"The stands inside Boone Pickens Stadium are brimming with the usual unusual characters. Naturally, the fans in Section 2 NO-SHIRTY 1 are already shirtless. The most popular bananas on campus are here, too. The Kool-Aid Man, of course, is sitting just a few rows over. This is the scene 40 minutes before Oklahoma State's Week 12 visit from Kansas State. Amid the most forlorn season in the Cowboys' modern football history, the Stillwater faithful is coping as best it can this fall, uncovering new methods to mine slivers of joy out of its football misery."
"'Loyal and true' is the school's guiding motto; three words that have closed the second-to-last stanza of Oklahoma State's alma mater since 1957. Seldom, if ever, has that maxim been tested more -- from a purely on-field standpoint, at least -- than in 2025 with the 1-9 Cowboys slowly, but surely crashing toward their worst finish of the 21st century, even worse than last year's 3-9 finish."
"Oklahoma State dropped its final nine games and snapped its 18-year bowl appearance streak in 2024. After an uninspiring 1-2 start this fall, the program fired Mike Gundy, the winningest coach in school history, three games into his 21st season in charge. It hasn't gotten better since. After Saturday's 14-6 loss to Kansas State, the Cowboys have been outscored 268-101 in seven games under interim coach Doug Meacham."
Fans in Boone Pickens Stadium maintain rituals and humor amid severe on-field decline, seeking small joys despite mounting losses. The Cowboys entered 2025 after a 2024 collapse that included a nine-game skid and the end of an 18-year bowl streak. Mike Gundy was fired three games into his 21st season following a 1-2 start, and Doug Meacham serves as interim coach. Under Meacham, Oklahoma State has been outscored 268-101 across seven games and sits 1-9 overall. The program has not won a Big 12 game since the final week of the 2023 regular season, a drought of 723 days.
Read at ESPN.com
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