10 Thoughts on Oklahoma State’s 57-24 Victory Against Colorado

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STILLWATER — The Cowboys hung 57 points on Prime’s Buffaloes, and the Cowboys did that while leaving some meat on the bone.

Oklahoma State beat Colorado 57-24, capping off America’s Greatest Homecoming in Boone Pickens Stadium. Here are 10 thoughts on the game.

1. Justin Bowick Is Always Open

In a game that included 81 total points, there were so many stats flying around that it’s hard to say who the Player of the Game was. But I imagine the Colorado secondary will be getting on the bus glad they don’t have to see Justin Bowick anymore.

OSU’s 6-foot-5 freakazoid receiver caught five of his seven targets for 138 yards and a touchdown. It felt like if Drew Mestemaker threw the ball in Bowick’s direction every play, it’d work much more than it didn’t.

At one point, Mestemaker caused the Colorado defensive line to jump offsides, giving the Cowboys a free play. Mestemaker ripped the ball in Bowick’s direction but after having already been burnt by Bowick earlier in the game, the corner just grabbed onto him — there was already a penalty, might as well be two.

His two most impactful catches probably came within three plays of each other.

Mestemaker hit Bowick on a go, dropping the ball in a bucket for a 52-yard gain, where Bowick should good concentration to hold the corner off and watch the ball in.

It’s JB’s world, we’re just living in it

📺: FS1 | @justinbowickjr https://t.co/G1mRQz4N5f

— OSU Cowboy Football (@CowboyFB) October 25, 2026

After a run play, Bowick caught a slant where he boxed a defensive back out at the goal line and scored.

Bowick is up to 607 yards and seven touchdowns in seven games as a Cowboy. Before this year, Bowick had played 16 games of FBS football, and in that stretch, he had 648 yards and eight touchdowns. This move to OSU has done wonders for Bowick, and he will soon be a professional football player.

2. Another Tough (in a Good Way) Day for Caleb Hawkins

Caleb Hawkins seemingly grinded the Colorado defense into submission.

After not being able to get the run game going all that well last week, Hawkins rumbled for 120 yards on 19 carries (6.3 yards per).

He has now stacked games proving himself as a threat in the passing game, as he caught five balls for another 72 yards. He got that started early with a contested catch 23 yards down the field on OSU’s second play from scrimmage.

Hawkins is a weapon. Take away one aspect of his game — like Houston did last week — and he’ll be as productive in another. It seems like this offense is at its best when he’s a big part of what’s happening.

3. New RB2?

Eric Morris has spoken highly of UCO transfer tailback William Mason, but that hadn’t necessarily turned into offensive snaps — until Saturday.

Mason was the Cowboys’ unquestioned RB2 against the Buffaloes, carrying six times which trailed only Hawkins (19) and Mestemaker (eight). It should be noted that regular RB2 Ayo Adeyi didn’t play at all, while Tre Page got some late burn with the reserves — scoring an 18-yard touchdown.

With his totes, Mason had 27 yards and his first touchdown as a Cowboy. His best run of the night was a 17-yard scamper in the third quarter, but it got called back because of a hold that had little effect on the play.

Mason looked explosive in his carries. He’s experienced but unproven at the Division-I level. Across 30 games during the past three seasons at UCO, Mason carried 280 times for 1,627 yards and 13 touchdowns.

4. Welcome Back, Halftime Adjustments

Oklahoma State’s defense had a continuation of their performance against Houston — which is not good.

But like games before the Pokes’ L in H-Town, the Cowboy defense tightened things up and pitched a second-half shutout.

Third downs were killing the Cowboys in the first half. Colorado converted on 5-for-8 third downs in the opening two quarters, and there were some back-breakers, converting from 10 and 13 yards.

In the second half, CU was 0-for-5 on the down, and on top of that, the Cowboys forced the Buffs into three turnovers (a fumble and two picks).

The rush defense was good most of the night, as the Buffaloes ran for just 1.9 yards per carry.

How good is this defense? I’m honestly not sure any more. In the first half, it was bad. In the second half, it was fantastic. Does that average out to … well, average?

5. Drew ‘Hard Count’ Mestemaker

Drew Mestemaker was getting a lot of free plays on Saturday, as he made the Colorado jump offsides on three occasions.

The first came on a 4th-and-1 in the second quarter while the Cowboys were on their own 34-yard line. Objectively a spot defenders shouldn’t be jumping offsides in. Mestemaker zipped a deep ball Bowick’s way with his free play, where that corner latched himself to the Cowboys’ pass-catcher.

When he wasn’t getting guys to jump offsides, Mestemaker was still his usual, slinging-the-pill self.

