Editor’s note: Second in a series previewing each team in the Big 12 in 2025.
There is nowhere to go but up in 2025 for the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
Picked to finish in the top half of the league in 2024, OSU did just the opposite. Failing to win a conference game (although they almost shocked BYU in Provo), the Cowboys finished dead last in the Big 12 last year and cost a lot of people their jobs in Stillwater.
Still, head coach Mike Gundy remains at the helm, and has made some major changes to ensure that OSU returns to league and national prominence.
A year ago, the headline for our OSU preview read: “Is Oklahoma State in the best position to become the Big 12’s biggest football brand?” We told readers to circle Sept. 21 on their calendars, because that was when 2024 league favorite Utah was scheduled to visit OSU, and we suggested that the winner would play in the Big 12 championship game.
What a whiff on our part.
But there was some reasoning behind our optimism. The Pokes went 10-4 in 2023, played in the Big 12 championship game, and won the Texas Bowl. Also, running back Ollie Gordon II won the Doak Walker Award, and returned in 2024.
The question now becomes: Can they return to their past glory?
Credit Gundy for not waiting around to find out. He cleaned house after going 3-9 in 2024, the worst season of Gundy’s 20-year career, then brought in nearly 40 newcomers.
“I don’t have any concerns or doubt about what we can do,” Gundy said when spring camp opened in early March. “The only thing that’s a little bit uncertain is it is different because you can’t build and develop players anymore. You have to go out and buy them and bring them in and fit them in and make it work. We all know that’s different, and that’s not gonna change. … Our culture is the same.”
Offensively, OSU has a quarterback derby on its hands, as TCU transfer Hauss Hejny and Nebraska transfer Zane Flores square off for the starting job. Neither has thrown a pass at the college level.
“We don’t have a quarterback that’s ever played a snap for us at Oklahoma State. We’ve got a little bit of familiarity with a couple guys coming through spring, but it’s one of the things in the future of college football that’s a little bit scary — you don’t have as many guys in that room as you’d want to,“ Gundy said at Big 12 media days. “But I think ... our staff understand the importance of finding out who gives us the best chance to win and building our offense around that system.”
Tight end Josh Ford is the only regular returner on offense, having caught 10 passes for 92 yards and a touchdown as a true freshman last year. Ford will be coached by former West Jordan and Utah State tight end D.J. Tialavea.
“The only thing that’s a little bit uncertain is it is different because you can’t build and develop players anymore. You have to go out and buy them and bring them in and fit them in and make it work.
— OSU coach Mike Gundy
None of the projected starting offensive linemen have played a down for the Cowboys, but running backs Rodney Fields Jr. and Trent Howland will be joined by Oklahoma transfer Kalib Hicks in the backfield. Projected starting receiver Talyn Shettron sustained a torn ACL in spring camp and is out for the season.
“I feel good about what we have” on the offensive line, Gundy said. “We have enough to be successful. Now they’ve gotta go play and get coached.”
The Pokes should be better defensively, as safety Dylan Smith, tackle Iman Oates and cornerback Cam Smith return as starters. Smith has started in 29 games for OSU, a team-high.
Linebacker Bryan McCoy, a transfer from Akron, figures to be OSU’s leading tackler. He had 120 last year to earn second-team All-MAC honors.
“We have 65 new players. Thirty-five of them we’ve never seen practice before,” Gundy said. “They just showed up in June. Eighteen of those are transfers, and the rest are high school players. It’s a very unusual experience. They’ve done really well over the last four or five weeks in the offseason, but August practice will be more important now than it ever has been based on the new faces.”
Oklahoma State Cowboys 2025 preview
2024 record: 3-9 (0-9 Big 12)
Local ties:
- Running back Sesi Vailahi (former West High RB)
- Offensive lineman Nuku Mafi (former West High OL)
- Offensive line coach Andrew Mitchell (former Snow College head coach)
- Tight ends coach D.J. Tialavea (former West Jordan High TE and Utah State TE, USU assistant coach)
2025 Schedule
- Aug. 28 — UT Martin
- Sept. 6 — at Oregon
- Sept. 13 — Open
- Sept. 19 — Tulsa
- Sept. 27 — Baylor
- Oct. 4 — at Arizona
- Oct. 11 — Houston
- Oct. 18 — at Cincinnati
- Oct. 25 — at Texas Tech
- Nov. 1 — at Kansas
- Nov. 15 — Kansas State
- Nov. 22 — at UCF
- Nov. 29 — Iowa State