Oklahoma State’s football season ends with a shutout loss to Colorado

November 29, 2024

BOULDER, Colo. – It seemed like things couldn’t get much worse until former Oklahoma State football player DJ McKinney decided to taunt a dog that was running around with his leg on the football to score his touchdown in Colorado’s win over to celebrate the Cowboys on Friday at Folsom Field.

The literal definition of adding insult to injury.

OSU was inept offensively all day, and despite forcing a number of punts and turnovers midway through the game, the defense couldn’t prevent the worst Cowboys loss of the Mike Gundy era, 52-0.

The last time OSU lost by more than 50 points was late in the 2000 season, a 58-0 loss to Texas Tech.

The Cowboys finish the season with nine straight losses and are winless in Big 12 play.

Here are four other takeaways from the Cowboys’ season-ending loss:

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Unbreakable barrier in midfield

It wasn’t until the game got out of control and many backups were playing that OSU’s offense reached Colorado’s 40-yard line.

Before Trent Howland’s fourth-quarter rush that put the Cowboys within 40, OSU had only gotten past midfield once. And it took until the third quarter for the Pokes to even do that.

Through three quarters, the Cowboys had 77 total yards, only seven of which were on the ground, and gained just four first downs.

Maealiuaki Smith, whose final pass was intercepted by McKinney and returned for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, finished 11 of 29 for 77 yards and two picks in his second start.

In what was expected to be running back Ollie Gordon II’s final game as a Cowboy, he ran for 10 yards on four carries and had one reception for 18 yards.

With one final drive ending inside the Colorado 5, the Pokes finished the day with 147 yards of offense.

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Travis Hunter puts on a Heisman-worthy show

It started with an interception on OSU’s first possession of the game. It ended with a hard-fought touchdown catch – his third of the day.

Travis Hunter, Colorado’s two-way star, was left off the finalist list for the Thorpe Award, given to the nation’s top defensive back. But he will likely be a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award as the country’s top receiver. And he’s the favorite for the Heisman Trophy.

In front of a national audience on ABC, Hunter finished his day with an interception, a tackle and two pass breakups on defense, with 116 receiving yards and three TDs on 10 catches.

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Brennan Presley reaches another milestone

With his second catch of the day, a 12-yard gain in the first quarter, OSU slot receiver Brennan Presley became the first Cowboy ever to record 1,000 all-purpose yards in four seasons.

Presley is the first Division I player to achieve this feat since Travis Etienne did it at Clemson from 2017-2020.

Presley had at least 600 receiving yards in each of the last four years, but also occasionally contributed rushing yards and kickoff and punt returns.

Earlier this season, Presley became OSU’s all-time leading receiver, finishing his career with 315 catches. That ranked him 13th on the NCAA Division I all-time receiving list.

And he became the fourth OSU player to reach 5,000 all-purpose yards, joining a trio of legends: Thurman Thomas, Barry Sanders and Terry Miller.

Presley finished his career with 5,142 all-purpose yards

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Collin Clay missed the last game

Oklahoma State super-senior defensive tackle Collin Clay suffered an injury in the final minutes of the Texas Tech game last week that kept him out for the final game of his college career.

Clay, a product of Putnam City High School, began his career as a defensive end at Arkansas but transferred after his freshman season.

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