How Will North Texas' Bowl Game Performance Impact OSU's Future?

The Oklahoma State Cowboys haven’t taken the field in about a month, but another game on Saturday could impact the entirety of the Cowboys’ 2026-27 season.

The University of North Texas will take on San Diego State in the New Mexico Bowl on Saturday to conclude the Mean Green’s terrific season. Cowboys’ head coach Eric Morris is partly to thank for the Mean Green’s success, but he and most of his staff will be headlining the Pokes in Stillwater next season.

Just because Morris has come to Stillwater doesn’t mean that his ties with North Texas will no longer be useful. Oklahoma State is hoping that Morris is able to sway the majority of the key playmakers from UNT to head up north to OSU.

However, if UNT proves to be a top-tier team even without Morris on Saturday, more eyes than just those in Stillwater could look its way.

The most fought for players are going to be quarterback Drew Mestemaker and running back Caleb Hawkins. These two freshmen have been incredible this season and have carried most of the load of the Mean Green’s offense.

Mestemaker led all of college football in passing yards as he threw for 4,129. He completed over 70% of his passes this year and found the end zone 31 times in the air and five times on the ground.

Even with Mestemaker’s impressive aerial game, Hawkins commanded attention with his fierce running. He rushed for 1,236 yards and 23 touchdowns this year, and even got active in the passing game, catching three more touchdowns.

This one-two punch was lethal this year and could be a key part of the Cowboys’ offense next year, that is, if they end up in Stillwater.

There’s no guarantee they both chose to follow Morris to the land of orange and black, and other colleges have had their eyes on them. There have been reports that Indiana has offered Mestemaker a good sum of money to come play for it next season, and if both players show out on Saturday once again, what other offers will come their way?

OSU will not be able to give every player the amount of NIL they want, and will get outbid by other programs, but the Cowboys just have to make sure they are in the running for the top players.

The Cowboys want to see one more time what all these players are capable of before they start to pursue them in the portal, but if the players do ball out, the Cowboys could be in for a tough 15-day window when the transfer portal officially opens.