Oklahoma State Makes Unfortunate History in Bad Loss to Tulsa

Most Oklahoma State students don’t know Harry Truman was the President of the United States, but the Cowboy football team did something not seen in Stillwater since he was in office.

The Cowboys lost to Tulsa 19-12 on Friday night at Boone Pickens Stadium, the first loss to the Golden Hurricane in Stillwater since 1951.

The last time Tulsa won in Stillwater, no team called Oklahoma State existed. Oklahoma A&M lost 35-7 and was a member of the Missouri Valley Conference.

The loss broke an 11-game winning streak against Tulsa dating back to 1998 and was the first loss to Tulsa in Mike Gundy’s tenure.

“Third and fourth downs weren’t good for us,” coach Mike Gundy said. “I thought (Tulsa) did a great job early in the game with some of the concepts that we haven’t executed on defense, and really through the first quarter out coached us.”

The offense continued its early-season struggles, failing to score after a field goal on the first possession of the game until the first drive of the fourth quarter, a five-yard run from Zane Flores. His run also marked the first touchdown for the Cowboys against an FBS team in 300 days, the last one coming against Texas Tech late last season.

“(In years past) we had the firepower to overcome things,” Gundy said. “Now, it’s a little bit more difficult for us to overcome, so we have to work to try to eliminate (negative plays).”

Friday was only the seventh time that Tulsa has won in Stillwater in the history of the Turnpike Classic.

“Obviously we’re trying to come around,” Gundy said. “We’re building back from where we were, and we just have to continue to push forward.”

The loss was also significant from a variety of statistics. It was the fifth loss since 2005 for the Cowboys when it did not commit a turnover, and the eleventh since 2008 when winning the turnover battle. It was also the first time in 87 games that the Cowboys lost when holding its opponent under 20 points, dating to 2003.

Former Cowboy Dominic Richardson, who was on the team in 2021, the last time Tulsa visited, led the Golden Hurricane with 146. yards, the most of any rusher.

OSU is 1-2 going into conference play, looking to win a Big 12 game for the first time since 2023.

“It hurts to lose,” senior safety Parker Robertson said. “No one likes to lose. Conference hasn’t started yet. We’re 0-0 in conference so the championship is still in our grasp.”