Texas Longhorns Week 7 Opponent Preview: Oklahoma State Cowboys

The Longhorns will welcome Mike Gundy and the Oklahoma State Cowboys to Austin for a critical matchup

Matt Galatzan | Oct 11, 2021

Coming off of what will be arguably their toughest matchup of the entire season, the Texas Longhorns turn their attention to yet another talented opponent from north of the Red River, the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Last season, the Longhorns were able to take down the Cowboys 41-34 in overtime at Boone Pickens Stadium, in front of a packed house of 56,790 Oklahoma State faithful.

Sam Ehlinger and Joseph Ossai were the heroes of that game for Texas. Ehlinger hit Joshua Moore on a 15-yard touchdown to put Texas ahead, and Ossai sacking Oklahoma State quarterback Spencer Sanders on 4th down to end the game and give the Longhorns the win.

The schools will meet for the 36th time since their first matchup in 1916, with Texas holding the edge in the all-series 26-9.

The Longhorns have also won the previous two matchups over the Cowboys, with Oklahoma State winning the previous four from 2015-2018.

Be sure to stick with LonghornsCountry.com as we preview every aspect of the matchup with the Cowboys throughout the week

Oklahoma State

2020 Record: 5-0 (2-0 in Big 12)

Head coach: Mike Gundy

Gundy is 137-67 in 16 seasons as the Cowboys head Coach

Offensive Set: Multiple, air-raid passing attack

Defensive Set: 4-2-5

Returning starters on Offense: 5

Oklahoma State struggled on offense for the most part in 2020, at least by their typical standards, ranking 50th in the nation in scoring offense (30.2 ppg) and 39th in total offense (426.8 ypg).

In 2021, they struggled, ranking 89th in scoring offense and 85th in total offense for the season.

Projected starters on Offense:

QB Spencer Sanders*

RB LD Brown

WR (Z) Braydon Johnson*

WR (X) Tay Martin

WR (Y) Brennan Presley

TE Logan Carter

LT Jake Springfield*

LG Josh Sills*

C Danny Godlevske

RG Hunter Woodard*

RT Hunter Anthony

Returning starters on Defense: 8

Oklahoma State returns eight starters from a defense that was middle of the pack last season, ranking 44th in the nation in total defense (379.0 ypg) and 34th in scoring defense (23.5 ypg).

So far in 2021, the Cowboys rank 24th in scoring defense, 19th in total defense, 50th in pass defense, and 12 in rush defense.

Projected starters on Defense:

DE Tyler Lacy*

DT Collin Clay

DT Israel Antwine*

DE Trace Ford*

LB Devin Harper

LB Malcolm Rodriguez*

CB Christian Holmes

CB Jarrick Bernard Converse*

SS Kolby Harvell-Peel*

S Tanner McCalister*

S Tre Starling*

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Published Oct 11, 2021

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.