Three Quick Takeaways From Oklahoma State's 38-14 Loss to West Virginia
The Oklahoma State Cowboys dropped their third straight game on Saturday following an impressive 3-0 start to the season. Following the departure of the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners to the SEC, the keys to the Big 12 kingdom were all but handed to the Cowboys in 2024.
OSU has yet to show that it is the team to beat in the Big 12 Conference this season and has struggled on both sides of the ball following a breakout year in 2023. The Cowboys opened up the season averaging 43 points per game during their 3-0 start to the season. They have since dropped three straight games and have yet to score more than 20 points in a game.
Here are three takeaways from OSU’s 38-14 home loss to West Virginia on Saturday:
Oklahoma State receivers just need a chance
Oklahoma State only managed 191 passing yards against the Mountaineers, but there are always bright spots during dark times. Of the 14 completions on Saturday, seven different receivers logged a reception against West Virginia.
Da’Wain Lofton led all Oklahoma State receivers with three catches for a team high 73 yards. He logged a 41-yard reception and averaged 24 yards per snag. De’Zhaun Stribling only caught two passes on Saturday, but he did manage to snag a touchdown on his way to 54 receiving yards.
Pokes on the board 🤠
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) October 5, 2024
Alan Bowman throws a laser to Rashod Owens as @CowboyFB scores in the final minutes of the first half.#Big12FB | 📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/QiuVt1u89Z
Senior wide out Brennan Presley kept his consecutive catch streak alive against the Mountaineers. He hauled in three passes for 48 yards with a long catch of 25 yards. Ollie Gordon II pulled in three catches before heading to the sidelines with an apparent injury. Rashod Owens pulled in one 8-yard catch for a touchdown while both Sesi Vailahi and Josh Ford rounded out the receptions with a single catch.
Cowboys set new time of possession school record
Football is not rocket science, and in order to put points on the board, a team’s offense has to have the ball in their hands. Time of possession was easier said than done on Saturday against a stifling West Virginia Mountaineer defense.
Oklahoma State entered the season with arguably the best running back in all of college football, but even Ollie Gordon II is having trouble finding holes to run through at the line of scrimmage. With a dilapidated running attack, the Oklahoma State Cowboys have witnessed their time of possession plummet.
#okstate The most glaring sign that OSU's 2024 run game is historically bad: Today’s Cowboy time of possession was 17 minutes and 24 seconds. It’s the lowest such total in program history. The previous low: 17 minutes and 31 seconds in the Utah game, two weeks ago.
— Bill Haisten 🇺🇸 (@billhaisten) October 5, 2024
Saturday’s loss to West Virginia saw the Cowboys set a new all-time time of possession low. Their 17:24 time of possession against the Mountaineers set a school record low for the program. It broke the record of 17:31 which was set two games earlier in Oklahoma State’s 22-19 loss at the hands of Utah.
Boone Pickens Stadium continues to sell out
For the first time in the history of the program, Oklahoma State sold every ticket for every home game before the season even started. It marks the second consecutive season that Cowboys have sold out BPS. Despite a bumpy start to the 2024 season, the Cowboy faithful continues to show up on Saturday with pistols firing.
The next massive sellout breaking news may come early this week as tickets for The Boys from Oklahoma Concert officially went on sale. With the football team struggling to get back on track, a back-to-back sellout night of Boone Pickens Stadium will be a welcomed sight for the Stillwater community.
Want to join the discussion? Like Oklahoma State Cowboys on SI on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Cowboys news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.
Taylor Skieens has been an avid sports journalist with the McCurtain Gazette in Idabel, Oklahoma for seven years. He holds the title of Sports Editor for one of the oldest remaining print publications in the state of Oklahoma. Taylor grew up in the small lumber town of Wright City Oklahoma where he played baseball and basketball for the Lumberjax.