Oklahoma State vs. West Virginia: The Matchups That Will Decide the Game
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The Oklahoma State Cowboys go into the 2026 season believing they have a lot to prove after losing 18 straight Big 12 games.
Yes, the Cowboys haven't won a conference game since the end of the 2023 season when they beat BYU in Stillwater. That streak was part of what cost Mike Gundy his job and it's the first significant hurdle for new head coach Eric Morris.
To right the ship in Stillwater, the Cowboys must start winning conference games. Rack up enough conference wins and the Cowboys can end a two-year bowl game drought. Max out, and the Cowboys could make things interesting in the Big 12.
On Sept. 26, Oklahoma State will try and end that streak against West Virginia. Second-year head coach Rich Rodriguez is trying to work his magic once again in Morgantown. Last season was less successful than he would have hoped. The Cowboys are hoping to continue that trend in the opener.
Here are the matchups that will decide the game.
OSU RB Caleb Hawkins vs. WVU Front Six
Morris runs the Air Raid offense and that offense is naturally aligned with the passing game. But while at North Texas lats year, Morris and his staff produced one of the best running games in the country and the running back that made that happen followed Morris to Stillwater.
Caleb Hawkins was a beast last year. He set the FBS freshman record for touchdowns in a season with 29 and rushed for 1,434 yards. Just about every expert is high on Hawkins’ talent at the power conference level.
The Mountaineers had one of the Top 50 pass rushes in FBS last season. They averaged more than two sacks per game and pressured quarterbacks consistently. That’s an important matchup here because of new OSU quarterback Drew Mestemaker, who was the UNT starter last year and led FBS in passing yards.
WVU will have to pick its poison here. Slow down Hawkins or slow down Mestemaker? Traditionally, stuffing the run makes rushing the passer easier. So, for the Mountaineers, this game is all about slowing Hawkins down and putting the Cowboys in long down-and-distance to create obvious passing matchups so West Virginia’s edge rushers can just go get Mestemaker.
The Cowboys need Hawkins to be an effective rusher to take heat off Mestemaker. That makes WVU tackles Jaylen Thomas and Nate Gabriel important pieces of the puzzle on gameday in the Mountaineers’ 4-2-5 defense.
Oklahoma State Front Four vs. WVU RB Cam Cook
Strangely, West Virginia went out and got a highly productive running back from the Group of 6 as well. The Mountaineers lured Cam Cook from Jacksonville State, who rushed for 1,659 yards and 16 touchdowns last season. He was at TCU for two years before transferred to JSU, so he knows the Big 12 well.
The Mountaineers’ running game was OK last year, but it's been much better. And even though Rich Rodriguez runs a similar offense to Morris at OSU, he knows what a strong running game can do. This puts plenty of heat on Oklahoma State’s front four.
But unlike OSU, where Mestemaker is clearly proven, the Cowboys need to slow down Cook to put the ball in the hands of a less experienced or less capable quarterback — at least on paper. Michael Hawkins or Scotty Fox could win, or share, the job and both have plenty to prove.
For the OSU front four of Saadiq Clements, Jerry Lawson, Jaleel Johnson and James Williams, slowing down Cook might bog down the entire offense.
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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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