Drew Mestemaker walked off with a win, and Oklahoma State’s fans made sure nobody was leaving Boone Pickens Stadium quietly.
After the Cowboys stunned No. 6 Oregon 39-31 on Saturday, the celebration turned chaotic in a hurry.
Fans rushed the field, swarmed Mestemaker, and even tore down the west goal post before hauling it to Theta Pond and tossing it into the water. Mestemaker said, “The field storm was insane,” and added, “Someone took my helmet.
I was getting like carried off the field by some cops to do some interview or something. It was wild, but I’m so glad we got that done and I’m so glad the fans got to experience that, too.”
The result snapped Oklahoma State’s 21-game skid against FBS opponents and gave Eric Morris his first win as the Cowboys’ coach. It also came after a 90-minute rain delay and in front of a fan base that had already endured a 1-11 season, the firing of longtime coach Mike Gundy, and a 24-10 loss to Tulsa in Morris’ debut.
“We challenged (our players) this week in a really tough way and tough manner and we had some meetings that weren't very pleasant in here,” Morris said. “And they had to listen to how bad they were after hearing how good they were for such a long time. To see them practice this last week, the intensity, the focus, the effort they had ... for them to have that moment, for me as a coach, that's what's rewarding for me.”
Mestemaker was the engine behind it all. He threw for 317 yards and two touchdowns, ran for 109 yards and another score, and bounced back from a rough opener with a performance that put the Ducks on their heels from the start. Oklahoma State outgained Oregon 554 yards to 281, a gap that told the story as much as the final score did.
The Cowboys led 24-17 at halftime after Mestemaker had already piled up 179 passing yards and two touchdown throws, while also breaking loose for 75 yards on Oklahoma State’s first play. One of those scoring strikes went to Wyatt Young, a former North Texas teammate of Mestemaker’s, on a 52-yard catch-and-run that pushed the Cowboys ahead 24-14 in the second quarter.
Oregon did find ways to hang around. The Ducks’ defense intercepted a pair of tipped passes, including Devon Jackson’s 96-yard return for a touchdown that made it 7-3. Matayo Uliagalelei picked off Mestemaker at the Oklahoma State 11 and returned it to the 1, setting up Jordan Davison’s short touchdown run that trimmed the margin to 17-14.
The Ducks briefly grabbed a 31-30 lead early in the fourth when Dante Moore hit Evan Stewart for a 38-yard touchdown. But Oklahoma State answered with a 75-yard drive, and Mestemaker finished it himself by leaping over defenders at the goal line for a 10-yard touchdown run and a 36-31 lead.
“I saw him going low right when I jumped and I was like, ‘Oh, this is perfect,’ and I felt like I was in the air for a year and then I hit the ground so hard, but it's all good because I was in the end zone,” Mestemaker said. “I got the wind knocked out of me so bad, I got up and wanted to celebrate and then couldn't breathe. I didn't want the guys to come jump on me so I said, ‘Just give me a second.’”
Oregon never fully recovered. After Oklahoma State’s go-ahead score, the Ducks’ offense couldn’t keep pace, and Sam Keltner added his fourth field goal of the day after the Cowboys forced a turnover on downs. That sealed Oklahoma State’s 31st straight win in home openers.
Moore shook off a slow start and threw two second-half touchdown passes, but his final line was ordinary: 14 of 21 for 191 yards. He opted to stay at Oregon rather than enter the NFL draft, but the preseason No.
2 Ducks looked vulnerable for a second straight week after also looking shaky in their opener against Boise State. Oregon entered as a 23 1/2-point favorite.
“The score was closer than it really was because it wasn't close in a lot of ways,” Dan Lanning said. “We got our (butts) kicked in a lot of areas.
Tons of credit to coach Morris and his staff. If it wasn't for the takeaways we had on defense, it doesn't even looked like it looked.
That being said, there's a lot of opportunity for improvement.”
Oklahoma State’s turnaround was fueled in part by familiar faces from Mestemaker’s North Texas days. Caleb Hawkins carried 23 times for 110 yards and a touchdown, handling several short-yardage snaps with power, while Young finished with five catches for 121 yards and a score.
For Oklahoma State, the win carried extra weight beyond the immediate shock. It was the Cowboys’ first victory over a top-six AP team since beating No.
5 Notre Dame on Jan. 1, 2022, and their fifth win in their last six games against top-10 opponents at Boone Pickens Stadium. It also snapped Oregon’s 12-game road winning streak.
In Other News...
Oklahoma States Oregon Win Changed One Big Thing For This Offense
Oklahoma States win over Oregon carried more than just the usual marquee-game boost. In the aftermath, the Cowboys head coach pointed to the way his players responded after their previous performance and said the victory mattered because it showed the offense could reset, play with confidence and put together a plan that traveled well against a high-profile opponent. He also made a point of praising quarterback Drew Mestemaker, while noting how the defense held up and how the staff approached the challenge of facing Oregon.
On the other side, Oregon coach Dan Lanning spent the postgame sorting through a game that never felt clean for his team, from defensive issues to execution problems to the difficulty of playing in that environment. From Oklahoma States perspective, the broader takeaway is even more interesting than the final result: the Cowboys did not just beat a ranked opponent, they appeared to discover something about what this offense can be when the pieces are in the right place. The next question is whether that newly sharpened identity shows up again when the schedule demands it. [Read more 🡒]
Dan Lanning Gave Oregon Fans A Feel Good Moment They Needed
Before Oregon kicked off against Oklahoma State, Dan Lanning used a spot on ESPNs College GameDay to give Ducks fans something a little bigger than the usual pregame hype. His appearance ended with a crossbar challenge that carried real significance, sending a $500,000 donation to the Sam Day Foundation, a childhood cancer research group, and giving the morning a feel-good jolt before the game itself.
Lanning also had football on the mind, even with the charity moment grabbing the spotlight. He pointed to the need for Oregon to be sharper in the details and cut down on penalties as the Ducks prepared for their matchup, where they entered as heavy favorites over the Cowboys. For Oklahoma State, it was another reminder that the national attention around this game was being driven by Oregons side of the story before the opening kickoff. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma State Just Got A New Oregon Concern To Watch
Oklahoma States win over Oregon came with one notable asterisk for the Ducks, who were already forced to adjust their offense without starting tight end Jamari Johnson. Oregons attack never really found a rhythm in the loss, and the combination of modest yardage and too many penalties made the setback look more familiar than anyone in Eugene would have liked.
Now there is at least some uncertainty attached to Johnson moving forward, with Dan Lanning saying the tight end was banged up in the previous game and will be monitored in practice this week. Oregon had to turn to Andrew Olesh in Johnsons place, and for the Cowboys that is the part worth watching next, because the Ducks offense looked compromised enough already without needing another week of questions at a key spot. [Read more 🡒]