Editor’s note: Twelfth in a series previewing each team in the Big 12 in 2026.
Two and a half years ago, BYU’s 2023 football season ended with a heartbreaking 40-34 double-overtime loss to Oklahoma State, causing the 5-7 Cougars to miss a bowl game for just the second time since 2004.
Then-coach Mike Gundy’s Cowboys, meanwhile, used the win to advance to the Big 12 championship game, where they lost 49-21 to Texas. Twenty-five days after that, OSU upset Texas A&M 31-23 in the Texas Bowl.
In December 2023, with Texas and Oklahoma ticketed to join the SEC and four newcomers to the Big 12, including BYU, appearing to struggle with the step up to power conference football, many assumed that Oklahoma State would become the team to beat in the league and BYU would be an afterthought for years to come.
Well, everybody was wrong.
Oklahoma State has not won a conference game since coming from behind to edge BYU on that rainy night in Stillwater, while the Cougars have emerged as a leader in the league the past two seasons. OSU has gone 0-18 in the Big 12, and 4-20 overall, since winning the Texas Bowl.
Which brings us to 2026.
Gundy is long gone, and in the place he ruled for 21 seasons is Eric Morris, a 40-year-old former Texas Tech receiver who built Incarnate Word (2018-21) into an FCS power before leading North Texas the past three seasons.
At the Big 12 football media days in Frisco, Texas, earlier this month, Morris promised to get the program back to where it once was.
“Super excited to be in Stillwater,” he said, praising the school’s administration for “trusting me in the job they have given me, and to be able to take over a program that’s had a history of a ton of success the last 20 years.”
Obviously, the last two years have been an absolute disaster.
To say Morris cleaned house would be an understatement. He brought in 42 new people on the operations and coaching staff side of the football offices, including 35 from North Texas.
On the players’ side, he brought in 19 guys from North Texas alone, including the quarterback who Cowboys fans are hoping can be the linchpin in turning around an offense that has been abysmal since it put up 40 on BYU.
After leading the nation with 4,379 passing yards and 34 touchdowns in 2025 at North Texas, Drew Mestemaker was voted the Big 12’s preseason newcomer of the year.
“I think he processes information really, really fast, which is a key attribute to have in a quarterback,” Morris said of Mestemaker, a former walk-on in Denton, Texas. “And then he is just such a good teammate and human being.”
Mestemaker was a counselor at the Manning Passing Academy in June, along with BYU sophomore QB Bear Bachmeier. Unfortunately, BYU is not on OSU’s schedule in 2026, and neither is Utah.
Morris said Mestemaker is the kind of leader who can instill confidence in everyone around him, something that he noticed was really missing when he arrived in Stillwater some seven months ago.
“When I got there, I had to sit back and realize that there had been kids that are in this program that have been there for two years that hadn’t experienced walking in that locker room after winning a conference game,” Morris said. “So that was something really unique for me because my memories were great, and then I had to realize a bunch of our players’ memories haven’t been great in the recent past.”
“We spent a ton of time breathing confidence into these guys. I think the weight program is a great way to build culture as well, so bringing my strength staff with me has been good as far as all the offseason training we’re doing in the summer and spring.”
— first-year Oklahoma State coach Eric Morris
At the first team meeting, all the guys from North Texas sat together. Morris says he made them stand up and go sit next to somebody they didn’t know. Additionally, team bonding activities such as golfing, fishing, conditioning and fitness contests, and skeet shooting have been commonplace.
“We spent a ton of time breathing confidence into these guys. I think the weight program is a great way to build culture as well, so bringing my strength staff with me has been good as far as all the offseason training we’re doing in the summer and spring,” Morris said.
Mestemaker won’t be the only offensive star in Stillwater, the coach predicted. Running back Caleb Hawkins set the FBS record for touchdowns by a freshman last year at North Texas, reaching pay dirt 29 times to go with 1,434 rushing yards.
Receiver Wyatt Young also made the move north from the Lone Star State, after posting 1,264 receiving yards last season.
The defensive coordinator is Skyler Cassity, who at 32 is one of the youngest coordinators in the country. Morris said the pass rush will be much improved, led by edge rusher Jaleel Johnson, “an all-conference-caliber player” who has the “size, the talent, to play on Sundays.”
Oklahoma State’s defense will include a face and name familiar to BYU as former Cougar linebacker Tate Romney, who spent the last three seasons at Arizona State, is at OSU for his final season of college football and is the oldest player on the team. Romney is the younger brother of former BYU offensive stars Baylor and Gunner Romney.
“Bringing in experience is something we did intentionally in the portal,” Morris said. “I am really hoping that that experience pays off for us in Year 1.”
A lot will be revealed early, because OSU plays host to Oregon of the Big Ten in Week 2.
2026 Oklahoma State Cowboys at a glance
• 2025 record: 1-11 (0-9 Big 12)
Utah ties
- BYU defensive tackle Justin Kirkland played two seasons at Oklahoma State before transferring to Provo in 2025.
- Former BYU (2022) and Arizona State (2023-25) linebacker Tate Romney — brother of Baylor and Gunner — has joined the Oklahoma State roster in 2026.
- OSU redshirt freshman Simona Fuailetolo prepped at Desert Hills High in St. George, Utah.
2026 schedule
- Sept. 5: at Tulsa
- Sept. 12: vs. Oregon
- Sept. 19: vs. Murray State
- Sept. 26: at West Virginia
- Oct. 10: vs. UCF
- Oct. 17: at Houston
- Oct. 24: vs. Colorado
- Oct. 31: at Iowa State
- Nov. 7: at Kansas State
- Nov. 14: vs. Texas Tech
- Nov. 21: at Arizona State
- Nov. 28: vs. Kansas