The Honeymoon Is Over Fast for Eric Morris and Oklahoma State

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TULSA, Okla. – If you woke up hoping Oklahoma State’s 24-10 loss to Tulsa was just a bad dream, it was not. It was a nightmare.

The Cowboys got beat in Eric Morris’ debut by a Golden Hurricane team that should not be in the same conversation with them talent-wise, and it looked every bit as bad as the final score suggests.

This was supposed to be the clean break. Mike Gundy was out. The program had sold the idea that the old problems were being left behind and that Oklahoma State was finally catching up to the way college football works now. Embrace the portal. Use NIL. Stop living in the past. That was the pitch.

On Saturday in Tulsa, none of that showed up where it mattered.

Morris took a $23 million roster and a $3 million quarterback, then lost to an in-state rival in a glorified home game by a worse margin than Gundy did a year ago.

That is the part that stings.

Oklahoma State fans were told the page had turned. Instead, they watched another slow, lifeless offensive day and another result that felt way too familiar for a program that has won four games since 2024.

There is still time to fix this. One game does not define a coach, and Morris may still turn out to be the right hire. But the easiest way to earn patience is to win, and the Cowboys did not give their fans much reason for patience on Saturday.

Nobody needs a press conference full of explanations. They need evidence that this version of Oklahoma State can impose itself on lesser teams.

Drew Mestemaker has talent, but two interceptions in a game like that are hard to overlook. It was not all on him, either. The offensive line got pushed around and never consistently opened lanes for Caleb Hawkins. If Oklahoma State cannot handle Tulsa’s front, the next step up in Big 12 competition is going to look ugly in a hurry.

That is the real concern. Bad games happen. Getting bullied by a program with a fraction of the resources is a different problem.

The frustrating part is that Morris had been saying a lot of the right things leading into the season. He talked like a coach who understood why the Gundy era ran out of road. He talked like someone ready to operate in the portal era instead of fighting it. Those are necessary changes. They still do not mean anything if the product on the field looks this soft in September against a team Oklahoma State is supposed to handle.

And the schedule does not offer a soft landing. No. 2 Oregon comes to Stillwater next. If Saturday felt bad, next weekend can get a lot worse in a hurry. That is the reality of opening this way.

The honeymoon did not last one full game.

Morris has to prove that he isn't a snake oil salesman, and now has to show this is not just a rebrand. Oklahoma State spent big and changed voices at the top because the old results were no longer acceptable. Losing to Tulsa in Year One of that reset puts the pressure right back on the new staff immediately.

The talk is over. The sales pitch is over. The only thing left is to prove the Cowboys are actually different.

For one afternoon in Tulsa, they were not.

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