Shanna Rose | WV Sports Chat
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Drew Mestemaker threw for a season-high 389 yards and three touchdowns as Oklahoma State rallied to defeat West Virginia 41-24 on Saturday night in both teams’ Big 12 opener at Milan Puskar Stadium.
The Mountaineers (3-1) jumped out to a 14-3 lead but the Cowboys (3-1) came barrelling back to earn the victory in front of a raucous crowd.
WVU’s pass defense struggled all night to contain Mestemaker and Wyatt Young, who connected eight times for 192 yards. Mestemaker completed 20-of-27 passes.
“He’s a good passer; he has great vision and he made some great deep throws, but guys are wide open,” Mountaineer head coach Rich Rodriguez said “When you don’t pressure the guy at all and let him get comfortable, good players like that, an NFL quarterback, is going to beat you. One or two times we got pressure, we got a tip pass or something. Other than that, we never got any pressure.”
With 1:25 left in the first half, Mestemaker found Justin Bowick for a 21-yard touchdown. The quarterback continued to take advantage of WVU’s blown coverage as the game progressed.
Oklahoma State scored on five consecutive drives after Mestemaker threw an interception on the first drive of the third quarter.
Mestemaker’s 48-yard pass to Young set the stage for Caleb Hawkins’ 22-yard touchdown run. After the Mountaineers turned the ball over on downs, Mestemaker and Young connected again, setting the Cowboys up for a short field goal.
With 5:42 left, Mestemaker and Young connected again in the end zone. Sam Keltner kicked field goals of 30, 19, 29 and 47 yards for the Cowboys.
After a strong start, WVU’s offense stalled.
Cam Cook had 193 yards rushing and Michael Hawkins Jr. had 102. Hawkins completed just 10 of his 22 pass attempts for 132 yards with an interception. His receivers dropped some big passes.
“Offensively, there was some good stuff, but there were some things we missed in the passing game. Defensively, it was nothing,” Rodriguez said.
The Mountaineers hit the road against Iowa State next Saturday.
Photo Credit: Kelsie LeRose, WVSN
