Drew Mestemaker Reflects on Journey from Nobody with ‘Nothing to Lose’ to Oklahoma State’s QB1

STILLWATER — The first time Drew Mestemaker took the field as a starting quarterback, he didn’t have a clue how it was going to go.

​“I kind of went out there with the mindset like I’ve got nothing to lose,” Mestemaker said. “I’ve never started a game. I don’t know what to expect out of myself. The coaches don’t know what to expect out of me. Like, if I go out there and throw three picks, it’s not like they expected much out of me anyway. So I was like, I’ll just go rip it.”

And boy did he, to the tune of 393 passing yards and two touchdowns while completing 26-of-41 passes with two picks mixed in. He also rushed nine times for 55 yards and another score in a 30-28 loss to Texas State in the First Responder Bowl in January 2025.

Mestemaker was even more efficient in his next start, last fall, when he finished 24-of-32 for 329 yards and three touchdowns against Lamar. He also rushed five times for 30 yards and a touchdown.

“Lamar, I felt more prepared,” Mestemaker said. “Obviously, I was quarterback one. I was like, all right, I’ve played a game at least now. Like I have game experience under my belt, but I was still kind of new to it.”

When Mestemaker takes the field at Tulsa on Saturday, he won’t be the unknown quarterback he was when he opened the season against Lamar last fall. Mestemaker was one of the most-discussed quarterbacks in the country this offseason in part because he’s in the first-round conversation for the next NFL Draft and on several watchlists for major college football awards.

Despite becoming a household name, Morris said his quarterback has the same mentality he had last August.

“Same, exactly the same,” Morris said. “He’s handled preparation so good. … Just having a good working relationship with Drew, as he gets older, and around the game and smarter. There’s certain plays where he’s gotta make a decision between, ‘Hey, these four plays, which one do you want?’ And he picks it based off what he likes, and so he’s always prepared really well. That’s what allowed him to have so much success early. So I don’t see that changing.”

Mestemaker said he has a much greater understanding of the offense this fall compared to last year.

“I understand what we’re trying to do as an offense,” he said. “I understand what I need to do. I don’t need to be the superhero every play. Like, we got guys that we pay to be superheroes, and I kind of got to distribute it to them, and so I feel like I’ve definitely grown in my mindset for sure.”

On Tuesday morning, Mestemaker said this has been the longest offseason of his life, partly because of the higher expectations placed on him and the Cowboys.

Despite all of that, he once again repeated that suiting up as Oklahoma State’s starting quarterback is a dream come true.

“I feel like college football is better whenever this place is winning,” Mestemaker said. “You grow up watching all the games and all the New Year’s Six Bowls that this team is in, you kinda feel that not pressure, but like expectation of what you win when you’re here. I feel like that has been our mindset since we got here.”