⚡ CFB Dashboard

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The open doors of the Oklahoma State locker room allowed passers by to hear the familiar tune of "Take Me Home, Country Roads" blaring from the space where moments earlier, OSU coach Eric Morris — according to photographic evidence — had been crowd-surfing across a group of his players. Several Cowboy players had exited the locker room to take pictures in front of the scoreboard that showed Oklahoma State's 41-24 win over West Virginia on Saturday night at Milan Puskar Stadium. In many ways, it was a monumental win. It was the first Big 12 Conference victory for the Cowboys (3-1, 1-1 Big 12) under Morris — and the first conference win for the program since Nov. 25, 2023.  It was a win that likely will send the Pokes into the top 25, and it quelled any remaining thoughts that the Oregon win of two weeks earlier was a fluke. OSU had overcome some early adversity, trailing 14-3 with eight minutes left in the second quarter with an offense that was out of sync and a defense that looked befuddled by West Virginia's overwhelming rushing attack. But the offense clicked into gear, the defense adjusted and the Cowboys outscored the Mountaineers 38-10 over the final 38 minutes of the game. "It's just big for our program and our fanbase," Morris said. "Our kids knew what we were getting into. We talked about it, embracing what was about to happen, the night game in Morgantown, how their offense operated, how good they've been so far this year.  "The traveling, the first time on the plane, there were just a bunch of things that were distractions and our guys did a phenomenal job at handling those and coming together." OSU quarterback Drew Mestemaker finished 20 of 27 for 389 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. He connected with Wyatt Young eight times for 192 yards and Justin Bowick for times for 64. Caleb Hawkins rushed 31 times for 180 yards and a TD. "I felt like we were rolling in the first half, too, we were just shooting ourselves in the foot, and too many mistakes by our own guys," Mestemaker said. "Just not super-locked in. It was loud, big-time environment, but I feel like once our guys got in the groove, we were rolling the whole game.  "t halftime we talked about we gotta finish in the end zone every drive. We can't kick field goals the whole game, so I think that's what we did in the second half." Hawkins was rolling from the start. West Virginia played three deep safeties to prevent the long passing game, and that opened running lanes, thanks to another strong performance by the offensive line. "I thought they were phenomenal the whole game, really good in pass (protection), too," Morris said of the O-line. "Overall, they're continuing to get better. The cohesiveness. Running outside zone like we do, and being able to have everyone on the same page. It "I thought overall, without watching the tape, I think they paved the way for this victory." The offense finished with 609 yards, getting 220 on the ground, and producing 25 first downs. Red-zone struggles reared their head once again, and Morris opted for field goals on three occasions inside the 15. Sam Keltner delivered, converting four field goals in all, from 30, 19, 29 and 47 yards — the last one his longest of the season. He improved to 10-of-10 for the year. While the offense was crisp for much of the night, the defense had to pull itself up off the mat after absorbing a few uppercuts. "We knew it was gonna take 12 rounds of fighting to win this game," said linebacker Ethan Wesloski, who had a game-high 17 tackles. "I'm really proud of my guys for the way they responded to a little adversity early." The West Virginia rushing duo of quarterback Michael Hawkins and running back Cam Cook proved quite difficult to contain, piling up 335 yards on 63 carries as a team. Cook had 193 yards on 29 carries, with Hawkins adding 102 and three TDs on 27 attempts. But Michael Hawkins was only 10 of 22 for 132 yards through the air, with one interception — and it was a critical moment in getting the OSU defense back on track. West Virginia had scored on consecutive possessions and was driving for a third when Michael Hawkins rolled out and threw a pass that was tipped by defensive end Keviyan Huddleston. It floated in the air and was intercepted by Mose Phillips III, who returned it almost to midfield.  The offense scored its first touchdown of the game six plays later, and the Pokes were on their way to taking full control of the game. The Cowboys opened the game in a 3-3-5 scheme, but seemed out of sorts, and defensive coordinator Skyler Cassity switched back to the base defense of 4-2-5.  "I think us going back to a little bit more of what we know and play a little faster and not think as much," Morris said when asked what changed after the rough start. "The tempo, trying to diagnose what they're doing at such a fast speed, and we're in three-down. Just settling everybody down and doing something they've repped a million times and going out there and letting it loose and play extremely fast.  "I think it allowed us to play a lot more free as a defense and see it and play by the rules. That was a good adjustment by Coach Cassity." When the new rankings are released on Sunday afternoon, the Cowboys are almost assured of a spot in the top 25, but Morris was in no position to think about such things on Saturday night. "I'm so happy to walk out of this thing with a victory," he said. "Get on the plane and celebrate with these guys and hopefully take a nap."