‘We Just Went and Grinded at It’: Drew Mestemaker Goes Into OSU’s Weeklong Turnaround With David Pollack

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Sometimes you wonder how much of a coach’s message is getting through, but in the time since the Cowboys’ big win against the Ducks, just about every OSU player or coach who has spoken has made reference of Morris’ message entering that game: play fast.

Defensive coordinator Skyler Cassity reiterated that message Monday morning as part of Big 12 Today, and then Drew Mestemaker went on “See Ball Get Ball” with David Pollack and was asked about Morris’ pregame speech that saw Oklahoma State go beat Oregon.

“His only goal this week was to play fast,” Mestemaker told Pollack. “He was like, ‘I don’t care if you mess up. I don’t care if you — whatever. As long as you do it fast, we’ll live with the results.’ I think that really helped our team and kinda just not complicating it in their heads. Like, all you gotta do is go out there and play your game fast. I really think that made the biggest difference for our team.”

It was a good 15-minute conversation between Mestemaker and Pollack. The two went through Mestemaker’s journey from not starting at quarterback in high school to linking up with Morris at North Texas and then following him to Stillwater.

That led to the discussion about Game 1, where after an offseason of hype, the Cowboys laid an egg in Tulsa and lost to the Golden Hurricane. A week and some change removed from that loss, and it sounds like Mestemaker is still perplexed as to what the heck happened.

“Tulsa week, I mean, I don’t know if like the expectations got to us,” Mestemaker said. “I really don’t know what it was, honestly. Like, we weren’t playing our game. I feel like the heat was definitely a factor. We were just — I don’t know. It didn’t feel like we were clicking.”

But then somehow in a seven-day stretch, the Cowboys went from losing to Tulsa to beating Oregon — somewhat handily.

Mestemaker said he could see the tides turning in practice last week .

“This last week of practice was the best week of practice I’ve ever been a part of,” Mestemaker said. “Everybody kind of had those sad faces that first week, the first day we came back last week. I talked to Coach Morris, and he was like, ‘This is a defining moment for this team. Like, if we can pull this out, this really defines who our team is.’

“So, this was probably the most focused week of practice I’ve ever been a part of, and we just went and grinded at it. I knew (with) how locked in guys were after this week, we had a chance going into this game. I feel like guys came out on fire and that really built everyone’s confidence up again.”

Mestemaker earned a Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week nod among other national honors for his performance against the Ducks.

He threw for 317 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another 109 and a score.

That rushing score was one of the more memorable touchdowns in OSU’s recent history, as he leapt over a Duck defender inside the 5-yard line before absorbing a shot on the way down.

Drew Mestemaker FLEW on the touchdown 😱 pic.twitter.com/fBTRv0cq7X

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 12, 2026

Mestemaker got the wind knocked out of him and had to delay the end zone celebrations because of it, but even with the big shot he took, it was worth it.

“I’ve never hurdled someone,” Mestemaker said. “I don’t know what came over me in that moment, but I knew it was third down and I had to make a play. I scrambled, and it was the same guy that went low on me earlier in the game, and so I was running and getting close. And it was just one-on-one, so I was like, shoot, I’m gonna go for it.

“Jumped, I saw him go low, and I was like, this perfect. Then he goes low, and I start tipping forward, and I was like, I’m gonna land on my face here, something. I don’t know what’s gonna happen. I felt like I was up there for a long time, and then got hit, landed on my back, got the wind knocked out of me, but it was all worth it.”