He finished with 386 yards, four touchdowns and no picks. It’s his third interceptionless game of the season, as he’s now up to 20 touchdowns to six interceptions on the year. Seven games in, Mestemaker has thrown for 2,326 yards.

He’s on pace to throw for 3,987 yards and 34 touchdowns this season — those numbers would rank behind just Mason Rudolph and Brandon Weeden in OSU’s record book, and that doesn’t even include the potential for a bowl or conference title game.

6. Too Many Field Goals, but Shoutout Sam Keltner

Sam Keltner might need an ice bath after that one.

He went 5-for-5 on field-goal attempts, bringing his total to 18-for-18 on the season. That ties a streak from Matt Ammendola as the most consecutive makes in program history.

It’s spooky that OSU scored 57 points on Saturday while kicking five field goals. If even three of those turned to touchdowns, OSU would’ve scored 69 points.

But if the Cowboys are going to kick all these 3-pointers, Keltner is the right guy to be back there. He hit two beyond 40 yards, matching a season-high from 47 yards at one point. He’s now 5-for-5 from beyond 40 yards this season.

7. Corner Battle Settled?

The Cowboys’ secondary got torched in Houston, a performance that seems to have locked in the Cowboys’ corners after some heavy rotation throughout much of the season.

I believe LaDainian Fields and Mo Horn played all of the Cowboys’ defensive snaps on Saturday, the first time that’s happened this year.

Fields left with the highlights, intercepting a pair of passes. He’s picked off three passes across the past two games and is up to four INTs on the year.

His first one had a comedic element to it, as Fields rushed to the on-field suites for a Boone Baptism, but the OSU coaching staff essentially chased the players down to get them off the field. Defensive line coach Greg Richmond was literally in the end zone breaking the festivities up to save a 15-yard penalty.

PICKED. OFF.

📺: FS1 | @FieldsLadainian https://t.co/IilK9yd65E

— OSU Cowboy Football (@CowboyFB) October 25, 2026

Fields finished tied for a team-high with eight tackles. His performance also included 1.5 tackles for loss, and a slick pass breakup. Horn had six tackles and a PBU of his own.

It wasn’t always perfect (see the first half), but I do think these two guys give the Cowboys the best shot.

8. Monitoring the Safety Situation

The Cowboys safety room is turning into a bit of a MASH unit.

Mose Phillips was ruled to likely be out of the season this week. Meanwhile, Quinton Hammonds has played just about every snap this season, but appeared to get hurt after recovering a fumble in the second half. He re-emerged with a sling on.

Morris didn’t have an update on Hammonds after the game, but his absence meant the Cowboys were rolling with Cameron Epps and Evan Jackson on the back end.

For a secondary that’s already had some struggles in recent weeks, it’s not an ideal sign that reserves are turning into starters.

9. More Rotation Along the O-Line

Without having the PFF numbers quite yet, I can confidently say that Braydon Nelson played more offensive snaps Saturday than he had to this point as a Cowboy.

Nelson picked up a preseason injury that saw him miss the first four games of the year.

He rotated in at left tackle a bit the past few weeks, but picked up even more of those snaps Saturday, relieving Shaun Torgeson for stretches.

Left guard Johnny Dickson went down at one point, as well. Initially Desmond Magiya filled in there, but with the second-team skill guys in late, Nelson played with the rest of the starting O-line at left guard.

Without knowing the severity of Dickson’s knock, that could be a spot Nelson battles for the in the coming weeks as they continue to get him more involved. Or maybe he proves to be the better tackle and Torgeson moves one spot over to the inside.

10. The Big 12 Imploded, Just Win

Whether it’s just normal college football chaos or the portal providing even more parity, this week was another crazy one across the country, but specifically in the Big 12.

Texas Tech and BYU each picked up their first losses of the season, as they join the Cowboys and Arizona at the one-loss party in the Big 12 standings. As of writing, Houston and Utah are in a dog fight in Salt Lake City — a game that will factor greatly into the conference title race.

Last week was crazy in the SEC with Georgia, Alabama and Texas — all then ranked in the Top 10 losing. It led people to wonder whether the Big 12 could sneak three teams into the playoff.

Something tells me the Big 12 won’t get the same “the league is just deep” treatment the SEC gets. With the loss to Tulsa already being an anchor, the Cowboys’ path to the College Football Playoff is winning out, getting into the Big 12 title game and winning that.

They probably aren’t going to get the benefit of the doubt, but they might be favored in all of their remaining games. But if OSU can lose to Tulsa (a team that is now 4-4 this season), the Cowboys can lose to anyone else left on the schedule.

OSU has to go super cliche and just take it a game at a time, but the Cowboys are right in the middle of this title fight after Saturday’s results.