Oklahoma State’s Playoffs Hopes Dashed by Kansas State Loss
For the second-straight week, the No. 20 Oklahoma State Cowboys ended up on the losing side, this time to No. 23 Kansas State.
Its first tough road appearance on the season, the Pokes failed to rebound from a 3-point loss to No. 10 Utah the week before, uncharacteristically getting blown out by KSU in one of it's flattest performances in years.
The Cowboys stumbled on both sides of the ball Saturday, failing to stifle the Wildcat’s high-octane offense led by Avery Johnson and lacking a consistent attack of their own.
KSU finished with over 500 yards in total, with Johnson seeing five touchdowns himself. The Cowboys mustered 400-plus yards of offense, but failed to capitalize often, eventually going down two touchdowns early in the third quarter for the start of 35 unanswered points from the Wildcats.
Ollie Gordon II saw early success, but again failed to return to his 2023-24 production.
While Mike Gundy’s squads still hopes to make the new 16-team College Football Playoffs aren’t officially dashed, it will be immensely hard to bounce back as a minimum 2-loss team, even with the extended format. For now, OSU likely needs to prioritize its Big 12 success before worrying about the CFP.
They’ve seen quality non-conference wins over South Dakota State and SEC’s Arkansas, but it likely wouldn’t be mountain-moving with a talented field of teams vying for limited spots.
Next week, they’ll look to get back in the win column against West Virginia. After that, they’ll face what’s looking to be a tougher-than-expected opponent in No. 22 BYU, who remains undefeated through Week 5.
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.
Derek is co-founder of All Pokes and publisher for Draft Digest and Inside The Thunder for Fan Nation, powered by Sports Illustrated. He has been a sports writer in the Oklahoma market for five years now covering a variety of sports over the course of his career.