Oklahoma State Football: Can Pokes be ready for Texas out of bye?

Facing its highest ranked opponent yet of the season for Oklahoma State football, No. 7 Texas could be an ugly game in Stillwater.

For one of the bigger prime time matchups on Oct. 27 across the nation, Oklahoma State football is set to try and rebound from three bad performances in a row to open Big 12 play by defeating the No. 7 Texas Longhorns at home. Boone Pickens Stadium will be set to host a raucous atmosphere as the Cowboys try to knock off the Horns for the third year in a row.

To claim that Oklahoma State football is likely to be an underdog doesn’t describe the situation that head coach Mike Gundy’s squad is about to face. Oklahoma State lost three winnable games to start off in conference play including against the Iowa State Cyclones, Texas Tech Red Raiders, and the Kansas State Wildcats.

The only victory that the Pokes claimed in conference play so far was against the lowly Kansas Jayhawks on the road. Even that win over Kansas came with some struggles for senior quarterback Taylor Cornelius at times.

Facing Texas will also be the toughest conference game yet for Oklahoma State football until it faces the Oklahoma Sooners in Bedlam later this season. The Homecoming atmosphere at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater should help the Pokes. The real is question is whether that will be enough for a team that is severely lacking in the talent department compared to Texas.

If Oklahoma State can’t pull off a big upset sometime in the next three games, making a bowl game is going to be nearly impossible. Coming out of the bye week with that type of urgency is key for Oklahoma State to keep one of the longest FBS bowl streaks alive.

It will also be interesting to see if offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich can get some of his best running backs like junior Justice Hill and sophomore J.D. King involved against the Horns. Hill and King were pivotal in last year’s with over Texas for the Pokes.

The traditionally high-powered Oklahoma State football offense was completely held in check in a pathetic outing on Oct. 13 against the Kansas State Wildcats in which they were held to only 12 points. Meanwhile, Texas is coming off a close win over the Baylor Bears at home.

Finding a new solution to this problem that the Pokes have in Big 12 play this fall is key coming out of the bye week. Oklahoma State is dangerously close to only winning one game in Big 12 play with the worst part of the schedule remaining in 2018.