Joel Klatt picks Oklahoma State to win, South Dakota State to cover spread

When it comes to Oklahoma State’s season opening opponent, Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt is easily looking past the FCS label. And welcoming top-ranked FCS team South Dakota State to Stillwater is likely to give the Cowboys as much as they can handle, Klatt suspects.

He’s still picking the Cowboys to hold serve and get the win at home, but Klatt predicts the Jackrabbits will cover the 9.5-point spread. And he doesn’t expect the offenses to light it up.

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“South Dakota State, Oklahoma State, it’s a 9.5-point spread,” Klatt said. “Cowboys are favored by 9.5, that’s too many. I like Oklahoma State at home winning what becomes kind of a slog fest, 17-10, at home.”

Klatt cited a number of reasons for picking South Dakota State to cover, from the Cowboys sluggish starts to seasons in years past to a need to improve the defense.

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And one doesn’t need to look far into the past to see how Oklahoma State could falter. The Cowboys lost to South Alabama early in the season in 2023 and played a one-score game with Missouri State the year before that.

However, Klatt does hope those on the roster who experienced those games will use the lessons they took to prevent further embarrassment.

“Because these older players went through that South Alabama game, they went through that Missouri State game. So they have to understand that they need to give their full attention to South Dakota State. South Dakota State is a damn good football program,” Klatt said.

Klatt ran down some of the accomplishments of the Jackrabbits of late, and it was a helpful reminder that this program is probably comparable to some Group of 5 competition or perhaps better.

“South Dakota State, they’re on a 29-game win streak, they’re ranked No. 1 in the FCS, they’ve won two-straight FCS national championships,” Klatt said. “Their last loss was a 7-3 loss at Iowa to open the 2022 season. This is a really good program.”

To hold up against the Jackrabbits, Klatt thinks the Cowboys need to hone in on a few key areas. One is to lean on star running back Ollie Gordon, using experience and perhaps a physical edge on offense to wear down their opponent.

And on the other side, Klatt knows the Cowboys need to improve on defense to not only chase bigger goals this season, but hold up against a sneaky-good opening opponent.

“That’s something that you’ve gotta look for if you’re a Cowboys fan or just a fan in the Big 12 in general, is: What does Oklahoma State look like on the defensive side of the ball? That’s going to be a big question in terms of what they can do during the course of the season.”