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No one is enjoying the Cowboys’ current success more than Eric Morris.
After a disappointing Tulsa loss swept the leg on an offseason’s worth of hype, his team responded and rebounded in a big way. The Cowboys topped No. 6 Oregon at home and then ran it up on an FCS opponent like folks haven’t seen in Stillwater in years, before passing the next hurdle — a comeback conference win on the road. Now they’re earning plenty of fanfare from college football’s talking heads. But Morris is focused on those based in or connected with Payne County.
Following the Cowboys’ win in Morgantown, Morris said he was just happy to build some excitement around the program that’s been lethargic for the last couple of years.
“I’m really excited to see Boone Pickens Stadium for this next game,” Morris said. “The Walk’s been my favorite thing so far about being here. I’ve always heard about it, and I’ve seen pictures but the energy you feel in it has been incredible so I’m excited to be back in Boone Pickens.”
It’s a big tradition at OSU, a parade of players and staff making their way from the Student Union to Boone Pickens Stadium a couple hours before kickoff. A chance for fans to gather and greet in an up-close-and-personal way.
With two of the Cowboys’ first four games having been on the road, and an early bye week, Morris will hit mid-October on just his third time experiencing ‘”The Walk.” And he’s seen both extremes. On his first walk, the Cowboys were coming off that head-scratching loss at Tulsa and walking into what most fans (and sane football consumers) assumed would be a buzzsaw as they hosted a title contender in Oregon. The Pokes paid off the fans’ engagement with a program-shifting win. A week later, OSU fans were still buzzing from the upset and looking forward to a highlight factory against Murray State. The Cowboys paid that off as well.
But that’s just a microcosm for the two extremes OSU fans have experienced over the last three-plus years. During that span, they’ve experienced a 10-win season and a one-win season. A Big 12 title game appearance and a drought of conference wins that lasted 1,037 days.
When Morris was informed of the latest unfavorable streak his team had snapped, he just leaned in on his new home and with his players.
“Yeah, just extremely happy,” said Morris. “This is what I do for a living. I’m in the bunker with these guys. We’re up there all day every day, seven days a week, 10-12 hours a day spend way more time with these kids and people in our program so we’re kind of in this little bubble.
“But it’s been so cool for me even after the Oregon win just to watch our fans and celebrate and see the excitement and Cowboy nation come together. Brandon Weeden told me ‘Hey Coach, if you get this thing going, you’ll be surprised. Light a match underneath this thing and it’ll be incredible, like you’ve never seen,’ and so to see that and the people that care about this program so much, this university so much, just rewarding to see their faces after a win and smiling.
“Jaleel [Johnson] in the locker room after that made the announcement and the biggest smile ever on that kid’s face. I made him take a picture of it so hopefully we post that and so hopefully you’ll see how big a smile and how beautiful it was.”
Now, after a win at West Virginia and a bye week, the Loyal and Truthers should be even more fired up to see the Cowboys make the trek to BPS. Oklahoma State hosts UCF at 11 a.m. next Saturday, Oct. 1o.
Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog.
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