West Virginia gets its fourth game of the season at home Saturday night, and the matchup with Oklahoma State looks like one that could turn into a shootout in a hurry.
The Mountaineers and Cowboys are set for a 7:00 p.m. kickoff in Morgantown in week four, with WVU listed as about a 2.5-point favorite depending on the sportsbook. ESPN’s analytics give the Mountaineers a 59.7% chance to win. Oklahoma State arrives at 2-1 and with plenty of momentum after a chaotic start to 2026, while West Virginia is trying to keep its strong opening going in front of its home crowd.
The Cowboys are under first-year head coach Eric Morris, who came to Stillwater after a three-year run at North Texas. He went 22-16 there, and his final season was the breakout: 11-2 in 2025 and a place in the AP Top 25.
Before that, Morris coached Incarnate Word from 2018-21, where he worked with future No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward and finished 24-18. He then moved to Washington State as offensive coordinator, and Ward followed him.
Morris also has an air raid background from his time as offensive coordinator at Texas Tech, his alma mater.
Oklahoma State opened the year with a stunning road loss to Tulsa, but quickly flipped the script by taking down top-10 Oregon in week two. The Cowboys then rolled Murray State 59-0 last Saturday. That mix of bad and explosive makes them a tricky team to pin down, but there’s no question they come into Morgantown with real confidence.
On offense, the Cowboys are built around three North Texas transfers: quarterback Drew Mestemaker, running back Caleb Hawkins and receiver Wyatt Young. Mestemaker, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound passer, looks like a future NFL quarterback.
He threw for nearly 4,400 yards last season at North Texas and has opened this year with 882 passing yards, eight touchdowns and four interceptions while completing better than 65% of his throws. He’s a pass-first quarterback with a strong arm, and he can make every throw on the field.
He’s also a capable runner when the opportunity is there, though he can force throws at times.
Oklahoma State throws the ball on about half its snaps, and Mestemaker is the engine that drives everything. Hawkins gives that offense another dangerous piece.
The 6-foot, 219-pound back was a freshman standout last season, rushing for 1,431 yards and 25 touchdowns. Through three games this year, he has 261 rushing yards and 43 receiving yards, averaging 5.0 yards per carry.
He hasn’t been as overwhelming so far in 2026, but he still has the kind of burst that can break a game open.
Mestemaker’s main targets are Wyatt Young and Justin Bowick. Young was a star last year as a redshirt freshman at North Texas, putting up 1,264 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns.
This season, he has caught 14 of 17 targets for 218 yards and two scores. Bowick, though, has actually led the team in both targets and receiving yards, with 27 targets and 281 yards.
The 6-foot-5 Illinois transfer is a physical outside receiver with strong hands, and Mestemaker looks his way early and often.
As a unit, Oklahoma State is putting up 528 yards per game, good for No. 6 nationally. Even with the air raid label, the Cowboys have been balanced enough to rank top-35 nationally in both passing and rushing yards per game.
Defensively, Oklahoma State has been far better than expected. The Cowboys are No. 1 in the country on third down, allowing conversions just 16.2% of the time, and they’re holding opponents to scores on only 50% of red-zone trips. They’re giving up 26th-best yardage numbers nationally, and first-year coordinator Skyler Cassity has his 3-3-5 group off to a strong start.
The centerpiece of that defense is senior linebacker Ethan Wesloski, a 234-pound MIKE who leads the team with 19 tackles, including 11 solo stops and two pass breakups. He was productive at North Texas last season with more than 100 tackles and a 90.6 ProFootballFocus grade, and he has carried that form into this year. West Virginia’s ground game will give him and the rest of the Cowboys a real test.
Another key piece is box safety Quinton Hammonds, also a North Texas transfer. He leads the defense in coverage snaps and has been dependable in run support, but the passing numbers against him have been uneven so far, with an NFL Passer Rating of 105.7 on seven targets. Even so, his tackling ability makes him an important part of the effort to slow down WVU’s rushing attack.
The matchup has the feel of a game with something on the line for both teams, and the night setting in Morgantown only adds to that. Oklahoma State’s passing game could stress West Virginia’s defense, while the Mountaineers should have their own chances on the ground with Cam Cook, DJ Epps and Michael Hawkins. In the end, the prediction here is that West Virginia does just enough late, with its rising quarterback making a few more plays down the stretch to help the Mountaineers survive an instant classic and move to 4-0.
In Other News...
WVUs First Big 12 Depth Chart Raises A Real QB Question
West Virginias first Big 12 depth chart of the season offered the usual mix of familiar names and emerging roles, but the quarterback line was the one that stood out. Michael Hawkins Jr. and Scotty Fox Jr. were listed as co-starters for the upcoming game against Oklahoma State, a notable wrinkle as the Mountaineers settle in for conference play and sort out where things stand under center.
The rest of the chart filled in some of the bigger-picture roster picture, with key spots at running back, in the secondary and at linebacker mapped out for the opener. It also reflected recent momentum for players such as David Afogho and Isaiah Patterson, who have earned more prominent mentions after their latest work, but the quarterback setup leaves the most important question hanging as West Virginia heads into a game that should say plenty about its direction. [Read more 🡒]
WVU Secondary Just Got Intriguing With JaCorey Thomas In The Mix
A court ruling in Indiana has cleared the way for JaCorey Thomas to be eligible for the 2026 collegiate football season, setting up what would be his fifth and final year. The former Georgia defensive back recently committed to West Virginia and, even before he appears on the schools official roster, he already looks like a useful addition for a Mountaineers secondary that can always use more veteran depth.
What remains unclear is how quickly Thomas will be able to factor into the picture. West Virginia has not yet listed him on its roster, and his availability for the upcoming game against Oklahoma State is still uncertain, leaving the Mountaineers with at least one more moving part as they sort through the back end of the defense. [Read more 🡒]
WVU Has A Real Chance To Seize Early Momentum Vs Oklahoma State
West Virginia gets a chance to turn a promising start into something more substantial when it hosts Oklahoma State at Mountaineer Field, with kickoff set for a FS1 telecast. The Mountaineers are looking to open 4-0 for the first time since 2018, a marker that would give this early stretch some real staying power and add a little more weight to what has already been a strong opening.
The matchup also comes with a modest but meaningful edge in the projections, as ESPNs Football Power Index gives West Virginia a 59.7% chance to win. Oklahoma State still brings enough of a threat to make this more than a formality, which is why this game feels like such an early swing point for the Mountaineers - a chance to bank momentum before the schedule starts demanding more from them. [Read more 🡒]