Three Takeaways from the Oklahoma State-Murray State Rewatch

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

After a few years of an offensive drought, Saturday felt like drinking water through a firehose.

Oklahoma State blew past Murray State 59-0 on Saturday in Boone Pickens Stadium. I’ve already shared 10 thoughts in the immediate fallout of the game, but after going back and rewatching it, here are three more things I noticed.

1. OSU Showed Some Fun Formations on Its Second Drive

The highlight of Oklahoma State’s second drive from Saturday night is (and should be) Wyatt Young’s one-handed grab in the end zone, but before it got to that point, the Cowboys flashed some fun formations that might give opposing defensive coordinators something to think about.

The first came on the second play of the drive when the Cowboys hurried to the line and had Wyatt Young line up at running back and Justin Bowick at tight end (sorry for the potato-quality picture):

Drew Mestemaker tossed to Young, who played quarterback in high school, and Young ran for a gain of 8 yards.

Formations were fairly standard issue until the seventh play of the drive, when Caleb Hawkins lined up at quarterback, taking the snap and faking a toss to Mestemaker before plowing forward for an 8-yard gain.

At the least, those formations are something opposing teams will have to keep in mind. At the most, OSU could pull some wild trick play out of it.

2. I Think This Was My Favorite Mestemaker Throw

My Mestemaker dot of the day is going to be a ball he threw to Miles Coleman late in the first quarter.

Throwing from his own 16-yard line, Mestemaker hit Coleman 29 yards down field, dropping it in a bucket among three Racer defenders.

It ended up being a gain of 34, helping set up the Cowboys’ third touchdown of the day.

A close second favorite throw might’ve been when Mestemaker hit the breaks in the pocket to avoid the rush before flat-footing a ball in a bucket 30 yards down the field to Bowick.

It’s a level of arm talent Oklahoma State hasn’t had in quite some time (maybe ever?).

3. Morris Was Pumped About William Mason, Here’s Why

Perhaps the longest-lasting position battle of the OSU football season is RB2. And by the sounds of it, that battle gained another contestant Saturday night if anything.

“I thought William Mason did a phenomenal job when he came in,” Morris said. “… I’ll tell you, to be true, William Mason might’ve pushed for a little bit more playing time today just because the way that he played when he did get his reps. William has been phenomenal in special teams for us, plays almost all of them. Has been locked in and continues to grow as a player. So, yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if after watching that tape if we give No. 22 a couple more chances.”

Depending on how in-deep you are with OSU football, you might be wondering, who is William Mason? And what was it that he did to earn such a glowing review from his head coach postgame? Let’s dive in.

First of all, Mason is a 5-foot-11, 226-pound senior who transferred to OSU from UCO this offseason. He played in 30 games with the Bronchos, where he took 280 carries and turned them into 1,627 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Mason played just eight offensive snaps on Saturday, but in that stretch he carried five times for 48 yards (9.2 yards per carry).

He had one carry that went for less than 9 yards, being a loss of one in which he was met by a few guys in the hole. Take that away, and he averaged 11.8 yards a rush.

Mason is the guy who set up KD Jones’ touchdown, running for 32 yards on that drive before Jones subbed in and paid it off. Then Jones did most of his work on the next series.