Oklahoma State Cowboys at West Virginia Mountaineers
Fri Sep 25 · 11:00 PM CT
By Pablo SanchezUpdated 7d ago·2 min read
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Two programs that hit rock bottom in 2025 open a new chapter against each other, and neither one really knows what it has yet.
Bush’s Picks
OKSTWVU
OKSTWVU
OverUnder
Best BetOklahoma State
Eric Morris walks in with the most proven quarterback-developing résumé on either sideline, and he brought his own trigger man to run it. Mestemaker's production at North Texas dwarfs anything either West Virginia quarterback has done at this level, and the Mountaineers still haven't even settled their starter. That uncertainty at the game's most important position tips the scale toward the visitors here.
Oklahoma State
+New coach Morris has proven QB-developing track record
+Mestemaker led FBS in passing yards in 2025
+Massive portal overhaul brought in top-100 transfers
−Coming off a 1-11 season, worst since 1991
−Went 0-9 down the stretch under interim coach
−Entirely new roster and staff with zero games together
West Virginia
+Cam Cook, nation's leading rusher, is back
+Year 2 under Rodriguez brings more continuity
+Beat Oklahoma State 38-14 in last meeting
−2025 was WVU's worst finish since 2013
−Starting QB job still unsettled entering fall camp
−Lost leading receiver Cam Vaughn to Miami
Both sides show up for Friday's Big 12 clash with brand new quarterbacks and brand new philosophies. Oklahoma State handed the keys to Drew Mestemaker, the transfer QB Eric Morris brought along after the two turned North Texas into one of the country's most explosive offenses; West Virginia still hasn't settled its own quarterback race between Scotty Fox and Oklahoma transfer Michael Hawkins Jr. heading into fall camp. Whoever wins that battle inherits Cam Cook, who led the nation in rushing a year ago and looks like a 2,000-yard back in waiting.
The depth-chart pictures for both teams will keep shifting between now and kickoff — both rosters turned over more than half their two-deep in the transfer portal this offseason, which is its own kind of variance heading into an early-season test. West Virginia is replacing its leading receiver after Cam Vaughn left for Miami, leaning on USC transfer Prince Strachan and Troy transfer DJ Epps to fill the void, while Oklahoma State's rebuild runs nearly 80 new bodies deep. None of that shows up on a scoreboard yet, which is exactly why this one is so hard to peg from the outside.
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OKST Oklahoma State
WVU West Virginia
What is settled is the history: Oklahoma State holds the all-time series edge and beat West Virginia 48-34 the last time these two played in Morgantown back in 2023, though the Mountaineers evened the score with a 38-14 win in Stillwater last season. That back-and-forth feels fitting for two programs trying to answer the same question this fall — how fast can a total teardown actually turn into a winning roster.
Oklahoma State Cowboys
Sep 19?vs Murray State—
Sep 12?vs Oregon—
Sep 5?@ Tulsa—
West Virginia Mountaineers
Sep 19?@ Virginia—
Sep 12?vs UT Martin—
Sep 5?vs Coastal Carolina—
Recent form.
Morris's résumé is the more proven variable here. He went 10-1 at North Texas in 2025 and has a track record of getting the most out of transfer quarterbacks, from Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech to Cam Ward at Washington State. Oklahoma State's 1-11 finish last year had almost nothing to do with talent evaluation and everything to do with a coaching change mid-season — Doug Meacham went 0-9 as the interim after Mike Gundy was fired in September. Rich Rodriguez, by contrast, gets a full offseason and a second year to find out if his rebuild sticks after a 2025 debut that was WVU's worst finish since 2013.
Oklahoma State Cowboys
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
West Virginia Mountaineers
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
Neither team enters this one with anything proven on tape, which makes it one of the more genuinely uncertain games on either team's schedule. The roster continuity West Virginia has at running back and the pedigree Oklahoma State just imported at coach and quarterback both give a real path to control this game — it just depends on which rebuild is further along by the time Friday night rolls around.
