Oklahoma State Hoping to Find Identity After Recent Struggles

Oklahoma State has been a struggling program in the Big 12 in recent years and could use a bounce-back season.

Over the past three seasons, OSU has dropped from its once-proud status as a college football program. Sure, the Cowboys made the Big 12 Championship and won 10 games in 2023, but given the years around it, that was clearly an exception and not the expectation.

Since the portal era began, the Cowboys have been lacking in finding the talent they need to compete in the Big 12. Although OSU has had some level of success, the 2022 season seemed to be the turning point for the program.

In the first season after Jim Knowles’ departure, the Cowboys had a solid start, but they struggled to find any real identity defensively. A year later, OSU was already on its second defensive coordinator since Knowles left, leaving the Cowboys without any identity defensively.

Meanwhile, OSU’s offense in that three-year stretch was a mess at best when it came to the quarterback position. In 2022, Spencer Sanders came ready to make a statement for the Cowboys in his final year in Stillwater.

While Sanders had an electric first few games, injuries caught up to him and his playing style as they typically did and left the Cowboys without any decent option at quarterback. With the next couple of years filled with Garret Rangel, Alan Bowman and other underachieving options, OSU never had a decent quarterback in the post-Sanders era.

Without any continuity when it came to defensive coaching or the quarterback game, OSU has had many issues trying to find its identity. That could finally change in 2025.

With Doug Meacham and Todd Grantham potentially taking over as coordinators for the long term, OSU might be able to find some true consistency and find an identity next season.