# 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.

## Preseason
### Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released
| Award | Player | Position | Year |
| Chuck Bednarik Award | Justin Phillips | LB | SR |
| Doak Walker Award | Justice Hill | RB | JR |
| Butkus Award | Justin Phillips | LB | SR |
| Outland Trophy | Marcus Keyes | OL | JR |
| Lou Groza Award | Matt Ammendola | K | JR |
| Walter Camp Award | Justice Hill | RB | JR |
| Ted Hendricks Award | Jordan Brailford | DE | JR |
| Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award | 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.
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 StadiumStillwater, OK | FS1 | W 58–17 | 50,103 |
| September 8 | 7:00 p.m. | South Alabama* | | Boone Pickens StadiumStillwater, OK | FSN | W 55–13 | 53,923 |
| September 15 | 2:30 p.m. | No. 17 Boise State* | No. 24 | Boone Pickens StadiumStillwater, OK | ESPN | W 44–21 | 54,974 |
| September 22 | 6:00 p.m. | Texas Tech | No. 15 | Boone Pickens StadiumStillwater, OK | FS1 | L 17–41 | 53,166 |
| September 29 | 11:00 a.m. | at Kansas | | David Booth Kansas Memorial StadiumLawrence, KS | FSN | W 48–28 | 18,364 |
| October 6 | 2:30 p.m. | Iowa State | No. 25 | Boone Pickens StadiumStillwater, OK | ESPN2 | L 42–48 | 52,995 |
| October 13 | 11:00 a.m. | at Kansas State | | Bill Snyder Family Football StadiumManhattan, KS | ESPNU | L 12–31 | 50,245 |
| October 27 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 5 Texas | | Boone Pickens StadiumStillwater, OK | ABC | W 38–35 | 56,790 |
| November 3 | 11:00 a.m. | at Baylor | | McLane StadiumWaco, TX | FS1 | L 31–35 | 43,492 |
| November 10 | 2:30 p.m. | at No. 6 Oklahoma | | Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial StadiumNorman, OK (Bedlam Series) | ABC | L 47–48 | 87,635 |
| November 17 | 2:30 p.m. | No. 7 West Virginia | | Boone Pickens StadiumStillwater, OK | ABC | W 45–41 | 52,842 |
| November 24 | 7:00 p.m. | at TCU | | Amon G. Carter StadiumFort Worth, TX | FOX | L 24–31 | 42,394 |
| December 31 | 2:45 p.m. | vs. No. 24 Missouri* | | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN (Liberty Bowl) | ESPN | W 38–33 | 76,468 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time ||||||||
    Schedule Source:

## 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. The final score was a loss for the Cowboys at 48-42.

### 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.

### 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 |

### Oklahoma

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cowboys | 14 | 14 | 7 | 12 | 47 |
| No. 6 Sooners | 14 | 20 | 7 | 7 | 48 |

### 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 — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | 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 | — | — | — | RV | — | — | — | — | — | RV |
| Coaches | 25 | 23 | 19 | 15 | 21 | 21 | — | — | — | RV | — | — | RV | — | — | — |
| CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | — | — | — | — | — | — | 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 |