4 Oklahoma State football kickoff times announced

bama at 6 p.m. and can be watched on ESPN+. The Cowboys’ first Big 12 home game will be Friday, Oct. 6 at 6:30 p.m. vs Kansas State.

Four of the first five 2023 Oklahoma State football games have kickoff times set.

The opener vs Central Arkansas on Sept. 2 is set for 6 p.m. with the broadcast on ESPN+ and Big 12 Now. The Cowboys will appear on “Pac-12 after dark” on FS1 at Arizona State in Tempe on Sept. 9 at 9:30 p.m. CT. OSU will be back in Boone Pickens Stadium on Sept. 16 vs South Ala- sports.ed@ocolly.com

OSU played Central Arkansas once, in 2015, a 32-8 Cowboys win in Stillwater. Mason Rudolph threw for 401 yards and David Glidden had the best game of his career, with four catches for 145 yards and two touchdowns. Against teams from Arkansas, though, OSU is 16-29. OSU has also opened the season with a night game in six of the last seven years.

After a Week 2 game between the Cowboys and Sun Devils in Stillwater last season, OSU will travel to Tempe to face Arizona State in a rematch. OSU won 3417 in 2022 in one of its best overall games last season.

The Cowboys have played in Tempe twice before, a 12-10 loss in 1993, and the other a 45-3 win in ‘84. South Alabama won 10 games last season and will be playing in Stillwater for the second time in history. The Jaguars and Cowboys met in 2018, a 5513 OSU win, where Taylor Cornelius threw for 428 yards. In 2017, OSU also won a matchup with USA, a 44-7 game. In 2022, Kansas State defeated OSU in a historic game — a 48-0 Wildcat win vs the then No. 9 Cowboys, which started a downward spiral that season where OSU lost five of its last six games. In the past 20 years, the Cowboys are 7-1 vs Kansas State in games in Stillwater.

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Kelly Maxwell, the star AllAmerican pitcher for the Cowgirls, hasn’t lived up to expectations set by others following her masterful fourth season last year. Maxwell, who was just named a Second-Team All-American on Wednesday, still had an impressive season in the circle, but she wasn’t as dominant as last season; she knows that.

And Kiley Naomi has had a career season at the plate, batting .372 with a Big 12-leading 64 RBI (her next-best season was 34). Her numbers are staggering and easily recognizable as one of the best hitting seasons in not only the Big 12, but the country. Yet Naomi was left off the All-Big 12 teams.

Gajewski and his star Cowgirls aren’t hanging their heads, but instead they’re turning the obvious doubts and criticism into fuel for this postseason.

“I know what she’s (Kelly Maxwell) been going through; I know what Kiley feels like after she, (and) we, feel like she got completely snubbed in the Big 12 awards, and it’s just like, ‘OK, we’re about to show you. sports.ed@ocolly.com

“’We’re gonna show you guys what this is all about,’” Gajewski said.

Although Naomi may not have been recognized as having one of the best seasons in her conference, she was recognized as a Third-Team All-American on Wednesday. Her teammates took note of her much-deserved recognition.

“Finally!” one teammate shouted in the video.

“I’m thankful to all of you,” Gajewski told his team. “It’s really cool; it’s exciting for our program. But Kiley, it’s especially cool.” Silence. Gajewski locks eyes on Naomi, who can’t help but cry.

For the first time in her fiveyear career, she’s an All-American. Forget the league awards.

Whether it’s Gajewski or Naomi, the Cowgirls have shed a fair amount of tears this season. For one reason or another, it’s been challenging.

But don’t let those tears fool you; they’re coming to OKC looking for blood and looking to do one simple thing.

“We’re trying to win the last game; that’s it,” Gajewski said.

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Christy Balderama always saw football as her son’s future -- only because he wanted it to be.

“For the longest time, he thought his ticket out of Hanford was through football,” Balderama, Watts-Brown’s mother, said. “I supported him regardless of what it was.”

But by his sophomore season, he knew baseball was his future. Silva had a paramount role in convincing him. Watts-Brown committed to Texas Tech before his junior season and kept in contact with the coaching staff.

“I was so excited to go there,” Watts-Brown said. “I remember when I took my official visit there, I was just blown away.”

Still, he remained dedicated to football. He exceled as a quarterback for Hanford, earning honors as the West Yosemite Player of the Year. He threw for 39 touchdowns and nearly 4000 yards as a senior.

For Watts-Brown, life was good. Until tragedy struck.

Late in his senior season, he was hit late out of bounds on a designed quarterback run.

The moment he sprang to his feet, he felt something wrong. He was diagnosed with an injury to his AC joint. Shortly after, Texas Tech pulled his offer, leaving WattsBrown scrambling for replacements.

“It was almost like it was a way out for (Texas Tech),” Silva said. “It was a normal football injury. Stuff like that happens all the time. It was total (nonsense).”

Silva aided in finding his pupil a new school. WattsBrown eventually attained an offer from Long Beach State, where he committed.

Watts-Brown saw the positives. A coaching staff with interest in him. A fresh start at a school just four hours from home instead of halfway across the country.

“I like to see the good in things,” Watts-Brown said. “It was something instilled in me at a young age. I had a new opportunity ahead of me and at the time, I was just looking to make the most of it.”

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Midway through fall camp his redshirt freshman year, Watts-Brown became one of the most adept arms at Long Beach State. He performed on such a high level that he was slotted as the Game 3 starter for the Dirtbags’ Opening Weekend series at Mississippi State –the defending national champions. His inaugural outing was shaky, but he struck out seven in an eventual 12-4 loss for the Dirtbags.

“I remember it being alright but not so good at the same time,” Watts-Brown said. “I mean, it was my first outing, but I had such high expectations for myself that it stung.”

But Watts-Brown’s first start previewed what was to come – a strikeout machine who struggled with walks.

He displayed prolific outings, including a one-hit, seven-strikeout performance against top 25-ranked Gonzaga. But in most instances, the negatives outweighed the positives.

So, he was demoted to a bullpen role toward the midseason.

During that time, he had to self-reflect, and he spent countless hours talking with Silva on the phone. Then one day, it clicked.

“It’s like my whole mindset on pitching changed,” Watts-Brown said. “I felt like I didn’t really have anything to