Biggest Decision Eric Morris Got Right Against Oregon and What it Means Moving Forward

When Eric Morris made this decision early in the Oklahoma State Cowboys’ win over the Oregon Ducks, he set a tone that helped them win.

Oklahoma State Cowboys head coach Eric Morris. Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

In Oklahoma State’s 39-31 win over Oregon, there were plenty of turning points, right up to the end.

Cowboys head coach Eric Morris had to make plenty of decisions during the game. He was coming off a loss against Tulsa in which he was second-guessing some of the decisions he made in the loss to the Golden Hurricane.

He admitted after the win over Oregon that some of what happened against Tulsa colored some of the decisions he made against the Ducks, and one early decision showed that he was willing to balance his aggressiveness with what was best for the team.

The Right Decision Eric Morris Made Early Against Oregon

Oklahoma head coach Eric Morris. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Drew Mestemaker’s 75-yard run to the Oregon 3-yard line on the first play of Saturday’s game set the tone for the entire contest. But what Morris did a few plays later saw him recalibrate his own decision-making from a week before.

Three plays later Morris watched the first drive sputter at the Ducks 2-yard-line. Against Tulsa, Morris just went for it. In fact, he went for it on fourth down six times against the Golden Hurricane and the offense failed to convert a single one of them.

In the analytics age, the numbers say to go for it. But, in this case Morris settled for a 20-yard field goal by Sam Keltner for a 3-0 lead. It wasn’t what Morris wanted, especially after Mestemaker’s big run. But he felt it was necessary. He explained why after the game.

“I just didn't go off the book today near as much,” Morris said of the analytics book that tells coaches when to go for it and when not to go for it. “[It was] just all gut and feeling my way through the game. That was a good team and at some of those points [we needed points]. Last week, we had some great drives, and I thought it deflated us when we didn’t convert.”

In that moment, Morris chose the easy points. He chose ensuring that his team built some confidence after surprising the Ducks with a huge run and didn’t risk walking away with no points, as the Cowboys did so many times against Tulsa. It also kept the sellout crowd in the game, even though it was only three points.

It also gave Keltner some confidence. He ended up kicking four field goals in the game, leading to him being named co-special teams player of the week in the Big 12 for Week 2.

Morris had a decision to make early — go with what he did last year that yielded no success or take a conservative route and deliver points for his team early in the game, and thus confidence they didn’t have a week ago. It was the right decision, and it set the tone for how he would call the rest of the game, balancing aggressiveness with pragmatism.