Oklahoma State @ UTSA preview

It certainly did not take long for J.W. Walsh to earn the respect of Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy. After coming off the bench in the Cowboys’ season opener, Walsh will start at quarterback in Saturday’s game at UTSA. Gundy said earlier this week that Walsh, a sophomore, would likely play the entire game, leaving fifth-year senior Clint Chelf on the bench for 14th-ranked Oklahoma State.

Chelf played the first two series last week against Mississippi State before Gundy switched to Walsh, who completed 18-of-27 passes for 135 yards. Walsh also ran for 125 yards and a score, while Jeremy Smith added 102 rushing yards and a pair of TDs in the 21-3 victory. The Cowboys’ defense bottled up the Bulldogs and will look to do the same against the Roadrunners, who scored 21 unanswered points to win at New Mexico last week 21-13.

TV: 12 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1. LINE: Oklahoma State -26.5

ABOUT OKLAHOMA STATE (1-0): Cowboys linebacker Caleb Lavey was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week after recording 11 tackles against Mississippi State. In all, the Oklahoma State defense held the Eagles to 2-of-16 conversions on third down. Gundy isn’t taking Saturday’s game for granted: “We hope the maturity of our team will come out this week,” he said to the San Antonio Business Journal.

ABOUT UTSA (1-0): The Roadrunners, who had only six seniors on last year’s team, have just nine scholarship seniors on their 2013 squad. Fortunately for coach Larry Coker, one of those seniors is quarterback Eric Soza, who completed 21-of-34 passes while throwing for 237 yards and two touchdowns against New Mexico. This will be the first time in UTSA history that it will face a Big 12 opponent or any ranked FBS team.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Oklahoma State is 13-1 in its last 14 nonconference games.

2. The Cowboys are the only team that ranked in the top 10 nationally in total offense, scoring offense and passing offense in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

3. Junior WR Kam Jones, perhaps the Roadrunners’ best athlete, led the team with 104 all-purpose yards in Week 1.

PREDICTION: Oklahoma State 49, UTSA 10