Know Thy Foe: Oklahoma State Cowboys
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The UCF Knights (4-6, 1-6 Big 12) need two wins in their final two games to reach bowl eligibility. This week presents the least difficult leg of that challenge against the 1-9 Oklahoma State Cowboys on Senior Day at the Bounce House.
Kickoff is set for Saturday at 4 p.m. ET and the game will be televised on ESPN+.
Table of Contents
Gameday Info
- Kickoff: Saturday, November 22, 4 p.m. ET
- Location: Acrisure Bounce Hosue
- TV: ESPN+ — Brian Custer and former UCF Knight Leger Douzable
- Spread: UCF -13.5, O/U 48.5 (DraftKings)
- Weather Forecast: 82°, sunny
Injury Report
As of Wednesday night:
UCF
- OUT: QB #11 Jacurri Brown, WR #13 Chris Domercant, QB #14 Cam Fancher, DB #14 Isaiah Reed, LB #16 TJ Bullard, RB #21 Stacy Gage, OL #52 Carter Miller, OL #77 Keegan Smith
- DOUBTFUL: LB #38 Jayden McDonald
- QUESTIONABLE: DB #4 Braeden Marshall, TE #18 Caden Piening, RB #22 Myles Montgomery, OL #69 Paul Rubelt, TE #80 Max Drag, K/P #97 Mason Denaburg
Oklahoma State
- OUT: QB #8 Hauss Hejny, CB #10 Kale Smith, TE #82 Quinton Stewart
Series
Leader: UCF leads 1-0
Last Meeting: 2023 — UCF 45, Oklahoma State 3
Quite the difference from two years ago. Back then Oklahoma State was 15th in the nation and 7-2, but ran into a Canaveral Blue buzzsaw in the middle of a Central Florida deluge. That was a fun day.
About the Cowboys
Record: 1-9, 0-7 Big 12
Last Week: Lost to K-State, 14-6
This is the worst team in the Big 12. They’re last in scoring offense, scoring defense, total offense, and total defense. It’s rough.
Last week was the closest the Cowboys had come to winning a game since the third week of the season against Tulsa. They have lost nine in a row since an opening day win over UT-Martin and have allowed 38 or more points in seven of those nine losses.
Interim Head Coach: Doug Meacham
Meacham took over for Mike Gundy, who was fired after the Cowboys’ loss to Tulsa. He at least has a good sense of humor about the situation he’s in:
Meacham has seen the best of times and the worst of times in Stillwater, having both played there in the 80s and also served as passing game coordinator from 2005-2012. He came back to Oklahoma State after five years at TCU this season as offensive coordinator, only to take over the program upon the firing of Gundy.
Oklahoma State Offense
| Big 12 Rank | FBS Rank | OK St. Offense | Stat | UCF Defense | FBS Rank | Big 12 Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last | 132nd | 14.3 | Points/Game | 22.8 | 51st | 8th |
| Last | 124th | 305.2 | Total Yards/Game | 339.4 | 44th | 6th |
| 14th | 101st | 128.9 | Rush Yards/Game | 158.6 | 87th | 12th |
| Last | 114th | 176.3 | Pass Yards/Game | 180.8 | 22nd | 2nd |
| 10th | 77th | 14 | Turnovers | 13 | 55th | 8th |
Key Player: RB #20 Rodney Fields Jr.
Fields, to his credit, has been a bright spot as a redshirt freshman. He’s eighth in the Big 12 at 98.9 all-purpose yards per game, and is averaging five yards per carry. That’s about it.
Other Guys to Watch
- #6 QBZane Flores — 60.3%, 1164 yards, 2 TDs 5 INTs. 131 rush yards.
- #17 WR Gavin Freeman — 41 catches, 395 yards, 3 TDs.
Oklahoma State Defense
| Big 12 Rank | FBS Rank | OK St. Defense | Stat | UCF Offense | FBS Rank | Big 12 Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last | 129th | 36.3 | Points/Game | 25.4 | 80th | 12th |
| Last | 122nd | 427.8 | Total Yards/Game | 385.3 | 71st | 12th |
| 13th | 93rd | 163.3 | Rush Yards/Game | 172.9 | 49th | 6th |
| Last | 120th | 264.5 | Pass Yards/Game | 212.4 | 86th | 12th |
| 13th | 106th | 9 | Turnovers | 14 | 77th | 10th |
Key Player: LB #8 Parker Robertson
Robertson has been one of the lone bright spots in a dark year for the Cowboys, who are last against the pass in the conference and give up more points and yards than any team in the Big 12.
Insofar as anyone creates any level of havoc out there for the Cowboys, Robertson is the one who does it the most. He has 62 tackles (2nd on the team), 5.5 tackles for loss, a sack, two picks and a forced fumble.
Other Guys to Watch
- #5 LB Bryan McCoy — 63 tackles (team leader)
- #4 LB Wendell Gregory — 3 sacks (team leader)
The More You Know…
- The one spot where Oklahoma State has been good is in punt coverage. They’re 44th in FBS in punt return defense and 22nd in net punting at over 44 yards per kick.
- UCF analyst Jordan Johnson was on OSU’s staff the last time they played here in Orlando.
- UCF will honor 25 seniors and five more fifth-year players on Saturday. Paul Rubelt is the longest-tenured Knight, having been at UCF for five years.
- UCF RB Jaden Nixon played for Oklahoma State the last time these two teams met. He recorded 22 yards on six carries, but one of them was for 18 yards.
- UCF has allowed under 20 points in all four victories this year. Oklahoma State averages just 14.3 points per game.
- If UCF wins, they would need to beat BYU in Provo next week to clinch bowl eligibility.
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