OSU football blossoms on the big stage, defeats West Virginia for first Big 12 win in 1,036 days

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In one of the biggest games of his career, Oklahoma State quarterback Drew Mestemaker cooly stepped up in the pocket and dropped one of his best passes of the night into the arms of receiver Wyatt Young.

Mestemaker sprinted to the line of scrimmage after the 48-yard pickup as the West Virginia home crowd of more than 57,000 – nearly 30,000 more than any other road game Mestemaker has played in during his career – grew silent. With two minutes left in the third quarter Saturday night, the OSU offense was clicking.

“Whenever you make those big plays and everything goes quiet, it feels good running down the field,” Mestemaker said.

One play later, running back Caleb Hawkins scored a touchdown to give the Cowboys their first lead and kick the doors open. OSU dominated the rest of the way, defeating the Mountaineers, 41-24, in the Big 12 opener at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown for their first conference win in 1,036 days.

In a road environment Mestemaker called the “most hostile” he’s played in, the Cowboys (3-1 overall, 1-0 Big 12) performed more like a team that had been in that spot a dozen times rather than a program on an 19-game conference losing streak. Morris warned his team all week to avoid distractions coming off their first taste of success, and the Cowboys passed the test against WVU (3-1, 0-1) and announced their entrance into the Big 12 race.

“Our kids knew what we were getting into,” Morris said. “We talked about it, embracing what was about to happen, the night game in Morgantown, how their offense operated, how good they've been so far this year. Our hotel situation wasn't great. The traveling, the first time on the plane, there were just a bunch of things that were distractions and our guys did a phenomenal job at handling those and coming together.”

None handled the moment better than OSU’s “Big 3” of North Texas transfers Mestemaker, Hawkins and Young, who in their Big 12 debuts led the Cowboys to 609 yards of total offense, OSU’s most in a Big 12 road game since Bedlam 2018.

The trio’s football lives are almost unrecognizable now from what they were Nov. 25, 2023, the day of OSU’s last Big 12 win.

At that time, Mestemaker was two weeks removed from his high school senior season as a defensive back, looking for opportunities as a walk-on quarterback after never starting a varsity game. Young was also a senior, playing quarterback instead of receiver, and Caleb Hawkins was a junior tailback with no recruiting buzz an hour from Stillwater in Shawnee.

“I think they’re extremely tough football players, they’re gritty, they came from nothing, really. All those guys had one offer or no offers out of high school and they’ve earned everything that they’ve gotten,” Morris said. “In this world of portal and NIL and all the cool things that they’ve earned over the course of time, they still have the mentality like they have nothing and they’re going to earn something and prove something every day.”

Mestemaker completed 20 of 27 passes for 389 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. Eight of those receptions went to Young, who finished with 192 yards and a touchdown. Hawkins rushed 31 times for 180 yards and a score.

“It’s just awesome being able to play with the guys. I mean, that’s where the chemistry comes in, and I feel like that’s why we’re so good,” Young said. “We brought the culture over that we started at North Texas over here, and it’s been really good.”

Still, the Cowboys were down, 14-13, at halftime. Mestemaker had only thrown for 115 yards, and Young had only three catches for 22 yards. There was no panic, though.

“Going into halftime, we knew that there was adjustments that needed to be made,” Hawkins said. “We all met up with our individual coaches, and they told us the problems, and I feel like once we got out there we were just in a flow state.”

The opening OSU drive of the second half started promisingly before an interception, but the Cowboys were unbothered. OSU scored three touchdowns and kicked two field goals on its final five possessions to end the game, and four lasted less than two minutes.

Mestemaker was masterful after halftime, going 11 of 14 for two touchdowns, as the offense totaled 359 yards and 28 points. Young went off for a monster 170-yard half.

“Wyatt has great ball skills. He’s able to adjust to balls in the air as good as anybody I’ve ever coached,” Morris said. “Some of those deep posts, he does an incredible job with his body control and placing himself in front of the DB, which is hard to do 55, 60 yards down the field and be able to catch that thing.”

And despite the eye-popping total of 334 yards on 65 carries for WVU, the OSU defense was excellent in the second half. Removing sacks, WVU quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. rushed for 102 yards through the first drive of the third quarter, but he only rushed eight times for 23 yards on the final five drives.

In total through the first drive of the third quarter, the Mountaineers rushed on 41 of 47 plays and amassed 280 rushing yards. The Cowboy defense only allowed 54 rushing yards the final 25 minutes of play and forced Michael Hawkins Jr. to throw the ball, where he was only 10 of 22 for 132 yards and an interception.

The Cowboys started in a three-man front, but defensive coordinator Skyler Cassity adjusted at halftime and returned to their “bread and butter” with a four-man front, which resulted in three second-half sacks and improved run defense.

“I think it allowed us to play a lot more free as a defense and see it and play by the rules,” Morris said. “That was a good adjustment by Coach Cassity.”

After the Cowboys had taken their first lead, 28-24, WVU drove to the OSU 40-yard line and was threatening. In maybe the most pivotal moment of the game, the defense stopped the run on fourth-and-1, dragging down Amari Latimer for a two-yard loss to end the third.

“The fourth-down stop was huge,” Morris said. “And I think, at that moment in the game, the crowd was still into it and I thought that was where you could kind of see them deflate a little bit and our guys kind of go and take it at that point.”

The offense and defense fed off each other. OSU’s offense rewarded the stop with three points. Then the defense forced a punt and two more turnover-on-downs, and the offense added 10 more points.

Fans began to leave the once-rowdy stadium, just like many questions surrounding the Cowboys entering Saturday. Could they win on the road? Could they break the Big 12 skid? Could they handle one of the toughest environments they’ll play in this season?

The Cowboys played a complete game and not only avoided the distractions, but thrived in them.

“I think any time a team can rise up together, that's when you start having something special,” Morris said. “Our sideline, you could feel our offense going, the defense and visa versa during the second half, and supporting one another. I think that's the sign of us growing as a team internally and these guys willing to sacrifice for one another.”

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