Grading Every Oklahoma State Position Group After Week 4 vs. West Virginia
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The Oklahoma State Cowboys are back from the dead after their 41-24 win over the West Virginia Mountaineers on Saturday.
Make that the No. 19 Oklahoma State Cowboys, as they were ranked for the first time since Week 4 of the 2024 season after the victory. The Cowboys are still just outside the coaches’ poll but with an idle week coming up, that could happen next weekend.
The win snapped an 18-game Big 12 losing streak and is the first time the Cowboys have won three games in a row since the start of the 2024 season. What fell apart after that has, for the moment, appears rebuilt.
Here is how each position group grades out after Saturday’s game.
Quarterback: A-
I went back just to be sure whether I downgraded Drew Mestemaker for the fumble against Murray State and I didn’t. I should have. So, to be consistent I’m not going to drop him a letter grade for the interception (though that’s something the Cowboys must address).
He completed 74.1% of his passes, threw three touchdown passes along with 389 yards and most of his yardage came on plays of 15 yards or longer (big plays per the game stats). He tore apart WVU’s secondary in the second half, which was undermanned due to injury. To put that kind of performance together on 27 pass attempts is terrific.
Running Back: A
Caleb Hawkins went OFF last night vs. West Virginia
— Big 12 Studios (@big12studios) September 27, 2026
🔥31 carries
🔥180 rushing yards
🔥1 rushing TD@CowboyFB pic.twitter.com/kFk1I8TnZS
This is why Morris is so sold on the running piece of his Air Raid. Caleb Hawkins had his best game as a Cowboy. He tore off big gains as Oklahoma State exploited the left side of the Mountaineers’ defense and turned to the inside run once the WVU defense sold out to that side. Hawkins rushed for 180 yards on 31 carries and Ayo Adeyi averaged 7.3 yards on six carries.
Wide Receiver: A
Making a living in the end zone @justinbowickjr pic.twitter.com/XZvttqN4Ro
— OSU Cowboy Football (@CowboyFB) September 27, 2026
Mestemaker set this group up well, but they also made big plays on their own. Young caught five long passes from the quarterback and won a one-on-one matchup for his touchdown. Justin Bowick used a great spin move to get out of a tackle to score. Terrence Lewis showed his toughness on a touchdown catch and a two-point conversion. Chris Barnes’ second-half opening reception expanded the playbook.
This was a week after Justin Bowick’s career game. This is what the Air Raid can do when no cares if they’re “The Man” but everyone has the talent to be “The Man.”
Tight End: B
Carson Kolb was on the field for 64 plays and only had one catch — not that it’s the only measure of a tight end in a game. Kolb and backup Morgan McPhaul did a good job blocking on for the run. The best part of a game like Saturday is you rarely heard their name called, which is usually a good thing.
Offensive Line: B+
The offensive line was back together with the return of right guard Joseph Hanson. All five starters played all 70 plays. They did a terrific job run blocking for Hawkins and protecting Mestemaker, who wasn’t sacked. The only thing keeping the group from an A were the pre-snap penalties. The Cowboys practiced that with loud music and crowd noise all week and those mistakes, especially early, hurt OSU on a couple of drives.
Defensive Line: B
The 3-3-5 alignment to start the game didn’t work as hoped, so the Cowboys hopped back into the 4-2-5 and had better results. The defensive line had half of OSU’s eight tackles for loss (Jaleel Johnson had 1.5). They also got credit for two of the four sacks. The four-man line helped them do a better job of containing WVU’s inside run game. The defense gave up 466 yards. But once the halftime adjustments were made the unit gave up 10 points. The front four mad big plays in the second half, Johnson’s fourth-down sack in particular.
Linebacker: B+
This was a game where one would have expected Ethan Wesloski and Tate Romney to have big games and they were not a disappointment. Wesloski had 16 tackles, a half-tackle for loss and a half-sack. Romney had 12 tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack. The move back to the 4-2-5 took Isaiah Chisom off the field more in the second half but he still had seven tackles. There were some individual battles this group lost in the first half that kept it from getting an A.
Secondary: A
The Mountaineers don’t pass the football that much. Quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. only threw it 22 times. But he was 10-for-22 with 132 yards and the interception. He only had one big pass play. Every other time he tried to go deep downfield the Cowboys secondary had it covered well. Mose Phillips III had the game’s only turnover with the interception, which may have been the biggest momentum shift of the game. You could argue the unit played better than it played against Oregon.
Special Teams: A
Sam Keltner had another fine day, kicking four field goals in four tries, including a 47-yarder. Punter Lachie Pozzobon had two punts for an average of 44.5 yards. He pinned one inside the 20-yard line. Miles Coleman only returned one punt for six yards and one kickoff for 16 yards. The Mountaineers had that part well covered. Part of the input here is that OSU special teams didn’t cost the Cowboys anything. WVU only returned one kick, a kickoff for 22 yards. The coverage was excellent.
Coaching: B+
The only downgrade here is for the move to the 3-3-5 on defense. On paper, that should have worked, giving the Cowboys an extra tackler to handle Hawkins and running back Cam Cook. It didn’t. WVU adjusted by using a bit more outside run to take advantage of it. Once defensive coordinator Skyler Cassity went back to the 4-2-5, the unit started clicking again. Offensively, if the game plan was to pound the run and open up the passing game in the second half, well kudos to the staff because that worked out perfectly. The staff gets two weeks to clean up the penalties.
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Matthew Postins is the publisher of Oklahoma State on SI. He is an award-winning sports journalist who was formerly the editor of the College Football America Yearbook and covers the Big 12 Conference for Heartland College Sports.
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