2018 Oklahoma State Cowboys football team

The 2018 Oklahoma State Cowboys football team represented Oklahoma State University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cowboys played their home games at the Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma and competed in the Big 12 Conference. They were led by 14th-year head coach Mike Gundy. They finished the season 7–6, 3–6 in Big 12 play to finish tied for seventh. They were invited to the Liberty Bowl where they defeated #24 Missouri 38-33, ending the season with a 4-1 record against teams in the top 25.

2018 Oklahoma State Cowboys football
Liberty Bowl champion
Liberty Bowl, W 38–33 vs. Missouri
Conference	Big 12 Conference
2018 record	7–6 (3–6 Big 12)
Head coach	Mike Gundy (14th season)
Offensive coordinator	Mike Yurcich (6th season)
Defensive coordinator	Jim Knowles (1st season)
Home stadium	Boone Pickens Stadium (Capacity: 56,790)

2018 Big 12 Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 4 Oklahoma y$^		8	–	1					12	–	2
No. 9 Texas y		7	–	2					10	–	4
Iowa State		6	–	3					8	–	5
No. 20 West Virginia		6	–	3					8	–	4
TCU		4	–	5					7	–	6
Baylor		4	–	5					7	–	6
Oklahoma State		3	–	6					7	–	6
Kansas State		3	–	6					5	–	7
Texas Tech		3	–	6					5	–	7
Kansas		1	–	8					3	–	9
Championship: Oklahoma 39, Texas 27
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

The Cowboys finished the 2017 season 10–3, 6–3 in Big 12 play to finish in third place. They were invited to the Camping World Bowl where they defeated Virginia Tech.

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Award	Player	Position	Year
Chuck Bednarik Award[1]	Justin Phillips	LB	SR
Doak Walker Award[2]	Justice Hill	RB	JR
Butkus Award[3]	Justin Phillips	LB	SR
Outland Trophy[4]	Marcus Keyes	OL	JR
Lou Groza Award[5]	Matt Ammendola	K	JR
Walter Camp Award[6]	Justice Hill	RB	JR
Ted Hendricks Award[7]	Jordan Brailford	DE	JR
Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award[8]	Taylor Cornelius	QB	SR

Big 12 media poll

The Big 12 media poll was released on July 12, 2018 with the Cowboys predicted to finish in fifth place.[9]

Media poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Oklahoma	509 (46)
2	West Virginia	432 (2)
3	TCU	390 (1)
4	Texas	370 (1)
5	Oklahoma State	300
6	Kansas State	283 (2)
7	Iowa State	250
8	Texas Tech	149
9	Baylor	125
10	Kansas	52

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	7:00 p.m.	Missouri State*		Boone Pickens Stadium Stillwater, OK	FS1	W 58–17	50,103
September 8	7:00 p.m.	South Alabama*		Boone Pickens Stadium Stillwater, OK	FSN	W 55–13	53,923
September 15	2:30 p.m.	No. 17 Boise State*	No. 24	Boone Pickens Stadium Stillwater, OK	ESPN	W 44–21	54,974
September 22	6:00 p.m.	Texas Tech	No. 15	Boone Pickens Stadium Stillwater, OK (rivalry)	FS1	L 17–41	53,166
September 29	11:00 a.m.	at Kansas		David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	FSN	W 48–28	18,364
October 6	2:30 p.m.	Iowa State	No. 25	Boone Pickens Stadium Stillwater, OK	ESPN2	L 42–48	52,995
October 13	11:00 a.m.	at Kansas State		Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium Manhattan, KS	ESPNU	L 12–31	50,245
October 27	7:00 p.m.	No. 6 Texas		Boone Pickens Stadium Stillwater, OK	ABC	W 38–35	56,790
November 3	11:00 a.m.	at Baylor		McLane Stadium Waco, TX	FS1	L 31–35	43,492
November 10	2:30 p.m.	at No. 6 Oklahoma		Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK (Bedlam Series)	ABC	L 47–48	87,635
November 17	2:30 p.m.	No. 7 West Virginia		Boone Pickens Stadium Stillwater, OK	ABC	W 45–41	52,842
November 24	7:00 p.m.	at TCU		Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX	FOX	L 24–31	42,394
December 31	2:45 p.m.	vs. No. 24 Missouri*		Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN (Liberty Bowl)	ESPN	W 38–33	51,587
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Schedule Source:[10]

