TULSA, Okla. - Oklahoma State brought the buzz into Saturday afternoon with Drew Mestemaker and Caleb Hawkins front and center, but Tulsa had the answers.
Baylor Hayes threw for 227 yards and a touchdown, Damari Alston ran for 73 yards and two scores, and the Golden Hurricane knocked off the revamped Cowboys 24-10. Tulsa controlled the game enough to hand Oklahoma State a loss that looked awfully familiar.
The Cowboys entered the season with plenty of optimism after a massive roster reset under coach Eric Morris. Mestemaker and Hawkins were the headliners from the group that followed Morris from North Texas, and Oklahoma State ended up with 21 players who played for him among 70 newcomers.
But the new look didn’t change the result against Tulsa from a year ago, when the loss to the Golden Hurricane became the final straw that led to longtime coach Mike Gundy’s firing. Tulsa has now beaten Oklahoma State in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1951 and 1952.
Oklahoma State never helped itself enough to flip the script. The Cowboys turned it over four times and converted only two of six fourth-down tries, and Mestemaker’s night got even tougher when he was picked off by Zach Williams in the end zone with a little more than four minutes left. He threw another interception in the final minute.
The game also took a hit early when left tackle Jacob Sexton was carted off in the first quarter with a lower body injury. One of the Cowboys’ three offensive captains, Sexton had already missed significant time in two previous seasons because of injury.
Mestemaker had a rough first half, missing receivers at times and dealing with pressure throughout the opening 30 minutes. Tulsa took a 10-3 lead into halftime, then stretched it to 17-3 when Hayes hit Oran Singleton on a 21-yard touchdown pass.
Oklahoma State finally found the end zone late in the third quarter when Mestemaker connected with Justin Bowick on a 16-yard touchdown, cutting the deficit to 17-10. That was as close as the Cowboys would get.
Mestemaker finished 29 of 49 for 241 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Hawkins, who set an FBS freshman record with 29 total touchdowns last season, was held to 79 yards on 18 carries.
The schedule doesn’t give Oklahoma State much time to regroup. Oregon comes to Stillwater next Saturday.
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