Drew Mestemaker spent Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium building the kind of stat line that gets noticed far beyond Stillwater.
The Oklahoma State quarterback went 20 of 22 for 324 yards and a career-high five touchdowns in a 59-0 rout of Murray State, and he did it with the kind of efficiency that turns a lopsided afternoon into a real talking point. Mestemaker guided the Cowboys to six scoring drives in seven chances before giving way to freshman Broderick Vehrs with 11:50 left in the third quarter. Over his past two games, Mestemaker has piled up 744 yards and eight touchdowns.
The Cowboys never had to reach deep into the playbook to put this one away. They just kept hitting Murray State with one clean drive after another, and Mestemaker kept cashing in. If he ends up in the New York conversation at the end of the season, this was the sort of performance that will sit near the front of the résumé.
Vehrs made sure the offense didn’t miss a beat once he entered, and he may have done more than just mop up. The backup quarterback completed all six of his passes for 37 yards and a touchdown, then helped Oklahoma State string together three more touchdown drives, a punt and a clock-draining finish. Senior Grant Jordan, an Ivy League transfer from Yale, is listed alongside Vehrs on the depth chart, but he did not play.
The biggest breakout on the perimeter belonged to Justin Bowick. At 6-foot-5 and 209 pounds, the receiver looked every bit the matchup problem Oklahoma State had been waiting to unleash. Bowick caught nine passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns, including a 36-yard score in the second quarter when he took a crossing route, turned on the jets and outran the defense to the corner of the end zone.
Bowick’s rise has been gradual. He opened his OSU career with two catches for 22 yards and a touchdown at Tulsa, then followed with five receptions for 81 yards against Oregon.
Against Murray State, he looked like the version of himself the Cowboys had been anticipating all along. With Chris Barnes sitting out because of a sore shoulder, Bowick became the clear focal point, and no other Oklahoma State receiver topped three catches.
The ground game also offered a little clarity in a crowded race. Head coach Eric Morris has called the backup running back job “wide open,” and Saturday gave a few candidates a chance to make noise behind starter Caleb Hawkins, who finished with 11 carries for 72 yards after getting one run following halftime.
Four backs handled carries in support of Hawkins. Ayo Adeyi ran seven times for 67 yards.
Tre Page III had seven carries for 58 yards and a touchdown. William Mason added five carries for 46 yards.
And freshman KD Jones, the newest name to watch, logged seven carries for 54 yards and a touchdown of his own.
Jones made his first collegiate carry count. The freshman from Jenks High School, who was the top-ranked player in Oklahoma State’s 2026 recruiting class and The Oklahoman’s All-State Offensive Player of the Year last fall, scored from 6 yards out with 12:47 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The defense was every bit as dominant as the offense. Oklahoma State held Murray State to 160 total yards and never let the Racers find a rhythm.
After Murray State’s second possession ended with a blocked field goal, the Cowboys slammed the door. They forced five straight three-and-outs to close the first half, and those drives produced just eight total yards.
Two of them went backward.
That run stretched from late in the first quarter to midway through the third. The first-half shutout stayed intact thanks to Luke Webb, who got his left hand on the ball after Jaleel Johnson broke through the right side of the kick protection line on the blocked field goal.
Saturday also kept the backup quarterback picture tidy. Vehrs did enough to strengthen his hold on the No. 2 job, even if the depth chart lists him and Jordan as an “or” at the spot. On this night, there was no mystery about who finished the game in control.
In Other News...
Oklahoma State Fans Just Got Another Reason To Enjoy Oregons Week
Oregon spent Saturday turning its matchup with Portland State into a runaway, piling up points in a way that will be remembered around the program for a long time. The Ducks offense was rolling from the start, and the quarterback work from Dante Moore and Dylan Raiola helped fuel a performance that produced more than 400 passing yards and seven touchdowns between them.
The larger scoreline also brought a different kind of attention, though, as social media lit up with criticism of Dan Lanning for keeping the gas pedal down late. For Oklahoma State fans tracking a national landscape that can always come back around to them, it was one more chance to watch a prominent opponent take a public beating and then deal with the fallout that follows a lopsided result. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma State Got What It Needed Before Big 12 Play Begins
Before Big 12 play begins, Oklahoma State can at least point to one part of its game that looked ready. The head coach came away encouraged by the defense and by the way the Cowboys executed in the first half, even if the offense got a little sloppy late. He also singled out newcomers William Mason and Markeith Williams for the roles they played, a useful sign for a team still sorting out pieces before the league slate starts to matter.
Justin Bowick added another layer to the conversation by talking about the preparation that went into working with quarterback Drew Mestemaker, along with the satisfaction of his recent 100-yard game. For a receiver trying to settle in and a team trying to tighten things up before conference play, those are the kinds of developments that matter even when the final product still feels like a work in progress. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma State Just Delivered The Complete Performance Fans Have Wanted
For one afternoon at Boone Pickens Stadium, everything clicked for Oklahoma State in a way fans have been waiting to see. The Cowboys rolled past Murray State 59-0 behind an offense that was sharp from the start, finishing 26 of 28 through the air and piling up 33 first downs while special teams added to the avalanche with a blocked field goal and a 55-yard punt return.
The scoreboard said blowout, but the bigger message was how cleanly the performance came together across all three phases. Drew Mestemaker was efficient enough to steer the offense without wasted snaps, and the defense made sure the game never tilted back the other way, turning in a dominant day that carried the kind of shutout feel Oklahoma State has not had in a while. [Read more 🡒]