What Eric Morris Said About WVU and QB Mike Hawkins Jr.

Some thoughts on the Mountaineers from the Oklahoma State head coach.

Sep 26, 2026; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; Oklahoma State Cowboys head coach Eric Morris speaks to West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Rich Rodriguez after the game at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It was an odd night for West Virginia. At first, it looked like the offense couldn't be stopped with the dynamic duo of Mike Hawkins Jr. and Cam Cook running the ball, but a very predictable unit was slowed down in the second half, and Oklahoma State's offense just kept on humming right along.

While he didn't get many opportunities to throw the ball, Oklahoma State head coach Eric Morris still came away very impressed with Hawkins and gave him some high praise.

“Super dynamic runner in Hawkins. We knew. He’s just a kid you hope to contain. You’re not going to stop him; you want to limit the bleeding," he said. “The kid is special. I was in Texas when he was coming up through the ranks, and I was at North Texas, so we really didn’t have a chance to recruit him, but just remember watching him at that point in his career — just super electric. And I think this is the perfect system for him. Shoot, he’s got two more years after this year, and Rich Rod does a phenomenal job with running quarterbacks; he’s shown that over the course of his coaching career. But yeah, they’re going to be a problem for a long time with him at the helm.”

Morris is right. Hawkins is a special talent and can win a bunch of games with the Mountaineers, but it's going to come down to Rich Rod having trust in the passing game and allowing him to spin it.

Defensively, West Virginia stayed in a three-man front for much of the night, giving Oklahoma State a dime look, which did NOT work out well. Running back Caleb Hawkins ran hard into a light box time after time, and even though it didn't get WVU out of that look, they were still able to hit several explosive plays in the passing game — 10, to be exact.

“We committed to the run because they had three high safeties," Morris told reporters. "It was something they really hadn’t shown. They showed a little bit on tape, but obviously they were going to keep an umbrella and didn’t want Drew to beat them.”

It was mind-boggling to see Zac Alley not make an adjustment at any point to go away from that plan, which was clearly not working. When you're giving up 19.5 yards per completion and 5.4 yards per carry, you might as well pack it up.