Oklahoma State’s trip to Iowa State on Oct. 31 has the feel of a game that could tell us plenty about where the Cowboys are headed in 2026.
The Cowboys will be on the road at Jack Trice Stadium for Halloween, and by then they could already be staring at a stretch that gets awfully unforgiving. With Kansas State and Texas Tech still ahead, the path to a bowl game - and maybe even a shot at the Big 12 title race - could be getting narrow.
There’s another layer here, too: both Oklahoma State and Iowa State are entering the season with new head coaches and a heavy dose of roster turnover. Jimmy Rogers is taking over the Cyclones, and both teams are rebuilding around transfer movement. That makes this one of the more interesting matchups on the Cowboys’ 2026 schedule, even if Iowa State is viewed as the slightly stronger team.
Quarterback play will be front and center. Oklahoma State has former North Texas standout Drew Mestemaker, who followed Eric Morris from Denton, while Iowa State is turning to Jaylen Reagor, a three-year starter from Arkansas State.
Mestemaker led the country in passing yards in 2025 and is already drawing stealth Heisman chatter and NFL draft buzz, depending on how his season unfolds. Reagor brings a steady résumé of his own, having shown he can throw and run while earning Sun Belt freshman of the year honors in 2023.
Both offenses are going to be built around those quarterbacks, and that puts pressure on Oklahoma State to win that side of the matchup.
The Cowboys also have to handle the environment. Jack Trice Stadium is a difficult place to play, and a night game only makes it tougher.
The source of that edge is simple: the place has a little magic to it. For Oklahoma State, the cleanest way to quiet it is to create an early turnover or two and put Iowa State on its heels before the crowd gets fully locked in.
That matters because Iowa State’s offense under Rogers is expected to stay true to the program’s more deliberate style. The Cyclones aren’t built like the typical Big 12 track meet team.
They want to run downhill, use the ground game to open up play-action, and force defenses to deal with a more methodical attack. If they get the run game going early, Oklahoma State could be in trouble.
A lead would let Iowa State lean into its scheme and make the Cowboys chase the game.
One player who could swing that is new Iowa State running back Cameron Pettaway. He arrives with plenty of intrigue, not just as a runner but as one of the best kickoff returners in the country at Bowling Green. He also earned freshman All-America honors and could be the fastest offensive player on the Cyclones’ new-look team.
That makes Pettaway a major concern for Oklahoma State in more than one phase. The Cowboys may need to account for him on offense and make sure their special teams don’t give him room to break the game open. If they can’t keep him contained, Pettaway has the kind of speed and versatility that can flip a game in a single play.
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This One Early Game Could Define Oklahoma States Post-Gundy Reset
Oklahoma State enters 2026 in a very different place than it has occupied for most of the Mike Gundy era, with the program trying to steady itself after the longtime coach was fired and the reset now moving from theory into the schedule. There are obvious early chances to build momentum, but the Cowboys also know how quickly a season can tilt when the first real conference test arrives.
The one that stands out is the Big 12 opener at West Virginia on Sept. 26, a road game that comes at a point where the Cowboys could be carrying real confidence or already feeling the weight of the rebuild. A win there would put Oklahoma State in position to spend the bye week looking up the standings and thinking about a bowl path, while a loss would make the early climb that much steeper and leave the reset feeling even more fragile. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma State Fans Need A New Iowa State Scouting Report Fast
Iowa State is about to look a lot different for Oklahoma State fans trying to get a read on the Cyclones. The roster is being rebuilt from the ground up, with no returning starters and a batch of new faces expected to carry major roles as the program moves into a new offensive system. For a team that has been such a familiar Big 12 opponent, the scouting report now starts with a fresh cast and a very different feel.
Hunter Raynor is the name to know at quarterback, with Pettaway set to bring explosive playmaking to the backfield and Terrell projected to help anchor the edge on defense. There are still a few holdovers who could matter, but the larger challenge for anyone studying Iowa State is figuring out how quickly all of those pieces fit together, and which ones become the early tone-setters once the season starts. [Read more 🡒]