STILLWATER - Oklahoma State may have found something it was missing, and it showed up in the most important part of the field.
In the Cowboys’ 66-28 win at Kansas State, the offense looked sharper, more inventive and far more dangerous in the red zone. That matters because this team now heads into a much tougher week with the feeling that it has finally solved one of its biggest problems.
If Oklahoma State can knock off No. 10 Texas Tech, the next four days could turn into a giant what-if conversation.
For now, the takeaway is simpler: the Cowboys looked like a team few would want to see in the postseason, especially with Drew Mestemaker and running back Caleb Hawkins rolling the way they have lately.
The red zone turnaround was impossible to miss. According to the broadcast, Oklahoma State entered the game ranked 100th nationally in red zone touchdown efficiency, having scored touchdowns on 57% of its trips this season. That number had already been helped by a 4-for-4 showing against Iowa State the week before, and Saturday pushed it even higher.
Against the Wildcats, the starting offense went 6-for-6 in the red zone. The backups added a field goal on their lone trip. That lifted the season figure to 60%, though it briefly sat at 62% before Mestemaker and the starters came out.
Over the last two games, Oklahoma State’s starters have run 30 plays inside the opposing 25-yard line. Hawkins has been the centerpiece there.
On those snaps, he has 11 carries for 60 yards, three touchdowns and three more first downs. He also caught a screen for five yards and another score.
That means the Cowboys are feeding him 40% of the time in that space, and in short-yardage situations alone, Hawkins has either scored or moved the chains five times. That kind of production is exactly what the offense had been lacking.
It’s not just Hawkins and the line making the difference. Oklahoma State has also gotten more creative near the goal line, mixing in reverses, Mestemaker’s touchdown reception and some unusual formations. That lines up with coach Eric Morris’ frustration with settling for kicks down there earlier in the season.
Mestemaker has been a big part of the surge, too. In the last two weeks, Young has been the clear favorite in this area, catching all three of his red zone targets for 35 yards and a touchdown. Bowick was the only other Cowboy with two red zone, or adjacent, targets, and his lone chance on Saturday ended up as Mestemaker’s only incompletion in that stretch when the quarterback threw it behind him.
Otherwise, Mestemaker has been perfect in that part of the field: 9-of-9 for 95 yards and five touchdowns. He has also kept it himself four times for 15 yards and a touchdown. Both his score and his longest red zone run against Kansas State - a seven-yard gain - came on quarterback draws, though it looked as if that longer run could have turned into a pass if needed based on the way the receivers moved.
There was more to like from the Cowboys beyond the red zone, too, and one of the biggest questions coming out of the game is whether Isaiah Chisom’s breakout was about the opponent or about his own readiness. Chisom starred while filling in for injured linebacker Tate Romney, and now the question is whether he can bring that same impact if Oklahoma State needs him again against the Red Raiders.
Another thing worth sorting through: whether the Cowboys’ third-down defense has actually improved, or whether Kansas State was simply that poor in those situations.
And then there’s Hawkins, who keeps looking like a one-man wrecking crew. On a day when Oklahoma State’s offense seemed to have answers everywhere, he was the clearest one.
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