Mestemaker locked in as Morris preps opener at Tulsa
Drew Mestemaker has the starting job settled, Iman Oates is back on the practice field after beating the NCAA in court, and the opener sends Eric Morris to the same building where his predecessor's tenure ended.
Mestemaker has the job, but who backs him up is a fight
Eric Morris didn't just take over a program, he rebuilt one — Oklahoma State opened fall camp with 81 newcomers against just 25 returners, only five of them returning starters, according to Yahoo Sports' camp preview. The one job that isn't in question is quarterback. Drew Mestemaker, who followed Morris from North Texas after leading the FBS in passing yards last season, is the guy, per SI's Oklahoma State coverage.
.@Rudolph2Mason checking in 🫡 t.co/L8xNSDF7Mr
What's still unsettled is who plays behind him: two true freshmen, Broderick Vehrs out of Arizona and Luke Tepas out of Illinois, are competing for QB2 with Mestemaker's eligibility clock the only thing that could force the issue, SI reported. The program's own account has been rolling out the new arrivals all camp, this one checking in with a salute — a small window into just how much of this roster is brand new to Stillwater.
The finish that got the previous coach fired midseason
Last season ended about as badly as a season can: Oklahoma State dropped its final five, finishing with a 13-20 loss to Iowa State on November 29 after getting run off the field by Texas Tech 0-42, falling to Kansas 21-38, losing 6-14 at home to Kansas State and 14-17 to UCF. There was no signature moment in that stretch, just a program bleeding out under a staff that had already been fired weeks earlier.
The move came fast. A 19-12 home loss to Tulsa on a Friday night — Oklahoma State's first defeat at home to the Golden Hurricane since 1951 — dropped the Cowboys to 1-2, and the school fired Mike Gundy the following Tuesday after 21 seasons, per ESPN's report on the dismissal. Morris, hired away from North Texas on November 25, inherited a program mid-collapse and has spent this camp trying to build something that doesn't resemble it.
A defensive lineman won his case, at least for now
Defensive lineman Iman Oates was granted a temporary restraining order against the NCAA in Payne County, with his attorney Ryan Downton telling On3's Pete Nakos it opens a path for Oates to play this fall. Oates spent two seasons at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M before landing at Oklahoma State, and his case leans on the NCAA's new age-based "five-for-five" eligibility window — the argument being that JUCO seasons shouldn't have counted against him in the first place. He's posted five tackles for loss over his last two seasons in Stillwater.
The TRO isn't the finish line. It only holds until a preliminary-injunction hearing gets set in Payne County, meaning Oates's status for the full 2026 season is still technically undecided even as he practices with the Cowboys this month.
Morris opens his tenure at the building that ended Gundy's
The opener is Saturday, September 5 at Tulsa, and the line opened with Oklahoma State favored by 14.5 with the total set at 61.5 — a high-scoring number for a Big 12 team on the road against a Tulsa side that finished last season 24-31 against UAB. Tulsa hasn't played a snap yet this year either, so both sides arrive with a clean record and no in-season form to lean on.
There's history in the venue, though. Tulsa's win at Boone Pickens Stadium last September was the first time the Golden Hurricane had beaten Oklahoma State at home since 1951, and the fallout from that 19-12 loss cost Gundy his job four days later. Morris opens his tenure in the building where that streak actually happened, against the team that started the chain reaction that got him hired.