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Owen Schmitt’s Gut Guarantee for WVU to Beat Oklahoma State, Move to 4-0

Big O reveals his keys to another Mountaineer win.
West Virginia On SI

Another episode of "The Schmitt List" is now up on In the Gun. This week, former WVU fullback Owen Schmitt goes through his weekly inside-the-locker-room pregame imitation of Rich Rodriguez, hits the greaseboard for some X's and O's, and gives his gut guarantee — the things that will 100% lead to a West Virginia victory.

Big O's gut guarantee for Week 4 vs. Oklahoma State

“I think offensively, it’s going off of last week with Cam Cook and the missed tackles forced. We got 15+, and we’ve got to stay high and mighty on those. And then defensively, we need to hit this quarterback. They only have three total sacks (allowed) this year. We need to match that, in my opinion, and get at least 12 or so hits on this guy and get him rattled. We have to do that this week in order to really set the tone and to what we want to do going forward for the rest of the season.”

Getting after Drew Mestemaker is going to be a huge key to the game

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Oklahoma State 's Drew Mestemaker (17) throws touchdown pass in the first half of the college football game between the Oklahoma State Cowboys (OSU) and Murray State Racers at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday, Sept., 19, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Big O hit this one right on the money. Mestemaker, while athletic, is not necessarily someone who will scare the living daylights out of you with his ability to run. He can do it, yes, but he's not going to make people miss. As a matter of fact, he has yet to force a single missed tackle this season. Last year, he forced only five.

Why does this matter? Because if you can heat him up and collapse the pocket, he's not going to be able to hit the escape hatch and make something happen, like Mike Hawkins Jr. has the ability to.

Mestemaker does get the ball out quickly, but you can still impact his throws and decision-making by bringing numbers and putting a hit on him. With a loud, hostile environment and trying to figure out what Zac Alley's complex defense may be doing, it's a lot to work through, especially for a quarterback who has never played in front of 60,000 fans as the road team.

In three games, Mestemaker has produced six turnover-worthy plays, which is the second-most by a Big 12 quarterback, behind only Julian Lewis of Colorado. Applying pressure and getting Oklahoma State to consistently play from behind the chains in that environment could make for a long day for their offense.

Watch the full episode here

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Schuyler Callihan
SCHUYLER CALLIHAN

Schuyler Callihan is the publisher of West Virginia On SI and has been a trusted source covering the Mountaineers since 2016. He is the host of Between The Eers, The Walk Thru Game Day Show, and In the Gun Podcast. The Wheeling, WV native moved to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2020 to cover the Charlotte Hornets and Carolina Panthers.

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