Saturday, September 26
Morgantown, W.Va.
7 p.m.
West Virginia University
vs
Oklahoma State
Mountaineers Open Big 12 Play Against Oklahoma State in Saturday Night Gold Rush Game
September 23, 2026 12:57 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The winner of Saturday night's West Viriginia-Oklahoma State clash at Milan Puskar Stadium could very well find itself in next week's Associated Press Top 25 Poll.
Now who had that on their bingo cards just a month ago?
With apologies to Western Michigan, victims of Michigan's creative time keeping, Oklahoma State, under first-year coach Eric Morris, produced the most stunning result of the college football season in week two when the Cowboys upset then-sixth-ranked Oregon 39-31 in Stillwater.
That triumph snapped a 12-game losing streak and completed a full-circle irony that saw the skid begin with a 69-3 road loss to Oregon in Eugene in 2025
West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez called OSU's win "dominant" from start to finish, just one week after the Cowboys suffered a disappointing 24-10 loss at Tulsa to open the season.
Oklahoma State, now 2-1 after last Saturday's 59-0 victory over Murray State, received 50 votes in this week's AP poll, which places them five spots outside the top 25 at No. 30.
Two spots ahead of Oklahoma State is 3-0 West Virginia, coming off a surprising 38-27 victory over then-25th-ranked Virginia at Bank America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Mountaineers were 4-8 last season under Rodriguez, one of four losing campaigns in the last five years for WVU, which necessitated a course correction in November 2024 when West Virginia opted to bring back Rodriguez for a second tour of duty.
The Big 12 Conference no longer issues a preseason media poll, but a collection of 16 conference beat writers came up with an unofficial poll earlier this summer and listed Oklahoma State eighth and West Virginia 11th.
So that's some context heading into Saturday's league opener.
Morris parlayed his success at North Texas into a power conference job at Oklahoma State last November and decided to bring a good portion of his roster with him to Stillwater.
At the top of his list was quarterback Drew Mestemaker, regarded among the top five quarterback prospects for the 2027 NFL Draft. He sits around 30th-to-50th on most people's draft boards and is generally considered to be just a tier below Texas' Arch Manning and Oregon's Dante Moore.
Mestemaker has the most unique background of the nation's top-rated quarterbacks, having never started a high school game behind center before blossoming under Morris at North Texas.
He stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 215 pounds, size coveted by pro scouts, and his ability to process defenses makes him appealing. His athleticism was also on display in the Oregon victory when he broke off a 75-yard run on a zone-read play.
"The quarterback is a great player and a lot of hype on him going into the season," Rodriguez said. "He gets rid of the ball quickly. I think it is 1.8 seconds or something close to that. It is hard to sack him. Whether it is their RPO game or dropback, he gets rid of the football."
The Austin, Texas, resident passed for a career-high 608 yards in a 2025 victory over Charlotte while at North Texas and had 109 yards rushing two weeks ago against Oregon.
Mestemaker's career passing totals show a 68.1% completion percentage on his 623 pass attempts for 5,399 yards and 44 touchdowns. He threw for a national-best 4,379 yards in 14 games last season at North Texas.
Morris has a long track record of developing elite college quarterbacks going back to his days at Texas Tech where he was offensive coordinator when Patrick Mahomes starred for the Red Raiders. He also counts time spent with Baker Mayfield and Cam Ward, although both were not coached by Morris during their final collegiate seasons.
"They play pretty quickly. I think they are right behind us in tempo," Rodriguez said.
"(Mestemaker) has good skill players around him, they are good up front, and they have a really good plan on offense," he added.
Oklahoma State's ability to pass the football matches up favorably against a West Virginia pass defense that was the worst in the Big 12 last year and struggled in its season-opening win against Coastal Carolina, particularly in the second half.
Last Saturday, however, West Virginia limited Virginia's Beau Pribula to 197 yards through the air, one week after holding UT Martin to 170 yards.
Mestemaker's calling card is his quick release, reminiscent of former NC State and NFL standout Phillip Rivers the way he holds the ball a little bit lower than other quarterbacks. While possessing plenty of arm strength, his true value comes in his ability to throw the ball accurately from different arm angles, off balance or on the run.
Naturally, slowing him down will be West Virginia's biggest challenge on Saturday night.
"It's a different challenge than what we've seen the last couple of weeks," Rodriguez observed. "You have to make sure defensively that you have really good eye discipline, in the right spot, and know they are going to make good plays. You have to hold them down a little bit. Even though it is their first year, they've been together and they know the system, know what the plan is going to be."
