OSU Hosts Tulsa for Gateway First Bank Turnpike Classic

Complete notes available here.

The Basics
The Oklahoma State football team (1-1 overall; 0-0 Big 12) returns home this week to host Tulsa (1-2 overall; 0-1 American) for the Gateway First Bank Turnpike Classic, with kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT Friday, September 19, at Boone Pickens Stadium.

Get Your Tickets and Blackout Boone Pickens Stadium
This weekend's game marks the 2025 "Blackout" game, when all OSU fans in all sections are encouraged to wear black clothing. A limited number of season tickets, partial season tickets and single game tickets are still available online at www.okstate.com/tickets or by calling or texting 877-ALL-4-OSU.

On the Air
The game will be televised live on ESPN with Anish Shroff, Andre Ware and Paul Carcaterra on the call. It will also be carried live on the Cowboy Radio Network, with Dave Hunziker handling play-by-play, John Holcomb providing analysis and Robert Allen reporting from the sideline. Fans outside of the Cowboy Radio Network can listen to the OSU broadcast for free through The Varsity Network app.

Friday Night Lights
The game marks just the third Friday home game for OSU since 1940, with the only other instances coming against Kansas on October 26, 1956, and against Kansas State on October 6, 2023. In its history, Oklahoma State is 58-48-7 in Friday games and 33-16-6 in Friday games at home. Mike Gundy is 4-4 in regular season Friday games, but is 1-0 at home. The Cowboys have only played 17 Friday games since 1959 and just eight of those matchups occurred in the regular season. The complete list of OSU's Friday regular-season matchups since the end of Dwight D. Eisenhower's tenure as President of the United States:

Date	Opponent	Result	Score	Site	OSU/Oppt. AP Rk.
9/14/2007	at Troy	L	23-41	A	NR/NR
10/8/2010	at Louisiana	W	54-28	A	22/NR
11/18/2011	at Iowa State	L 2ot	31-37	A	2/NR
9/8/2017	at South Alabama	W	44-7	A	11/NR
8/30/2019	at Oregon State	W	52-36	A	RV/NR
10/6/2023	KANSAS STATE	W	29-21	H	NR/RV
10/18/2024	at BYU	L	35-38	A	NR/13
11/29/2024	at Colorado	L	0-52	A	NR/23

The Gateway First Bank Turnpike Classic
Oklahoma State and Tulsa have a series that includes 77 matchups and dates to 1914. The only school that OSU has faced more often is Oklahoma. OSU leads the all-time series, 45-27-5, and holds a 28-6-3 advantage in games played in Stillwater. The Cowboys have won 10 straight games in the series, including a 45-10 win at Tulsa in the last meeting in 2024. OSU has also won 23 straight against Tulsa in Stillwater, with its last home loss to Tulsa coming in 1951. A win Friday would extend the longest win streak for either team in series history. It would also give OSU 11 straight wins against Tulsa to match its second-longest win streak against one opponent. OSU also had an 11-game streak against Kansas State from 1947-62 and a 12-game streak against Kansas from 2010-21. OSU coach Mike Gundy holds a 7-0 record against the Golden Hurricane, while TU coach Tre Lamb has never faced the Cowboys as a head coach. The schools are in the midst of an eight-year scheduling agreement that began in 2024. The two teams, separated by just 72 miles, meet annually from 2024 until 2031, with Tulsa hosting at H.A. Chapman Stadium in even years and OSU hosting in Boone Pickens Stadium in odd years.

In the Rankings
Oklahoma State not ranked, but the Cowboys have been ranked at some point in every season from 2008-24. Through the 2024 season, Oklahoma State has been ranked in the top 15 of the Associated Press poll in 15 of the past 17 seasons and has reached the top 10 in 11 of those 17 years. Although the first College Football Playoff rankings won't be released until November, it's worth noting that OSU has been part of the CFP rankings in eight of the past 10 seasons entering 2025. The Cowboys have also been included in 43 of the all-time CFP Rankings, which ranks among the most appearances in the country. Tulsa is not ranked.

