The Oklahoma State Cowboys fell behind early in their game with the UCF Knights, but a strong second half added more evidence that perhaps these Cowboys are gearing up to make a run at a Big 12 Championship. Caleb Hawkins fumbled on the second play of the game, giving the Knights great field position to set up their first score of the game. The Cowboys answered to tie it up, and after trading scores for the rest of the first half, it was tied 21-21 at halftime.
A slow third quarter, which featured just a single field goal by the Cowboys, gave way to a high-scoring fourth quarter that included another Cowboy field goal and two touchdowns by Oklahoma State before UCF finally found the end zone late in the game to make the final score 42-28.
Oklahoma State still has work to do before they’re truly considered to be a contender for making the Big 12 Championship Game, but with the way that they’re rolling, it’s not absurd to think that it could happen.
Balanced Offense Remains Unstoppable
Despite fumbling the ball away on the second play of the game, the Cowboys faced little resistance from a UCF defense that was considered to be solid coming into this game. The Knights entered the game with a top-20 turnover ratio, and they were giving up just 17.6 points per game. Oklahoma State moved the ball easily against UCF, outgaining the Knights in total offense despite almost 10 minutes fewer in time of possession and 23 fewer plays.
Quarterback Drew Mestemaker is in the running for the title of the nation’s top quarterback, and he had another solid day, completing 19-of-28 passes for 304 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also scored on the ground with an 11-yard rushing touchdown.
3 different receivers had at least 4 catches, and while nobody hit triple digits in receiving yards, Justin Bowick was close with 98 yards and a touchdown on his 6 catches. Wyatt Young finished with 52 yards and a touchdown on his 5 catches, and Miles Coleman had 69 yards on his 4 catches. Chris Barnes and Terrence Lewis had just a single reception apiece, but they were both big-yardage plays, accounting for 27 and 26 yards, respectively.
The ground game wasn’t quite as effective as it was in Morgantown a couple of weeks ago against West Virginia, but Caleb Hawkins rebounded well from his early fumble by rushing for 83 yards on 23 carries. His longest carry was only 8 yards, but he did have four rushes of at least 7 yards.
After scoring just 10 points in the season opener against Tulsa, the Cowboys have scored at least 39 points in 4 straight games. Oklahoma State scored at least 39 points 4 times total in 2024 and not even once in 2025. Safe to say, football is a lot more fun in Stillwater these days.
Defense Locks In For Another Clutch Second Half
For the second straight game, the Cowboy defense struggled to get stops in the first half before locking down the opposing offense in the second half. UCF’s offense entered this game with some mediocre performances so far this season—scoring no more than 21 points against three Power 4 opponents—but they went point for point with the Cowboys up until halftime. The second half was a different story, however, as Oklahoma State made the necessary adjustments, holding the Knights to just a single, irrelevant touchdown near the end of the game.
After playing about as well as they could have hoped in the first half, a couple of key mistakes by the Knights in the fourth quarter ended up costing them big time. UFC was trailing by just 6 points when an errant backwards pass by Keyone Jenkins was recovered by Evan Jackson and returned 28 yards for a touchdown. That was followed by a 2-point conversion run by Drew Mestemaker to give the Cowboys a comfortable 35-21 lead.
On the following possession, Oklahoma State’s defense stood tall once again as they quickly forced the Knights into a 4th-and-1 situation at the UCF 34. The Cowboys got the stop, receiving great field position as a result, and it took just 3 plays for Mestemaker to find Wyatt Young for a short touchdown pass.
The Cowboys aren’t likely to win games on their defense alone, but if they can find a way to be more consistent from the opening kickoff, then the ceiling for this team is extremely high.
Top-25 Matchup Coming Up
For the first time in over two years, the 18th-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys will play in a top-25 matchup when they travel to Texas next Saturday to take on the Houston Cougars. 22nd-ranked Houston defeated Kansas State today, and the Cougars’ lone loss was a 28-26 decision to Texas Tech. This game could end up having major implications for the Big 12 Championship game, and a lot of eyes will be watching as the game kicks off at 6:30 PM on FOX.