Offseason Hype Surrounds Cowboy Offense, but Cowboy Defenders Confident They’ll Be the Surprise Story This Fall

FRISCO, Texas — When Oklahoma State’s players walked into the Big 12 Media Days main room for their turn with reporters on Tuesday, linebacker Ethan Wesloski couldn’t help but laugh.

A literal wall of cameras pointed at the table where quarterback Drew Mestemaker and running back Caleb Hawkins were scheduled to sit, with other reporters gathered behind, underneath and beside those same cameras.

“Look where all the mics are,” Wesloski said to fellow defender Jaleel Johnson.

Although somewhere north of 15 reporters initially fought for the chance to direct questions toward Oklahoma State’s two offensive stars, maybe four or five total reporters walked over to speak with Wesloski, who recorded 113 tackles last season, and Johnson, who head coach Eric Morris repeatedly praised as the team’s ‘most disruptive defender’ in spring camp.

“Oh, for sure, for sure, I feel like our defense is definitely getting slept on,” Johnson said when asked about the disparity in attention between OSU’s offense and defense not just on Tuesday, but throughout the last six months. “But like you said, no disrespect to them guys, they deserve everything that they are getting right now. I’m not hating on that at all, but our defense is really, really solid as well, and I feel like y’all are going to see that this fall.”

Johnson said the focus on Mestemaker (now the preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year), Hawkins (the No. 19 player in the entire transfer portal and seventh-ranked RB in the whole nation according to EA’s latest video game), receiver Wyatt Young (OSU’s only player on the All-Big 12 preseason team) and Morris’ general reputation as an offensive guru which shines a brighter light on that side of the ball has created an opportunity for the Pokes’ defenders.

“You want to prove to everybody that we’re the best as well, like we can compete with the best,” Johnson said.

Wesloski wished Mestemaker luck as the media session got started on Tuesday. Although there was zero animosity in his voice, the linebacker delivered the line as though he was watching the quarterback walk in front of a firing squad.

Not that the Oklahoma State quarterback heard any of this, as his attention was already being pulled in several directions.

“I’ve said it a couple times today, it’s a thing, right, they deserved everything they’ve gotten. … (but) we’re a really good defense, too,” Wesloski said. “It’s not that they don’t deserve everything they’ve got coming.

“But come November, late November, when we’re making a run for this thing. Everyone is going to look like we know they have a really, really good offense, but here’s this defense that’s really good in yards per game, pass yards, run yards, they’ve got a huge turnover margin. They were really good scoring defense. So we’re going to play defense. We know how to play and create a lot of chaos, and we’re going to get the ball back for those guys over there.”

For what it’s worth, Wesloski led a UNT defense last season that finished fifth in turnovers gained, eighth in pass yards allowed per game, but 76th in scoring defense, 77th in total defense and 130th against the run.

A bit of a mixed bag there, but given that UNT led seven opponents by 21-plus points entering the fourth quarter, it makes some degree of sense that the Mean Green would be overly focused on limiting the pass.

Now those same defensive coaches and several key defenders, headlined by Wesloski, are in Stillwater.

“It feels like that 2023 season when we went to the Big 12 Championship,” Johnson said. “You can just tell that the guys are close, like we all got nicknames for each other, making fun of each other, laughing.”​

Even being in contention for a Big 12 Championship game appearance would be a win for the Cowboys in Morris’ first season, but the players have made it clear they aren’t treating this season like some slow wind-up to a successful run.

“I want to have dominant wins,” Johnson said. “I want to prove that we are the best team in this conference.”

When asked how the Cowboys, particularly those on defense, can prove that this fall, Johnson kept it simple.

“Ultimately it come down to winning games,” he said. “Like defense wins games. Yeah, offense can put up as many points as they want, but if we can’t get a stop, it don’t really matter. So, I feel like if we can put some stops together and make the offense look even better than what people are saying, that is a win in our book.”