LaDainian Fields didn’t celebrate like a man caught up in the moment. After grabbing an interception, the sophomore corner sprinted toward the field-level suites in the east end zone and stopped 5 yards into the paint, staring straight at the crowd as his teammates gathered around him.
That calm fit the way Oklahoma State finished off Colorado in a 57-24 win. The Cowboy defense looked scattered early, then took over completely after halftime, forcing three turnovers in a second-half shutout and getting two interceptions from Fields.
The first half told a much different story. OSU gave up 24 points and 279 yards before the break, and Colorado found answers on four of its first five meaningful drives. After that, the Buffaloes never scored again.
Third downs were a big part of that messy opening stretch for the Cowboys. Colorado converted 5 of 8 on third down in the first half and finished 5 of 13 overall. Two of the Buffaloes’ most damaging plays on their second scoring drive came on third-down chances.
At the OSU 25-yard line, Isaac Wilson broke free up the middle for 13 yards on third-and-10. Later on that same drive, after two negative plays pushed Colorado into third-and-13, Wilson squeezed a touchdown pass into a tight window to DeAndre Moore. Jr. for a 15-yard score in the back of the end zone.
Still, Oklahoma State had an answer of its own before halftime, and Drew Mestemaker was at the center of it. With 46 seconds left in the first half, he escaped a sack and found Wyatt Young on the sideline. Young went up and made the catch on third-and-6, keeping the drive alive as the Cowboys moved toward a field goal that trimmed Colorado’s lead to 24-23.
Mestemaker kept stacking numbers from there. He threw for 386 yards and four touchdowns, marking his sixth straight game with more than 300 passing yards. That streak is the second-longest in the nation behind Oregon State’s Braden Atkinson, who has seven.
The second half belonged to the defense, and Colorado’s turnover issue came fully into view. The Buffaloes came in ranked No. 130 in the country out of 138 FBS teams in turnovers, with 13 giveaways in six games. Wilson had been clean through the first half, opening 9-for-9 passing and not throwing an incompletion until 3:23 remained in the opening quarter.
Then everything unraveled. On Colorado’s first offensive snap after halftime, Jerry Lawson got to Wilson for a sack and ripped the ball free. Quinton Hammonds scooped up the fumble and returned it 9 yards to the 13-yard line.
Later in the third quarter, Ethan Wesloski came free on an unblocked blitz from Wilson’s right side, and the pressure forced an overthrow that Fields picked off. Fields struck again with 8:11 left in the fourth quarter, intercepting another pass and nearly taking it to the house before stepping out at the 9. Wilson was then benched with 7:01 left after Oklahoma State stretched the lead to 50-24.
Sam Keltner kept cashing in points while all of that chaos unfolded. The sophomore kicker drilled field goals from 47, 31, 41, 21 and 30 yards, running his season mark to 18-for-18. Entering Saturday, 10 kickers around the country were perfect on both field goals and extra points, but Keltner had made the most field goals of the group.
His 47-yarder in the first quarter matched his longest make of the season. He still hasn’t been asked to try a kick from 50 yards this year.
In Other News...
Steve Lutz Has An Early Oklahoma State Guard Decision To Make
Steve Lutz has spent the early stretch of preseason trying to figure out how his newest Oklahoma State team will come together, and the guard rotation is one of the first real decisions on his desk. Lutz believes he has his best offensive group yet as he works toward getting the Cowboys back to the NCAA Tournament, but after a pair of scrimmages, he is still sorting out how much responsibility to hand true freshman Anthony Felisi. The young guard has already flashed the kind of defensive energy that can make a coach lean in, while also contributing enough on offense to stay in the conversation.
The bigger question is how Felisi fits once the roster is fully available and the experienced guards settle into their usual roles. Oklahoma State has depth at the position, which makes every minute a little harder to win, and Lutzs choice will depend as much on health as it does on trust and timing. Felisi has given the staff reasons to keep watching closely, and the early read on his role could say a lot about how Lutz wants this team to play once the games count. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma State Faces One Last Chance To Answer A Growing Concern
Oklahoma State gets one more preseason test before the games start counting, and it comes in a tough setting against Wisconsin at the Kohl Center. The Cowboys have already worked through two exhibition tuneups, and they have at least seen encouraging production from guard Kashie Natt as they continue sorting out roles and rhythm ahead of the regular season.
Wisconsin brings its own momentum into the matchup after winning both of its preseason exhibitions, though this will be its first chance to see a power-conference opponent this fall. For Oklahoma State, the backdrop is simple enough: another live look at where the roster stands, another chance to sharpen the details, and a final exhibition spotlight that will be easy to follow on B1G+, the Cowboy Radio Network and the Varsity Network app. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma State Has New Names Pushing For Bigger Roles After Colorado
Oklahoma States rout of Colorado did more than keep the Cowboys in the Big 12 race, it also gave a few lesser-known names a chance to show where they fit as the season gets late. The win was big enough to strengthen the teams standing for the conference title chase, but the more interesting follow-up has been how the staff can now sort through who earned a larger say in the rotation after that performance.
Braydon Nelsons rise is one of the cleaner examples of that momentum, and William Mason added to it by scoring his first touchdown while carving out more snaps through his special teams work. LaDainian Fields helped the defense with interceptions, Lawson came up with a key play, and the depth chart still has a few questions attached to it, including the status of Ayo Adeyi, making this one of those weeks where the box score only tells part of the story. [Read more 🡒]