Game summaries

Missouri State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	7	10	0	17
Cowboys	17	14	14	13	58

South Alabama

	1	2	3	4	Total
Jaguars	7	6	0	0	13
Cowboys	14	17	10	14	55

Boise State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 17 Broncos	0	7	14	0	21
No. 24 Cowboys	0	17	17	10	44

Texas Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Red Raiders	7	17	10	7	41
No. 15 Cowboys	10	7	0	0	17

at Kansas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	14	10	10	14	48
Jayhawks	0	7	7	14	28

Iowa State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cyclones	9	21	10	8	48
No. 25 Cowboys	7	14	7	14	42

Iowa State's Freshman Brock Purdy replaced Zeb Noland at quarterback and passed 18-for-23 for 318 yards and produced four touchdowns. He then ran for another 84 yards and another score.[11] The final score was a loss for the Cowboys at 48-42.[12]

at Kansas State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	3	3	0	6	12
Wildcats	0	3	14	14	31

The previous week loss against Iowa State put extra pressure on the Cowboys to win coming into the game against Kansas State. Some of the issues the Cowboys bring in to the include lack of discipline, a disconnected defense, and a failure to force turnovers on defense. The 2018 loss to Iowa State had many similarities to the 2017 game between Oklahoma State and Kansas State that resulted in a K-State victory 45-40.[12]

Texas

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 6 Longhorns	7	7	7	14	35
Cowboys	17	14	0	7	38

at Baylor

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	7	3	14	7	31
Bears	0	14	7	14	35

at Oklahoma

Bedlam Series: Oklahoma State Cowboys at #6 Oklahoma Sooners

	1	2	3	4	Total
Oklahoma St	14	14	7	12	47
Oklahoma	14	20	7	7	48

at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman, Oklahoma

• Date: November 10, 2018
• Game time: 2:30 p.m. CST
• Game weather: Sunny, 48 °F (9 °C)
• Game attendance: 87,635
• Referee: Brad Van Vark
• TV announcers (ABC): Steve Levy, Brian Griese, and Todd McShay
• Box Score