Boone Pickens Stadium Named the Best in the Country
Oklahoma State's Boone Pickens Stadium is the best college football stadium in the country according to USA TODAY, which used reviews from Yelp, Tripadvisor and Google to compile college football stadium rankings for 2025. In more than 1,700 combined reviews between the three services, Boone Pickens Stadium has an average of 4.8 stars to edge out Kansas State's Bill Snyder Family Stadium and Alabama's Bryant-Denny Stadium for the top spot among the 136 Football Bowl Subdivision venues.

Oklahoma State from a Distance
After a disappointing 2024 season, Oklahoma State aims to return to the winning standard it set over the past 20 years. Coach Mike Gundy brought in new coordinators on each side of the ball, and in turn an entirely new coaching staff on both offense and defense. Veteran coordinators Todd Grantham and Doug Meacham were tabbed to lead the defense and offense, respectively, and both have a long track record of success as coordinators at the highest level of college football. They helped take charge of a team that lost more than 80% of its total starts and about half of its letterwinners from last season. The majority of the Cowboy roster is new, as 61 of the 113 players (54%) are playing their first season in Stillwater. The shaping together of a team with so many new faces will have a big impact on how the year pans out. The stability holding it all together is Gundy, who has proven for two decades that he knows what it takes to win. OSU is 1-1 through two games with a win over UT Martin in the season opener and a loss at No. 6 Oregon in week two. A total of 15 OSU players have made their first career FBS start this season. On top of that, 14 of OSU's players with at least one start were not on the team in December. Quarterback Hauss Hejny sustained an injury in the opening quarter, but Zane Flores stepped in and has played well in his first career playing time this season. The defense allowed just 225 total yards in the season opener to mark its lowest yards allowed in a game since a shutout of Texas Tech in 2021.

An Oklahoma State Win Would ...
• Give it 11 straight wins over TU to mark the longest win streak for the either team in the series and match OSU's second-longest win streak against one opponent in school history. OSU also had an 11-game streak against Kansas State from 1947-62 and a 12-game streak against Kansas from 2010-21.
• Give it 24 straight wins over Tulsa in Stillwater. It is a streak that began in 1953 and is more than twice as long as any other home win streak against one opponent in school history. The next longest was 11 against Baylor from 1972-2013.
• Improve Mike Gundy's record in September games to 59-17.
• Improve Mike Gundy's record against teams in the American to 15-0.
• Improve Mike Gundy's record in non-conference games to 70-16.
• Improve Mike Gundy's record against Tulsa to 8-0.
• Improve its all-time record against Tulsa to 46-27-5 and its record against TU in Stillwater to 29-6-3.
• Make it 30-6 in its past 36 non-conference games and 52-12 in its past 64 non-conference games.
• Make it 36-22 in its past 58 games overall, dating to 2020.

Notable Streaks and Trends Entering the Game
• Oklahoma State has converted 5 of its past 6 two-point conversion attempts dating to last season.
• OSU is 14-2 in the past 16 games when winning or tying the turnover battle.
• Dating back to 2008, OSU is 83-10 when winning the turnover battle.
• Dating back to 2005, OSU is 50-4 when not committing a turnover.
• OSU has held 35 of its past 52 Big 12 opponents under their season scoring average entering the game.
• OSU has won 87 consecutive games when holding its opponent to fewer than 20 points, dating back to Sept. 13, 2003 – the longest active stretch of time in the FBS, the longest since at least 1980 and likely the longest in college football history. Including games when opponents have scored 20 points or fewer, the streak begins at the same date and includes 95 games.
• OSU has held its opponent to less than a 50% third down conversion rate in 54 of its past 65 games.
• OSU is 40-19 in its past 59 games decided by fewer than 10 points.
• OSU is 52-9 in its past 61 games when leading at halftime, dating back to Sept. 17, 2016.
• OSU has won five of its past seven overtime games.

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Zane Flores

Hauss Hejny

Related Videos