The analytics gap between Oregon and Oklahoma State is hard to miss heading into Week 2.
ESPN’s Football Power Index has the No. 6 Ducks sitting at No. 8 with a 22.7 rating, while the Cowboys are down at No. 72 with a -1.6 mark. The metric, which measures team strength on a net point scale and projects scoring margin against an average opponent on a neutral field, pushed both teams downward after their openers.
Oregon slipped four spots after edging Boise State 34-27 at Autzen Stadium on Sept. 5.
Oklahoma State fell even harder, dropping 18 spots after a 24-10 road loss to Tulsa at H.A. Chapman Stadium.
That opener gave Oregon a tougher test than the final score suggests. Boise State, coached by Spencer Danielson, is viewed as a legitimate College Football Playoff contender in the Group of Six picture, and the Ducks came out of it with the kind of résumé-building win that already shows up in the numbers. Dan Lanning’s team is currently No. 6 in strength of record and No. 30 in remaining strength of schedule.
Oklahoma State, meanwhile, is sitting at No. 113 overall in efficiency at 34.3 this early in the 2026 season. If Oregon wants to leave Boone Pickens Stadium with win No. 2, the Ducks’ defensive front has to make life miserable for redshirt sophomore quarterback Drew Mestemaker.
There’s also a clear vulnerability up front for the Cowboys. First-year coach Eric Morris said redshirt senior starting left tackle Jacob Sexton will miss the rest of the season after suffering a lower-leg injury on the first offensive series against Tulsa. On the depth chart, redshirt junior Desmond Magiya or redshirt sophomore Shaun Torgeson would step into that spot.
That sets up a big chance for Oregon’s senior outside linebacker tandem of Matayo Uiagalelei and Teitum Tuioti. The two were everywhere in the opener, combining for 14 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks against Boise State.
The Ducks also need a cleaner night on special teams. Joe Lorig’s unit has to eliminate the mental errors against an Oklahoma State team that ranks No. 9 in efficiency nationally at 92.4 in that phase of the game.
The matchup also carries the memory of last season’s lopsided meeting. In Week 2 of the 2025 season, Oregon routed Oklahoma State 69-3 in the Pacific Northwest. It was the worst loss of the Mike Gundy era, and Gundy was later dismissed after 20 full seasons following the Cowboys’ blowout loss to Tulsa.
This version of Oklahoma State is almost unrecognizable from that group. The roster includes 91 newcomers, among them 66 transfers.
The biggest offseason addition was Mestemaker, who followed Morris from North Texas. He wasn’t the only one to make the move, either, with sophomore running back Caleb Hawkins and junior wide receiver Wyatt Young joining him from the Mean Green.
Morris and Mestemaker delivered North Texas its best season ever in 2025, finishing 12-2 and leading the nation in scoring at 45.1 points per game. Mestemaker finished first in the country with 4,379 passing yards and tied for second with 34 passing touchdowns.
In Other News...
Oklahoma State Draft Hopes Ride On One Massive Oregon Showcase
The spotlight for Oklahoma States trip to Oregon is already bigger than a late-September nonconference game usually gets, and the NFL has made sure of that. More than 20 scouts, including two general managers, have requested credentials for the matchup, a clear sign the visiting locker room and the Ducks sideline both figure to be under a heavy pro-grade microscope with several draftable players on the field.
For the Cowboys, the game offers a chance to put more than just a result on tape. Quarterback Drew Mestemaker has draft potential, while wide receiver Wyatt Young has drawn attention as a possible NFL slot fit, but the standard only rises when the opponent brings prospects like Dante Moore, AMauri Washington and Jamari Johnson into the same conversation. Oklahoma State does not need a perfect afternoon to justify the buzz, but it does need a cleaner one if its own draft hopes are going to keep building. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma State Must Fix One Major Problem Before Oregon Arrives
Oklahoma State has spent the week staring straight at the same problem that showed up in last weeks loss to Tulsa: getting enough heat on the quarterback. That issue gets a lot bigger with No. 6 Oregon coming to Stillwater on Saturday, because the Ducks do what dangerous passing teams always do - make a defense pay if the rush never arrives and the secondary has to hold up too long.
Dante Moore is back on the schedule, and the Cowboys know exactly what kind of challenge he brings to the matchup. Oklahoma States defense has to find a way to disrupt him early and slow Oregons passing game, or the Ducks could settle into the kind of rhythm that has already hurt the Cowboys once before. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma State May Catch Oregon At The Worst Possible Time
Oregon is already carrying the look of a team with plenty of firepower, and the Ducks may get another piece back just in time for their meeting with Oklahoma State on ESPN. Wide receiver Dakorien Moore has been talking up Iverson Hooks growth and the kind of impact he can have, while Dan Lanning has sounded upbeat about the receivers availability after he sat out the season opener.
For the Cowboys, that timing matters. Oregon is favored going in, and adding another receiver into the mix only makes an already difficult assignment more complicated for an Oklahoma State defense that will have to sort out the Ducks passing game on the road. The matchup was tough enough already, but it looks like the Ducks might be getting healthier at exactly the wrong time for the Cowboys. [Read more 🡒]