Oklahoma State’s Nov. 14 date with Texas Tech has the feel of a game that could turn on just a couple of brutal, revealing battles. The Cowboys are entering a new era under head coach Eric Morris, while the Red Raiders arrive after a 2025 season that brought them their first conference title since the Border Conference days. Texas Tech got there by leaning hard on the transfer portal and its recruiting pull in Texas, and it reloaded again with more help up front and in the secondary.
For Oklahoma State, the big question starts in the trenches. Quarterback Drew Mestemaker can only make this offense go if he has time, and running back Caleb Hawkins needs room to operate.
Texas Tech looks built to squeeze both. The Red Raiders had one of the nation’s top pass rushers last season in David Bailey, who went No. 2 overall in the NFL Draft, and they went back to work in the portal by adding Trey White from San Diego State and Adam Trick from Miami (OH).
Both were productive a year ago and could take another step forward.
Texas Tech’s defensive front also brings back A.J. Holmes Jr. at interior line and adds Mateen Ibirogba, with more transfer depth behind them.
The Red Raiders were strong against the run last season, and that matters here because Oklahoma State is piecing together a nearly brand-new offensive line. Only Jakobe Sanders returns with anything close to starting experience from last year.
Offensive line coach Cody Creel has 20 players to sort through in fall camp, but none of them arrive with star billing. He doesn’t need stars, though.
He just needs five linemen who can function together well enough to protect Mestemaker and create lanes for Hawkins.
That matchup feels like the hinge point. Whichever side controls it probably controls the game.
If Mestemaker gets a clean pocket, the Cowboys can test Texas Tech on the perimeter. Wyatt Young, who was Mestemaker’s top receiver at North Texas last season when both played for Morris, gives him a familiar target.
Chris Barnes, the Wake Forest transfer, brings speed on the edge and special teams value. Justin Bowick, the Illinois transfer, looks like the red-zone option.
There are other possible contributors in the mix, too, so the Cowboys should have plenty of choices if the line holds.
Texas Tech, though, has answers in the back end. The Red Raiders bring back cornerback Brice Pollock, Star back John Ciurry and safety Brenden Jordan, giving them one of the Big 12’s most experienced secondaries. They also have two more players who were already in the program last season: cornerback Amier Boyd and safety Peyton Morgan.
That creates a rare setup in today’s game: one starting group built entirely from transfers and another made up entirely of holdovers. It’s the kind of contrast that can decide a game before the final whistle.
In Other News...
Can Eric Morris End Oklahoma States Bowl Drought This Fast
The reset in Stillwater has been dramatic enough on its own. After a 1-11 season and the end of the Mike Gundy era, Eric Morris arrives with a roster rebuilt almost from scratch, bringing nearly 90 new players through the transfer portal and leaning on familiar faces from his previous stop to accelerate the turnaround. The early read from around the Big 12 is not that Oklahoma State is suddenly a contender, but that the Cowboys at least have a path back to respectability if the new pieces click quickly.
For a program trying to climb out of the league cellar, the question is less about winning big right away than whether a bowl return can happen as soon as 2026. The schedule should offer some help, and there are enough winnable games on paper to make the math interesting, but the real swing factors are still internal: whether the offense settles in behind Morriss new arrivals and whether the defense gets enough from its holdovers to stop the slide. If those parts come together, this kind of rebound might not take as long as it felt like it would in December. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Fans Will Get An Early Look At Steve Lutzs New Team
Oklahoma States trip to Puerto Rico is giving fans their first real look at Steve Lutzs latest roster, and it comes at a useful time for a team still learning one another. The Cowboys are set for three exhibition games against professional teams, a chance to get live reps, build chemistry and start sorting out roles before the season begins.
The roster makeup makes the timing even more interesting, with only a small group of returners and a lineup largely built from freshmen and transfers. For a program trying to keep moving forward under Lutz, the work in Puerto Rico is less about the final score than about seeing how quickly a new group can come together, and Cowboys fans will be able to follow along through free live and on-demand streams on BallerTV. [Read more 🡒]