Oklahoma State walked away from Saturday’s win over No. 6 Oregon with more than a signature result. On Monday, the Cowboys were rewarded with five of the Big 12’s weekly honors, taking home awards across offense, defense and special teams.
Quarterback Drew Mestemaker, linebacker Ethan Wesloski and kicker Sam Keltner all landed individual recognition after the historic victory, while Oklahoma State also picked up both Big 12 Offensive Line of the Week and Big 12 Defensive Line of the Week honors.
Mestemaker led the charge with a huge all-around performance. He piled up 426 total yards and accounted for three touchdowns, including the scramble that lit up social media in the fourth quarter.
On that play, he sailed over a defender, kept control of the ball and was flipped by another defender on his way into the end zone. Mestemaker finished with 317 passing yards and a career-high 109 rushing yards, extending his FBS-best streak to 17 straight games with more than 200 yards passing.
Wesloski anchored a defense that made life miserable for Oregon. The Cowboys held the Ducks to 90 rushing yards on 30 carries and limited quarterback Dante Moore to a 22.4 QBR, the lowest mark in a start during his Oregon career. Wesloski finished as the game’s leading tackler with nine, and he also added an assisted sack and a pass breakup.
Keltner was spotless on the day, going 4-for-4 on field goals and setting a new career high in the process. He became the first Oklahoma State kicker to make four or more field goals in a game since Alex Hale did it against No.
23 Kansas in 2023. Keltner scored a career-best 15 points, and his 31-yard field goal in the fourth quarter put the game out to an eight-point lead.
Up front, Oklahoma State’s offensive line helped fuel a big day on the ground, as the Cowboys averaged 5.9 yards per carry over 40 rushing attempts. The group also kept Mestemaker upright against one of the nation’s top defensive lines, giving up no sacks on 43 pass attempts. It was the first time since 2020 that a team had both a 300-yard passer and multiple 100-yard rushers in a game against an AP top-10 opponent.
The defensive line did its part, too, producing 4.0 sacks and five quarterback hurries. Oregon never broke a run longer than 14 yards and finished at just 3.0 yards per carry, which marked only the seventh time in the Lanning era that the Ducks were held to that average or lower.
In Other News...
Oklahoma State Just Turned One Ugly Loss Into A Huge Debate
A week after a frustrating loss to Tulsa, Oklahoma State had to answer a bigger question against No. 6 Oregon, and the response was the kind that changes the tone around a program fast. The Cowboys rallied for a 39-31 upset and did it with a mix of belief and backbone, leaning on quarterback Drew Mestemaker, solid play up front on both sides and a receiver room that had been talking before kickoff about what this group thought it could be.
Wyatt Young was among the players projecting confidence ahead of the game, and Oklahoma State's performance gave that confidence some real weight. The win also put a spotlight on Eric Morris, who was recognized with the Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week award, while the larger debate now turns to what this result says about a team that had just looked beatable seven days earlier and suddenly looks a lot more dangerous. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma State's Oregon Upset Looks Even Better After What Cowboys Spotted
Oklahoma States upset of Oregon already stood out as one of the more intriguing wins on the schedule, and the postgame details have only made it look smarter in hindsight. The Cowboys defense was able to lean on a small but meaningful edge after noticing something in quarterback Dante Moores pre-snap behavior, the kind of tell that can tilt a possession when a game is tight and every snap matters.
Moore acknowledged afterward that his own tendencies were part of the picture and said he was willing to clean them up, while Oregons offensive coordinator said the issue has since been addressed. There is also the familiar chess-match layer every staff knows by heart, because what looks like a habit to one side can sometimes be turned into a weapon by the other, which is why this matchup now feels even more like a case of Oklahoma States defense seeing the field a step ahead. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Just Earned A New Place In The Big 12 Race
Week 2 of Big 12 play was the kind of slate that can start to separate the early contenders from the teams still trying to find their footing, and Oklahoma State came out of it looking like part of the conferences better side of the ledger. Along with Utah and BYU, the Cowboys were lumped into the leagues stock-up group after a strong showing that helped reshape the way the race looks this early in the season, while UCF and Kansas took the opposite route with rough afternoons.
For Oklahoma State, the performance mattered not just because it was a win, but because it arrived in a week when the conferences hierarchy felt especially unsettled. The Cowboys opened with an electric 75-yard run by Drew Mestemaker after a long lightning delay and kept control from there, the sort of start that can change the tone of a game in a hurry. It was also the kind of result few around the league likely had circled, which only adds to the sense that Oklahoma State may have already earned a more meaningful spot in the Big 12 conversation. [Read more 🡒]