STILLWATER — Nuki Mafi stood in a hotel room mirror going through some basic steps.
Oklahoma State left tackle Markell Samuel suffered a freak injury in the Cowboys’ hotel walkthrough ahead of their Sept. 6 matchup against Oregon. That led Mafi, a redshirt freshman, to make the move from right tackle across to left tackle to cover for Samuel, but he had to do so before having a full-fledge practice. So, with road trip roommate Matthew Wade watching along, Mafi was going through his steps in the mirror.
“He knew I was stressing,” Mafi said. “I just kept looking at myself in the mirror, and I just kept repeating some tight footwork, some wide-zone footwork and really just trusting my technique.