Oklahoma State walked into Manhattan and put together one of its most complete performances of the season, rolling past Kansas State 66-28 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium on Saturday.
The Cowboys never gave the Wildcats a chance to settle in. OSU jumped out to a 28-7 lead after the first quarter and had already stretched it to 49-14 by halftime, turning the matchup into a runaway before the break. The 66 points were the most either team has ever scored in the 78-game series, which dates back to 1908.
It was a big day for the offense and an even rougher one for a Kansas State defense that came in ranked No. 7 nationally and first in the Big 12 in pass defense, allowing just 151.9 passing yards per game. Oklahoma State shredded that reputation with 342 passing yards and finished with 565 total yards, while the Wildcats managed 327. The Cowboys also cashed in on 10 of 15 offensive possessions.
Drew Mestemaker was at the center of everything. The OSU quarterback went 22-of-28 for 313 yards and four passing touchdowns, then added three rushing attempts for 11 yards and a score, plus one catch for five yards and another touchdown.
That made him only the fifth player in FBS history to post at least four passing touchdowns, a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown in the same game. The others were Ohio State’s Terrelle Pryor vs.
Eastern Michigan in 2010, Northern Illinois’ Jordan Lynch vs. Eastern Michigan in 2013, Texas State’s Tyler Jones vs.
Ohio in 2016 and Texas’s Arch Manning vs. Arkansas in 2025.
Mestemaker also kept adding to a remarkable run. Saturday marked his eighth straight game with at least 300 passing yards and multiple passing touchdowns, the longest such streak in Big 12 history. It also set an Oklahoma State program record for consecutive 300-yard passing games.
Caleb Hawkins delivered another huge all-around outing. He ran 20 times for 175 yards and three touchdowns, caught six passes for 71 yards and another score, and pushed past 1,000 rushing yards on the season with 1,081. He’s the first Cowboy to reach that mark since Ollie Gordon II piled up 1,732 in 2023, and he joins Gordon II and Jaylen Warren as the only Oklahoma State backs to top 1,000 rushing yards since 2020.
Hawkins entered the game leading all FBS running backs with 44.1 receiving yards per game, and that number is only going to climb after what he did against Kansas State. Over the last four games, he has 24 catches for 349 yards and three touchdowns.
The defense did its part, too. LaDainian Fields picked off his sixth and seventh passes of the season, giving him the FBS lead in interceptions.
Seven picks through the first nine games is the most by an Oklahoma State player since Darrent Williams in 2003. Fields has six interceptions over the last four games, with two at Kansas State, one at Iowa State, two against Colorado and one at Houston.
Oklahoma State is back home next Saturday against Texas Tech in Boone Pickens Stadium. Kickoff time has not yet been announced.
In Other News...
Oklahoma State's Offensive Outburst Raised One Big Early Question
Oklahoma States season opener turned into a runaway at Gallagher-Iba Arena, where the Cowboys overwhelmed Queens (NC) 118-68 behind a blistering shooting night and a deep bench. Oklahoma State hit 62.0% of its shots, knocked down 16 three-pointers and got 74 points from its reserves, the kind of all-around offensive burst that can make an early November game feel over before it settles in.
The performance also came with a pile of record-book footnotes, a reminder that the Cowboys were not just efficient but disruptive from start to finish. There was plenty to like in the pace, the balance and the pressure, even if the bigger question now is how much of that production can carry over when the competition tightens and the easy baskets disappear. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma State Enters Crucial Road Test With A New Defensive Concern
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The timing matters because this is the kind of Big 12 trip where every available body counts, especially on a defense trying to hold up away from home. Kansas State has its own injury questions after downgrading four players to doubtful and upgrading one to probable, but Oklahoma State still has to sort through a thinner rotation and find answers on the fly before kickoff. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma State Gets A Huge Opening In Critical Kansas State Trip
Oklahoma State heads into a tricky November road test in Manhattan with a chance to steady itself after a loss to Iowa State, and the timing could hardly be better. The Cowboys are 5-3 overall and 3-2 in Big 12 play, and Saturday's noon CT kickoff at Bill Snyder Family Stadium gives them a chance to keep pace in the conference against a Kansas State team that has had an uneven season.
The Wildcats are 4-4 and just 1-4 in league play, and the matchup already carried plenty of weight before the latest quarterback wrinkle added another layer of uncertainty. For Oklahoma State, it is the kind of game that can change the tone of a stretch run, with the broadcast set for TNT and streaming available on Fubo. [Read more 🡒]