Quarterback to Back: Drew Mestemaker Squares Off with Texas Tech’s Tommy Castellanos

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Drew Mestemaker is coming off another signature performance. Can he replicate that against the Red Raiders’ new quarterback on a big stage Saturday night?

Oklahoma State hosts No. 10 Texas Tech this weekend with plenty on the line both in terms of each team’s conference title hopes and when it comes to the QBs involved.

With all the draft buzz surrounding Mestemaker, this could be one of his final two home games at BPS. If that’s the case, can he lead the Cowboys to another Top 10 win?

Castellanos is coming into his third week as QB1 for a team with legit Big 12 and playoff aspirations. He’s 2-0, but this will be his first road game as the Red Raiders’ leader.

And with the news of the playoff expanding to 24 teams, both QBs have a chance to be featured in what figures to be the final Big 12 Championship game.

Before we get into the matchup, let’s take a look at their 2026 numbers, side by side.

Castellanos is a bit of a journeyman. After appearing in five games as a true freshman at UCF, Castellanos transferred to Boston College where he led the Eagles offense in 2023 and then was the starter going for a good chunk of 2024, including a three-touchdown performance to led BC to an upset of No. 10 Florida State.

He dealt with some injury issues and then was eventually benched by head coach Bill O’Brien. At that point he announced his intention to transfer. He spent 2025 with the team he had just upset.

Castellanos and Florida State went 5-7 last season. He transferred to Texas Tech late in fall camp to compete for a backup role behind Will Hammond, and in the aftermath of the Brendan Sorsby situation.

The fifth-year veteran is a true dual threat. Over his career he averages over 50 rushing yards per game. In 2023, only LSU’s Jayden Daniels (now of the Washington Commanders) had more rushing yards as a QB. He has almost as many career rushing TDs (27) as he does passing scores (33).

Castellanos was used in spot duty for his legs earlier in the season. But after the Red Raiders’ loss to Cincinnati, Week 1 starter Will Hammond was benched in his favor. Since taking the reins of the offense, Castellanos has 506 passing yards to 219 rushing yards. He’s completed 56.8% of his passes these last two weeks with seven touchdowns to zero picks. His one interception this season was on his only pass attempt during the Week 3 win over Houston.

The Cowboys’ defense has had to defend dual-threat QBs a couple of times this year. West Virginia’s Michael Hawkins Jr. gashed the Pokes for 102 rushing yards and three scores in Morgantown, though the Cowboys were able to limit him in the second half. Houston’s Connor Weigman was a problem, rushing for 52 yards, but he killed them mostly through the air with five TDs and 343 passing yards.

Of course, there’s another side to this matchup. Mestemaker gets to have his say and the Red Raiders, despite just the one blemish on their record, have not done a great job of slowing down pass-happy offenses.

Tech ranks 15th out of 16 Big 12 teams in passing defense, allowing 287 yards per game. The Raiders also rank 12th in the league, having given up 87 passing plays of at least 10 yards and 12th in long scrimmage plays with 126.  Mestemaker is the Big 12’s top passer and the Cowboys are its top passing offense. Under Mestemaker, the Cowboys rank third in scoring offense and passing offense in the FBS.

So in what will be the highest profile game left in the Cowboys’ regular season, and potentially the final marquee matchup for Mestemaker in front of OSU fans, it might just come down to which quarterback plays better to his strengths. Just as it should.

The Cowboys and Red Raiders kick off at 8:30 p.m. Saturday inside Boone Pickens Stadium.