Drew Mestemaker threw for 389 yards and three touchdowns and Wyatt Young caught eight passes for 192 yards and a touchdown for Oklahoma State, which ended a couple of lengthy losing streaks by rallying past West Virginia 41-24 on Saturday night in Morgantown, W.Va.
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— OSU Cowboy Football (@CowboyFB) September 27, 2026
In the teams’ Big 12 Conference opener, the Cowboys (3-1, 1-0) prevailed behind the arm of Mestemaker, who rallied them from a 14-3 deficit early in the second quarter to end an 18-game conference losing streak and an 11-game road skid.
Mestemaker threw an interception on the opening drive of the second half, which led to Michael Hawkins Jr.’s 9-yard touchdown run, giving the Mountaineers a 21-13 lead less than four minutes into the third quarter.
However, it was all Cowboys from there as Mestemaker, who completed 20 of 27 passes, picked apart the West Virginia secondary to spur the comeback. He picked up 274 of his yards after halftime on 11-of-14 passing.
Oklahoma State pulled even when Mestemaker connected on a 4-yard scoring pass to Terrence Lewis, who caught a two-point conversion to make it 21-21 with 9:33 left in the third.
The Cowboys defense also held the Mountaineers in check, sacking Hawkins three times in the second half and stopping them on downs on three of their final four drives.
Hawkins ran 27 times for 102 yards and completed 10 of 22 passes for 132 yards and one interception. Cam Cook ran for 193 yards on 29 carries for West Virginia, which finished with 466 yards.
Caleb Hawkins accumulated 180 rushing yards on 31 attempts for Oklahoma State. His 22-yard touchdown run with 2:40 left in the third quarter put the Cowboys up 28-24.
The Cowboys’ Sam Keltner kicked a 29-yard field goal early in the fourth for a 31-24 lead, then added a 47-yarder – his fourth of the game – after Mestemaker hit Young for a 6-yard TD reception to close the scoring.
Oklahoma State amassed 609 yards one week after totaling 662 against Murray State. It’s the first time since November 2018 that the Cowboys gained 600 yards in consecutive games against Oklahoma and West Virginia.
Oklahoma State returns to AP Top 25 at No. 19
Cowboys return to the poll for the first time in two years.
STILLWATERΒ β The Oklahoma State football team returned to the AP Top 25 Sunday, making its season debut at No. 19 after winning at West Virginia, 41-24, Saturday night.
It marks the first time OSU has appeared in the poll since it was ranked No. 20 on September 22, 2024, and is OSUβs highest AP rank since it was No. 14 a week prior to that.
The Cowboys, who rank No. 3 in the FBS in total offense, are joined in the AP poll by Big 12 members BYU (No. 10), Texas Tech (No. 12), Utah (No. 13) and Houston (No. 20). Cincinnati and Arizona are also receiving votes.
Oregon, which Oklahoma State earlier defeated 39-31, is No. 15 after beating then-No. 12 USC Saturday.
Oklahoma State is also just out of the top 25 in the US LBM Coaches Poll, receiving 126 points for the equivalent of 26th in those rankings. Conference member BYU, Texas Tech, Utah and Houston are also in the coaches poll at Nos. 9, 10, 13 and 20, respectively. Cincinnati, Arizona and West Virginia are receiving votes and Oregon is No. 15.
With the exception of 2025, the Cowboys have been ranked at some point in every season since 2008. Including the 2026 season, Oklahoma State has been ranked in the top 15 of the AP poll in 15 of the past 19 seasons and has reached the top 10 in 11 of those 19 years.
Season tickets are sold out to Oklahoma State football games this year, but there are still opportunities to get tickets to see the Cowboys in Stillwater.
With four home games remaining and the Homecoming matchup against Colorado sold out, a three-game mini-pack is the best way to go to the games with remaining ticket inventory. It provides access to the October 10 game against UCF, the November 15 game against Texas Tech and the November 28 game against Kansas. Single-game tickets can also be purchased to each of those games.
Tickets are available at www.okstate.com/tickets or by contacting the ticket office at 877-ALL-4-OSU. Fans can still secure their tickets to sold out games through SeatGeek, the official secondary partner of OSU Athletics.
