Quarterback to Back: Can Houston’s Conner Weigman Provide Drew Mestemaker with That Marquee QB Matchup?

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This Saturday night, we’ll be treated to a marquee Big 12 QB matchup.

On one side, you have the league’s leading passer in Oklahoma State’s Drew Mestemaker. On the other, its leader in touchdowns responsible for in Houston’s Conner Weigman. It should be a fun one.

Let’s take a look at the two passers’ numbers back-to-back before we get into Saturday night’s matchup.

Oklahoma State fans might remember Weigman, though they might want to forget him. He tuned up the Cowboys at Boone Pickens Stadium last year, throwing for 306 yards and two touchdowns and then rushing for a third as the then No. 22 Cougars thumped OSU 39-17.

This year, it is Mestemaker and the retooled Cowboys that head to Houston with the higher ranking, sitting at No. 18 in the AP Poll while the Cougars are No. 20. Although we’ve already seen Mestemaker perform well on the big stage during the win over Oregon, this could be that marquee matchup Big 12 fans have been waiting for.

With 15 passing touchdowns (second in the Big 12) and six more scores on the ground (fourth), Weigman ranks second in the NCAA with 126 points that he’s responsible for, trailing only Oregon State quarterback Braden Atkinson. Only West Virginia’s Michael Hawkins Jr. has more rushing TDs among Big 12 QBs. It is important to point out that Weigman has played one more game than Mestemaker.

So which QB will come out and boost his team’s chances in the Big 12 title race? Which will continue to build his own standing among the best of the league’s passers?

So far, the Cowboys’ defense has seen what we thought would be a couple of high-end quarterback matchups this year. Oregon’s Dante Moore was considered the best NFL prospect among FBS passers, but Mestemaker outplayed him. Moore was held to a still of yet season-low in completion rate of 48.3% and just 191 yards and two touchdowns.

You couldn’t quite call Michael Hawkins Jr. an elite-level QB, but he’s been among the most dangerous on the ground. And you can’t say the Pokes shut him down there either as he ran for 103 yards and three scores. But their defense did keep him one-dimensional and limited him somewhat on the ground, holding him to a season-low in yards per rush attempt (3.7). He’s averaging 5.7 over six games.

If we’re looking at style and skillset, Mestemaker gets the nod on the deep ball. He’s one of the best in the nation, boasting a Pro Football Focus grade of 96.9 on deep passes (20 yards or more). Weigman is sitting at 73.6. They’re nearly identical on the medium passes (10-19 yards) with Mestemaker rated at 87.5 to Weigman’s 87.9. The Coogs’ QB gets the edge on the short passes. Strangely enough, Mestemaker is rated at just 58.8 to Weigman’s 75.4.

Weigman has been the more of the established run threat over his career. But he’s averaging 29.5 rushing yards per game (3.7 per attempt) to Mestemaker’s 21.6 (3.0 ypc). The biggest difference is the six rushing TDs. But as Houston head coach Willie Fritz pointed out, Mestemaker isn’t just a sneaky quick guy who might find the end zone on a trick play. It’s a legitimate part of his game.

“Oklahoma State’s quarterback runs it better than you think, and you gotta play that part of it, as well,” Fritz said. “I was watching their film and saw a particular down-and-distance and formation, and I was like, ‘quarterback draw.’ Boom, that’s what they ran. You don’t do that unless you have confidence in your quarterback being able to run the football.

“He’s a dual-threat guy just like Conner is. They don’t wanna run him crazy, and we don’t want to run Conner like crazy, but sometimes you gotta play 11-on-11 football.”

Both are pretty good at staying clean with Mestemaker being sacked just four times and Weigman being sacked five times. Again, in one more outing.

The one major statistical advantage Weigman holds over Mestemaker is his ability to avoid turnovers. In an almost equal number of attempts, Houston’s QB1 has just one interception to Mestemaker’s five. But that’s a bit of a misnomer.

Mestemaker got in an early hole, throwing two picks in Week 1 to Tulsa and then having two passes batted and intercepted against Oregon. Since then, he’s thrown one in three games. Likewise, he had two fumbles against Tulsa but only one since (a drop against Murray State). But Weigman has just one interception and one fumble on the season.

There is also an experience gap with Mestemaker famously not starting at quarterback in high school and looking forward to just his 25th career appearance while Weigman has started 19 games at Houston after he played 15 games over three years at Texas A&M.

Both quarterbacks have been a huge part of their teams’ early success. This will be the next big test for Mestemaker as he looks to win his second Big 12 road game and put his Cowboys in the driver’s seat in the Big 12 race.

The Cowboys and Cougars kick off at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in Houston.