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.
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.
