FM/BYU Radio Sirius XM 143.
Series: Oklahoma State leads, 2-0
Weather: Cloudy skies at kickoff, with periods of rain later in the day. Temperatures in the high 40s throughout the game. Winds will be light and variable, with gusts up to 10 mph from the east. Chance of rain is 80%, perhaps turning to snow later in the day.
The trends
For BYU: The Cougars have lost four straight games, but played better in last Saturday’s 31-24 loss to No. 14 Oklahoma and could have pulled off the upset if not for three turnovers, one of which resulted in a 14-point swing. BYU needs a win to avoid missing a bowl game for the second time in 19 years.
The Cougars are 7-11 against ranked teams under coach Kalani Sitake, in his eighth season. Sitake is 61-40 at BYU and in danger of posting his second losing season at the helm of the Cougars.
BYU is playing for the first time ever in Stillwater, having met the Cowboys only twice previously. Both of those games were in bowls, with OSU taking a 49-21 win in the Tangerine Bowl in 1976 and a 16-6 win in the Fiesta Bowl in 1974.
For Oklahoma State: The No. 21-ranked Cowboys are coming off a 43-30 win at Houston, a win that erased memories of the 45-3 trouncing they took at the hands of UCF on Nov. 11 in Orlando. Their other losses were to South Alabama (33-7) and Iowa State (34-27). Their biggest wins came against Oklahoma (27-24) and Kansas State (29-21).
The Cowboys are 38th in the country in total offense, averaging 426.5 yards per game. They are fairly well-balanced, ranking 55th in rushing offense and 41st in passing offense.
What to watch for
Junior college transfer Jake Retzlaff has started the last three games at quarterback for the Cougars, and is expected to be under center for the fourth-straight time in Saturday’s regular-season finale. Kedon Slovis started in BYU’s first eight games before suffering an elbow injury in the 35-6 loss at Texas. Slovis is healthy enough to play, but sources tell the Deseret News that Retzlaff will start vs. OSU, barring a last-minute change of heart from the offensive coaching staff.
BYU will also be without starting left tackle Kingsley Suamataia, who will likely be replaced in the lineup by former OSU tackle Caleb Etienne. Roderick has said there could be other missing players on offense, noting Tuesday that the squad got “banged up” a lot vs. the Sooners last week in Provo.
Oklahoma State features several players with Utah ties, most notably super senior defensive end Nathan Latu, who originally committed to play for BYU out of Olympus High in Salt Lake City. Latu has played in 28 career games at OSU, and has 2.0 sacks in 2023.
Safety Nick Session played at East High in Salt Lake City, while RB Sesi Vailahi played at SLC’s West High.
Key player
Ollie Gordon II, sophomore, Oklahoma State, running back: Considered by many to be the best running back in the country, Gordon leads the Football Bowl Subdivision in every major rushing category. He ran for 282 yards at West Virginia, the most for any FBS player in a game this season.
From Fort Worth, Texas, Gordon has rushed for 1,414 yards this season, an average of 128.5 per game. He has 18 carries of 20 or more yards, and 14 carries of 30 or more yards. BYU has fared relatively well against other top backs in the Big 12, such as Texas’ Jonathon Brooks and Texas Tech’s Tahj Brooks, but Gordon has been better than those two, against better competition.
Quotable
“They are a well-coached team. You don’t become a ranked team just by coincidence. They do things the right way, are coached the right way. The guys play hard, tons of athleticism on both sides of the ball. They have playmaking ability. The running back (Gordon) is one of the best running backs in the country. And so when you talk about his running ability you have to give a lot of credit to the O line and the guys that block, the tight ends. Then they can throw the ball up on you and make you pay when you load the box. It seems like we are saying the same thing every week with these Big 12 opponents.” — BYU coach Kalani Sitake.
“(BYU) is a good addition to the league. We’ve mentioned that. I think that from coast to coast, their logo would trigger in most people’s minds a Power Five school forever. I thought they were. I didn’t know what Power Five was or different conferences or levels when I was, you know, junior high and high school and college. I always thought they were what people consider a big conference school.” — Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy.
Next up
BYU: TBD
Oklahoma State: Big 12 championship game or bowl game
BYU schedule
- Aug. 31 — BYU 14, Sam Houston 0.
- Sept. 9 — BYU 41, Southern Utah 16.
- Sept. 16 — BYU 38, Arkansas 31.
- Sept. 23 — Kansas 38, BYU 27.
- Sept. 29 — BYU 36, Cincinnati 27.
- Oct. 14 — TCU 44, BYU 11.
- Oct. 21 — BYU 27, Texas Tech 14.
- Oct. 28 — Texas 35, BYU 6.
- Nov. 4 — West Virginia 37, BYU 7
- Nov. 11 — Iowa State 45, BYU 13.
- Nov. 18 — Oklahoma 31, BYU 24.
- Nov. 25 — at Oklahoma State, 1:30 p.m. MST
