Instant Recap: Oklahoma State Defeats Colorado 57-24

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BOXSCORE

It wasn’t pretty early, but the Cowboys rallied for a blowout win on Homecoming.

Oklahoma State defeated Colorado 57-24. The Cowboys continue to be a second-half team.

After falling behind as much as 14-7 in the first and trailing 24-20 late in the second quarter, the Cowboys scored 34 unanswered points to blow the doors off this one. OSU outscored Colorado 14-0 in the third and 20-0 in the fourth.

We talked about the Buffaloes’ bugaboos earlier this week, and a couple of those reared their ugly heads for the visitors. Colorado came in as the Big 12’s biggest offender in both turnovers and penalties, and both of those issues hampered them from building off some of their early momentum. Then the Pokes ran away with it.

The Buffs lost the turnover battle to the Pokes 3-0 and committed 10 penalties for 84 yards with several offsides calls that give Drew Mestemaker free shots downfield. One of those resulted in this back-breaking touchdown to Wyatt Young to put the Cowboys up 47-24 early in the fourth.

Drew Mestemaker to Wyatt Young.

Perfect TD throw. https://t.co/L2GsXfPdil

— Reason (@the_real_reason) October 25, 2026

Mestemaker finished 21-for-36 for 386 yards and four touchdowns. Justin Bowick led all receivers with 138 yards and a touchdown on five catches. Young pitched in 72 yards and that score on five grabs. Miles Coleman and Morgan McPhaul each caught TD passes.

Caleb Hawkins again beat teams by turf and by air. He rushed for 120 yards on 19 carries and caught five passes for 72 yards.

The defensive game ball goes to LaDainian Fields. He came in leading the Cowboys with two interceptions in six games. He had a career-high two more picks against the Buff tonight, both leading to points. He also had a career-high eight tackles, tying Ethan Wesloski for the team lead.

We all said the Cowboys needed to start faster. Well, they couldn’t have started much faster on Saturday. On the game’s third play, Mestemaker found Miles Coleman for a 47-yard touchdown to go up 7-0. Unfortunately, the Cowboys proceeded to go three-and-out on their next possession and give up consecutive TD drives to the visiting Buffaloes. The Cowboys only held the ball for 2:43 of the first quarter and fell behind 14-7.

Things settled down briefly to start the second quarter before it devolved into a backyard football.

The Cowboys’ offense finally gained a first down in the second quarter, but they stalled on that first after Drew Mestemaker was flagged for an iffy intentional grounding call. OSU settled for a 47-yard field goal by Sam Keltner to pull within 14-10 early in the second.

The Cowboys’ defense finally got a stop and then their offense paid it off. After a three-and-out was forced, the Pokes marched down the field and went 17-14 on a red zone TD connection between Mestemaker and Justin Bowick.

But before they could celebrate, the Buffs answered with another quick touchdown drive, fueled by 36-yard pass to Joseph Williams after the CU receiver pushed off to get open but wasn’t flagged. Buffs back up 21-17. The teams traded long field goals to make it 24-23 CU at halftime.

After the Buffs were seemingly driving at will for most of the first half, the Cowboys’ defense made a play to start the second.

On the first snap of the third quarter, Jerry Lawson forced a fumble on an Isaac Wilson keeper. Quinton Hammonds scooped it and gave his offense the ball back at the Colorado 13-yard line. This time the Cowboys found the end zone. Mestemaker found Morgan McPhaul for his first career touchdown to give OSU the 30-24 lead.

The Cowboys’ defense also learned to get off the field. After the Buffaloes went 4-of-5 on third down (and converted on that fifth one) in the first quarter, OSU held them to 1-of-8 on third downs from the second quarter on.

Things were going the Cowboys’ way in the third. Even a Wyatt Young fumble was called out due to a defensive hold on Colorado. The Buffaloes forced the punt a series later, just to have a turnover when LaDainian Fields got his pick. The Cowboys got three points off of that one.

Fields grabbed his second interception with 7:48 to go. This one was also paid off with a field goal to put the Cowboys up 50-24. Tre Page III scored an 18-yard touchdown with 1:18 left to pad the score even more. OSU wins 57-24.

Oklahoma State finished with 598 yards of total offense, to Colorado’s 399. The Pokes threw for a season-high 410 passing yards to 343 for the Buff. OSU outrushed CU 188-56.

The Cowboys have struggled all season settling for field goals in the red zone. That happened four times on Saturday, but fortunately Sam Keltner is really good. He went 5-for-5 from 47, 30, 41, 21 and 30 yards and has pushed his FBS-leading mark to 18-for-18.

With the win, the Cowboys improve to 5-2 and 3-1 in Big 12 play. Next up, they head to Ames next Saturday, Halloween to face Iowa State.