Cam Ward Proves Eric Morris Can Elevate a QB to the Power Conference Level

STILLWATER — Many are asking if Eric Morris’ offense, powered largely by transfers from North Texas, can pick up this fall where it left off last season.

The better question might be: how long does it take for those guys to take over the Big 12?

Because Morris has already proven he can make an even bigger leap before, when he left Incarnate Word for an offensive coordinator position at Washington State in 2022.

As is the case this season, he didn’t make the journey alone. Quarterback Cam Ward and receiver Robert Ferrel also jumped with him from the FCS to the Power Five level.

During his final season at Incarnate Word, Ward completed 65% of his 590 pass attempts for 4,648 yards (roughly 12 per completion) and 47 touchdowns against only 10 interceptions. He also rushed for 65 yards on 74 attempts and finished with one touchdown on the ground.

In his first season with the Cougars, Ward completed 64% of his 497 pass attempts for 3,232 yards (roughly 10 per completion) and 23 touchdowns against only nine picks. He also rushed for 58 yards on 107 carries but finished with five rushing TDs.

His passing yards dropped by roughly 30%, though a lot was due to a huge reduction in workload, as Ward’s yards per completion dipped by only 16% while his accuracy and interception rate stayed roughly the same.

Ward’s total touchdowns dropped by 42%.

To put that in context with quarterback Drew Mestemaker’s numbers, assuming the Pokes make a bowl game, we would expect him to finish with somewhere between 3,044 and 3,678 yards, with the range accounting for uncertainty in his overall passing workload.

Ward’s numbers also put Mestemaker on pace for 23 total touchdowns.

Since the departure of Mason Rudolph, only Taylor Cornelius in 2018 (3,978 yards) and Alan Bowman in 2023 (3,460) topped 3,000 passing yards at Oklahoma State, and both of them had the benefit of attempting 485-plus passes, whereas Mestemaker threw only 463 last season at UNT.

Cornelius also happens to be the last Cowboys QB to exceed 26 total touchdowns, scoring 42 in 2017. So it wouldn’t take much for Mestemaker to be the most prolific OSU passer in almost a decade.

As for his partner in crime, Ferrel caught 74 passes for 815 yards and nine touchdowns at Incarnate Word in 2021. While playing two fewer games at Washington State, Ferrel hauled in 56 receptions for 582 yards and four touchdowns.

It looks like a huge drop-off, but really it’s roughly only half a reception and 10 yards less per game, though the dip in scoring was significant.

Applying the same decrease to former UNT receiver Wyatt Young would give him a rough estimate of 63 receptions for 1,061 yards and five touchdowns. That would still make him OSU’s top wideout in reception yards since Tylan Wallace finished with 1,491 yards in 2018.

​As for how long it took these guys to make the adjustment, Ward racked up pretty good numbers in games one and three in 2022, as he combined to complete 67% of his passes for 547 yards, seven touchdowns and one interception against Idaho and Colorado State.

In Week 2 at Wisconsin, Ward seemed to struggle against his first Power Conference foe, completing 61% of his passes for 200 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in a 17-14 win.

In Week 4, he held his own in a duel with Oregon, completing 77% of his attempts for 375 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also finished with his first rushing touchdown at the FBS level.

The rest of the season was a bit of a rollercoaster for Ward, whose completion percentage swung between 46-87% (both extremes against some of the best teams he faced all season) while his passing yardage numbers ranged from 138-345. So, though he didn’t have a clear adjustment period, the future first overall draft pick lacked consistent dominance.

Ferrel missed the first two games of the season due to injury, but he too seemed to literally hit the ground running, catching three passes for 64 yards in his debut against Colorado State.

The wide receiver followed that up with eight catches for 50 yards and a touchdown against Oregon the next week. He never had fewer than three receptions and managed to hit eight against Utah (around the midpoint) and 10 in the bowl game against Fresno State. His yardage totals remained low usually, though he did finish with a season-high 131 against an Oregon State team that finished ranked 14th in the final College Football Playoff poll.

For the most part, these numbers don’t paint a picture of dominance, but these two players skipped over the non-Power Conference level of FBS play when they left the FCS behind and started for a Pac-12 team in what was arguably the last season before that league started to slide downhill from a talent standpoint.

Morris, Mestemaker and Young have more familiarity surrounding them on the offensive side of the football from both a coaching and player standpoint, and the jump from North Texas to the Big 12 should be more manageable than the chasm Ward leapt over during 2022.

Here’s a look at how Washington State’s offense looked overall under Morris in the 2022 season: