Oregon’s Scouting Report for Oklahoma State Comes With a Twist

The No. 6 Oregon Ducks are 1-0 to open the 2026 season, but their narrow 34-27 win over Boise State came with a cost. The Ducks dropped from No. 2 to No. 6 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 despite beating one of the better Group of Five programs in the country.

In Week 2, Oregon faces another opponent that could be better than many anticipate, in Oklahoma State.

But this is a completely different team than the one the Ducks beat 69-3 last season. Former Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy is gone. Eric Morris is now in charge after leading North Texas to a 12-win season in 2025, and he brought a significant portion of his program with him.

Oregon Ducks Oklahoma State Dan Lanning Eric Morris Mestemaker Scouting Football Stillwater Big Ten Transfers — Oklahoma State head coach Eric Morris walks on the filed before a college football game between Oklahoma State (OSU) and Tulsa at H. A. Chapman Stadium in Tulsa, Okla., on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Cowboys have 91 newcomers on their 2026 roster, including 66 transfers. Morris also brought 21 players with him from North Texas, including quarterback Drew Mestemaker, running back Caleb Hawkins and wide receiver Wyatt Young. That amount of turnover makes Oklahoma State difficult to evaluate after just one game.

“I know this will be his first home game there. I'm sure it'll be an unbelievable atmosphere. Actually, never coached there, but I know they they do a really good job, and it's really a new team, a lot of new faces in that program,” said Lanning on Monday. “I think they have over 90 new players in that program, so it's going to look a lot different than the last time we faced this team.”

Oklahoma State’s Week 1 Review:

The Cowboys opened the 2026 season with a 24-10 loss to Tulsa, but Lanning isn't putting much weight on the final score.

“I don't necessarily put a ton of stock in the fact that they didn't they win the game. You you look at the scheme, and it's been effective everywhere that he's been, whether it's incarnate word, whether it's Washington State, you know, whether it's North Texas, and and now at Oklahoma State, so they've they've created a lot of points wherever they've been.”

Morris led North Texas to its best season in program history in 2025, and the Mean Green finished the season as the nation's top scoring offense at 45.1 points per game.

The Week 1 performance was a clear step backward from that production, but there were also obvious reasons for the struggles. Four turnovers, three turnovers on downs and an inability to generate big plays kept Oklahoma State from capitalizing on its 368 yards of offense.

The challenge for Oregon will be figuring out which version of Morris’ team shows up in Stillwater.

Drew Mestemaker Gives Oklahoma State a Legitimate Threat at Quarterback

At the center of Oklahoma State's new-look offense is one of the most productive quarterbacks in college football.

Mestemaker arrived in Stillwater after a breakout season at North Texas. In 2025, the redshirt freshman completed 319 of 463 passes for 4,379 yards and 34 touchdowns with only nine interceptions.

His 4,379 passing yards led the FBS, while his 34 touchdown passes ranked second nationally.

“Drew's an unbelievable player. You see his arm strength show up. He's a guy that can stand flat-footed and throw a 60-yard bomb. So he's got a really strong arm … They have a really strong passing attack. There's a reason they were the number one scoring offense in the nation last year at North Texas.”

Mestemaker's path to becoming one of the most sought-after quarterbacks in the transfer portal is one of the most interesting storylines in college football. He joined North Texas without a single Division I offer and had never started a high school game at quarterback before eventually becoming one of the top passers in the country.

Mestemaker told the Brandon Walker College Football Show that Oregon was among the schools that showed interest when he entered the transfer portal. Lanning did not deny that Oregon may have been aware of Mestemaker's availability, but said he personally was never in communication with the quarterback.

“I was never talking to Drew. That doesn't mean that people didn't communicate or were aware that he was in the portal," Lanning said. "I'm sure any good player, you know, we're aware of in the portal. But I think it was pretty quick that he made the decision he was going to be following his coach there.”

Now, Mestemaker will face the defense that could give him his toughest test of the young season.

Oregon's edge duo of Teitum Tuioti and Matayo Uiagalelei combined for 25.5 tackles for loss and 15.5 sacks across 15 games last season. That pressure poses a huge threat to an Oklahoma State offense that is still working through significant changes along the offensive line.

The Cowboys are breaking in a new-look offensive front as part of their massive roster overhaul, and Tulsa was able to make life difficult for Mestemaker in the opener. If Oregon can consistently pressure him, the Ducks could force Oklahoma State's passing game into some of the same issues it experienced in Week 1.

Oklahoma State’s Offense:

Despite Oklahoma State looking completely different than it did in 2025, Lanning is all too familiar with Morris’s offense. The two coaches first crossed paths in 2022, when Morris was Washington State's offensive coordinator and Lanning was in his first season as Oregon's head coach.

Washington State led Oregon 34-22 late in the fourth quarter before the Ducks came back to secure a 44-41 victory. Current Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward was playing for Morris at that time and threw for 375 yards and two touchdowns.

“He does a lot of stuff that's disruptive on offense. That's tough,” Lanning said of Morris’s offense. “He can create explosive plays. They thrive off him. They throw the ball extremely well. You know, he's even improved in his performance when it comes to the run game and what they're able to create in the run game now.”

Oklahoma State's Defense:

Morris brought defensive coordinator Skyler Cassity with him to Stillwater after Cassity helped transform the Mean Green defense in 2025.

Back in 2024, North Texas allowed 34.2 points per game, which ranked 118th nationally. Under Cassity in 2025, that number dropped to 26.5 points per game as the Mean Green improved to 12-2 and reached the American Athletic Conference championship game. Cassity also helped North Texas force 28 turnovers in 2025, while the unit earned strong marks for its tackling and coverage.

Oregon will get a chance to see whether that improvement carries over to Stillwater. The Cowboys' defense held Tulsa to 361 total yards, but Oklahoma State's offense repeatedly put the defense in difficult situations by turning the ball over.

Lanning also believes Oklahoma State's familiarity with tempo could give it an advantage against the Ducks.

“They get to go against tempo every single day. I think that's one of the biggest things that obviously they present on offense. So their ability to line up," Lanning said.

"We had some successful plays on Saturday because we were able to line up fast and get the ball out before the defense was lined up. That you can anticipate that happening in this game because they get to face that quite a bit,” said Lanning.

How Quickly Can 91 New Players Become One Team?

The Cowboys have 91 newcomers, including 66 transfers, meaning roughly 79 percent of the roster is new. Only 24 players from last year's Oklahoma State roster remain. But calling the Cowboys inexperienced would be misleading.

Those transfers brought more than 45,000 Division I snaps with them. The transfer class also ranked No. 7 nationally according to both The Athletic and 247Sports.

Although a handful of Oklahoma State's newcomers come from North Texas and have familiarity playing with each other and for the coaching staff, it still takes a significant amount of time for 91 players to gel. On top of that, there is significantly less film for Lanning and the Ducks to study.

“I imagine that's tough to get that figured out. You know, in a short amount of time, especially, we don't see what it looks like until you really get on the game field,” said Lanning of the Cowboys.

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