‘Meathead’ Carson Kolb Making the Most of Early Opportunities in Stillwater

Support PFB with a PFB+ membership — $8 a month or $50 for a year.

STILLWATER — In the preseason, Carson Kolb’s quarterback and his head coach used the word “meathead” to describe the Oregon State transfer tight end. It’s a label Carson Kolb wears proudly.

“From the clothes I wear to the music I listen to, it’s all just trying to be as meathead as possible, I guess,” Kolb said. “… Yeah, I own a lot of cutoffs and smell a lot of smelling salts.”

Kolb caught his first college pass on Saturday — and it happened to also be his first college touchdown.

From just outside the 1-yard line, the Cowboys ran a heavy formation with Kolb lined up in the backfield. Kolb slipped past the edge of the line as Drew Mestemaker faked to Caleb Hawkins before taking a few steps to his right and firing the ball to a wide-open Kolb.

Kolb let out a Hulk Hogan-esque flex while essentially doing lunges in the end zone after he caught it.

“I’m a high-energy, high-intensity guy, so that was kind of just me getting all my energy out and just getting the crowd fired up as much as possible,” Kolb said.

44 THAT’S HIM @CarsonKolb3

📺: ESPN pic.twitter.com/s3rUNBRPtp

— OSU Cowboy Football (@CowboyFB) September 12, 2026

With it being his first score, Kolb said he’s working on getting the gloves he was wearing framed.

Although that was the only touchdown he scored against the Ducks, he just about knocked a teammate into another score.

On the possession after Kolb’s touchdown, the Cowboys got deep inside Oregon territory again when Caleb Hawkins scored. The play started at the 5-yard line, and Hawkins got hit about the 4. More and more Ducks started swarming Hawkins as he started to fall forward, and then like he was shot from a cannon, No. 44 flies in and launched himself into the pile, sending it into the end zone.

“I was like, ‘I gotta go get in on the action — go lower my head and hit someone,'” Kolb said. “Kinda sucks it ended up being Caleb, but it got him in the end zone, so worked out in the end.”

Out of Scottsdale, Arizona, Kolb walked on at Oregon State in 2024. He played in four games as a true freshman with all of that coming on special teams. He played in all 12 of the Beavers’ games in 2025, again almost exclusively at special teams.

In his two seasons with the Beavers, Kolb played nine total offensive snaps — run-blocking in every one of those instances. Through two games with the Cowboys, the now-former walk-on has played 133 offensive snaps.

“He’s worked his tail off,” OSU coach Eric Morris said. “His ball skills weren’t great when he got here, that was kind of a limiting factor. And he knew that going into the summer — that that might determine him not being able to play as much for us. Had him open a couple of more times, just didn’t get to that read, not that Drew made the wrong read. He did a nice job.

“A kid that played at Oregon State, that’s been up from that area. I just thought it was a really cool story to keep adding to how hard he’s worked. He’s been through a lot — played linebacker, special teams and tight end at Oregon State. That was pretty cool.”

A looming Oscar Hammond return could cut into Kolb’s snaps a bit, but for being way down the list in terms of transfers the OSU fanbase was super excited about going into the year, Kolb’s tenacity has seen him make a quick impact in the new orange and black he’s wearing.

“It’s been hard, for sure, but at the end of the day, God’s blessed me with these abilities,” said Kolb of his first extended playing time in college. “So, I’m gonna give everything in my power to use them.”