Game information

First quarter OU – Trey Sermon 1-yard run (Austin Seibert kick), 13:16. Oklahoma 7–0. Drive: 4 plays, 75 yards, 1:44. OSU – Justice Hill 1-yard run (Matt Ammendola kick), 11:59. Tie 7–7. Drive: 4 plays, 75 yards, 1:17. OU – Kennedy Brooks 1-yard run (Austin Seibert kick), 9:06. Oklahoma 14–7. Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 2:53. OSU – Tyron Johnson 31-yard pass from Taylor Cornelius (Matt Ammendola kick), 5:30. Tie 14–14. Drive: 10 plays, 75 yards, 3:36. Second quarter OU – Austin Seibert 21-yard field goal, 13:37. Oklahoma 17–14. Drive: 13 plays, 79 yards, 6:53. OSU – Tylan Wallace 49-yard pass from Taylor Cornelius (Matt Ammendola kick), 13:04. Oklahoma St 21–17. Drive: 4 plays, 75 yards, 0:33. OU – Kennedy Brooks 45-yard run (Austin Seibert kick), 11:38. Oklahoma 24–21. Drive: 3 plays, 73 yards, 1:26. OU – Austin Seibert 36-yard field goal, 7:22. Oklahoma 27–21. Drive: 7 plays, 10 yards, 2:31. OU – Marquise Brown 51-yard pass from Kyler Murray (Austin Seibert kick), 1:25. Oklahoma 34–21. Drive: 4 plays, 85 yards, 1:09. OSU – Chuba Hubbard 10-yard run (Matt Ammendola kick), 0:31. Oklahoma 34–28. Drive: 5 plays, 75 yards, 0:54. Third quarter OSU – Chuba Hubbard 2-yard run (Matt Ammendola kick), 7:32. Oklahoma St 35–34. Drive: 9 plays, 60 yards, 2:58. OU – Kennedy Brooks 5-yard run (Austin Seibert kick), 0:00. Oklahoma 41–35. Drive: 8 plays, 93 yards, 3:31. Fourth quarter OSU – Chuba Hubbard 3-yard run (kick failed), 12:20. Tie 41–41. Drive: 10 plays, 75 yards, 2:40. OU – Trey Sermon 1-yard run (Austin Seibert kick), 3:29. Oklahoma 48–41. Drive: 6 plays, 64 yards, 2:40. OSU – Tylan Wallace 24-yard pass from Taylor Cornelius (pass failed), 1:03. Oklahoma 48–47. Drive: 9 plays, 71 yards, 2:26. Top passers OSU – Taylor Cornelius – 34/53, 501 yards, 3 TD OU – Kyler Murray – 21/29, 349 yards, TD Top rushers OSU – Chuba Hubbard – 22 rushes, 104 yards, 3 TD OU – Kennedy Brooks – 15 rushes, 165 yards, 3 TD Top receivers OSU – Tylan Wallace – 10 receptions, 220 yards, 2 TD OU – Marquise Brown – 8 receptions, 142 yards, TD

West Virginia

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 7 Mountaineers	14	17	0	10	41
Cowboys	7	7	10	21	45

at TCU

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	3	0	7	14	24
Horned Frogs	0	7	17	7	31

vs. Missouri (Liberty Bowl)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	7	7	21	3	38
No. 24 Tigers	3	13	3	14	33

Statistics

Scoring

Scores against non-conference opponents

1 2 3 4 Total Opponents 0 Oklahoma State 0

Scores against the Big 12

1 2 3 4 Total Opponents 0 Oklahoma State 0

Scores against all opponents

1 2 3 4 Total Opponents 0 Oklahoma State 0

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	RV	RV	24	15	RV	25	NR	NR	NR	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	RV
Coaches	25	23	19	15	21	21	NR	NR	NR	RV	NR	NR	RV	NR	NR	NR
CFP	Not released									NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	Not released

Players drafted into the NFL

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
4	113	Justice Hill	RB	Baltimore Ravens
7	253	Jordan Brailford	DE	Washington Redskins

References

1. "2018 Bednarik Award Watch List". July 16, 2018. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
2. "2018 Doak Walker Award Candidates". July 18, 2018. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
3. "Butkus Award - 2018 Collegiate Watchlist". The Butkus Award. July 23, 2018. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
4. "22018 OUTLAND TROPHY WATCH LIST UNVEILED". July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
5. "Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award Announces 2018 Preseason Watch List". July 25, 2018. Archived from the original on August 17, 2009. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
6. Carbone, Al (July 27, 2018). "Walter Camp Football Foundation Announces 2018 Player of the Year Preseason "Watch List"". Retrieved July 30, 2018.
7. "Preseason Watch List - 2018 edition of the Ted Hendricks Award" (PDF). August 14, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
8. "Watch List for 2018 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award ® Presented by A. O. Smith Announced". August 14, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
9. "Sooners Picked to Repeat in Big 12 Preseason Football Poll". Retrieved 3 October 2018.
10. "2018 Oklahoma State Cowboys Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
11. Becker, Dana (October 7, 2018). "Iowa State Football: Cyclones get Purdy to stun Oklahoma State". Saturday Blitz. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
12. Cooper, Mark (October 8, 2018). "OSU football: What we learned from Oklahoma State's 48-42 loss to Iowa State". Tulsa World. Retrieved October 9, 2018.