One Month to Kickoff: What to Expect from Oklahoma State in 2025

Oklahoma State is set for another interesting football season, and the range of potential outcomes is staggering.

OSU will kick off its 2025 football season on Aug. 28 against UT Martin, meaning there is exactly one month until the Cowboys begin their quest to have another winning season. After winning only three games in 2024, there is a healthy mixture of optimism and pessimism surrounding the program, with uncertainty around every corner.

One of the few pieces of certainty entering next season is Mike Gundy. The veteran coach is entering his 21st season with the program as the head man, and there is plenty of work to be done as OSU enters this next era.

This next era notably includes a couple of new coordinators, with Todd Grantham and Doug Meacham set to run to defense and offense, respectively. Grantham brought in a fair share of players through the portal to add to the defense that is returning some key starters, particularly in the secondary.

Assuming the incoming transfers can achieve Grantham’s goal of beefing up the defensive line, the secondary’s continuity and chemistry could go a long way in speeding up the defense’s progress. Still, it would be unreasonable to expect one of the worst defenses in college football in 2024 to suddenly be a force in 2025, despite the immense change.

Meanwhile, the offense is essentially an entirely new unit. After most of the key contributors in 2024 departed as seniors or through the portal, the Cowboys are looking to rebuild a new system with Meacham running the show. 

The biggest question mark is naturally the quarterback battle, with returner Zane Flores battling against Hauss Hejny, who transferred in from TCU, where Meacham was last season. Regardless of who wins, the Cowboys will have a young, inexperienced player under center, which could lead to a steep learning curve.

Although OSU doesn’t have much in terms of returning talent around the quarterback, there are some young players who are looking to make their mark as a Cowboy after waiting their turn, and some transfers who should be able to be immediate impact players.

Simply put, this OSU season will likely be about patience. Results are unlikely to be perfect, particularly over the first month and change. But as the Cowboys gain more chemistry and roles become clearer through the start of conference play, the team should look like a much different and better team at the end of November than how they look at opening kickoff in a month.

Along with that, the season’s results and the ceiling of OSU’s success will still likely be determined in the first five games. If OSU can look promising in nonconfernce play and potentially steal a couple of early conference wins, the sky could be the limit for the Cowboys as they put things together. Conversely, if the Cowboys struggle out of the gates, it might be too little too late if or when they finally get things moving in the right direction.

2025 will be an interesting season in Stillwater, and there will be no shortage of storylines as the season gets closer.