The Mountaineers, too, have gotten exceptional quarterback play from Oklahoma transfer Michael Hawkins Jr., named national player of the week last week after his stellar five-touchdown performance against Virginia.
Hawkins was the nation's top-graded quarterback last Saturday, according to Pro Football Focus, and ranks No. 1 this week among all FBS quarterbacks averaging 18.3 yards per completion.
His 322 yards and six rushing touchdowns make him one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the country through three games, which fits in nicely with Rodriguez's run-oriented attack.
"This is just his third game in our system, so he just continues to learn and grow," Rodriguez said. "He was very decisive and seeing the field, making good decisions, and showing his athletic ability. He played a really good football game (against Virginia), and I think he is only going to get better."
The Mountaineers currently rank sixth in the country among all FBS teams in rushing, averaging 281.3 yards per game, and have gained more than 247 yards on the ground in all three games this season.
Senior Cam Cook is the team's second-leading rusher with 317 yards on a team-best 70 carries.
Skyler Cassity, in charge of Oklahoma State's defense, has recent experience facing Rodriguez in 2024 when Rodriguez was at Jacksonville State and Cassity was Sam Houston State's defensive coordinator.
Jacksonville State won the game 21-11, although Cassity's defense held the Gamecocks to one of their lowest scoring totals of the season. Jacksonville State rushed for 278 yards and passed for 54 that day.
Saturday's game will be the 17th meeting between the two schools, with the majority of those contests taking place since 2012 when West Virginia joined the Big 12.
OSU holds a 10-6 overall edge in the series and has won five straight in Morgantown from 2015 to 2023. That matches Miami's five-game winning streak here dating back to 2002 and ranks third behind Penn State (12) and Pitt (eight).
The contest will kick off at 7 p.m. and will be televised nationally on FS1 (Eric Collins and Spencer Tillman).
Mountaineer Sports Network radio coverage begins with the GoMart Mountaineer Tailgate Show at 4 p.m. leading into regular network coverage with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Jed Drenning at 6 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com, and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps.
Saturday's matchup has been deemed a "Gold Rush" and fans are encouraged to wear gold to the game. Members of the 1981 Peach Bowl championship team will be in town for their 45-year reunion and will be recognized on the field during the first quarter.
A limited number of tickets still remain and can be purchased through the Mountaineer Ticket Office by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
Now who had that on their bingo cards just a month ago?
With apologies to Western Michigan, victims of Michigan's creative time keeping, Oklahoma State, under first-year coach Eric Morris, produced the most stunning result of the college football season in week two when the Cowboys upset then-sixth-ranked Oregon 39-31 in Stillwater.
That triumph snapped a 12-game losing streak and completed a full-circle irony that saw the skid begin with a 69-3 road loss to Oregon in Eugene in 2025
West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez called OSU's win "dominant" from start to finish, just one week after the Cowboys suffered a disappointing 24-10 loss at Tulsa to open the season.
Oklahoma State, now 2-1 after last Saturday's 59-0 victory over Murray State, received 50 votes in this week's AP poll, which places them five spots outside the top 25 at No. 30.
Two spots ahead of Oklahoma State is 3-0 West Virginia, coming off a surprising 38-27 victory over then-25th-ranked Virginia at Bank America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Mountaineers were 4-8 last season under Rodriguez, one of four losing campaigns in the last five years for WVU, which necessitated a course correction in November 2024 when West Virginia opted to bring back Rodriguez for a second tour of duty.
The Big 12 Conference no longer issues a preseason media poll, but a collection of 16 conference beat writers came up with an unofficial poll earlier this summer and listed Oklahoma State eighth and West Virginia 11th.
So that's some context heading into Saturday's league opener.
Morris parlayed his success at North Texas into a power conference job at Oklahoma State last November and decided to bring a good portion of his roster with him to Stillwater.
At the top of his list was quarterback Drew Mestemaker, regarded among the top five quarterback prospects for the 2027 NFL Draft. He sits around 30th-to-50th on most people's draft boards and is generally considered to be just a tier below Texas' Arch Manning and Oregon's Dante Moore.
Mestemaker has the most unique background of the nation's top-rated quarterbacks, having never started a high school game behind center before blossoming under Morris at North Texas.
He stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 215 pounds, size coveted by pro scouts, and his ability to process defenses makes him appealing. His athleticism was also on display in the Oregon victory when he broke off a 75-yard run on a zone-read play.
"The quarterback is a great player and a lot of hype on him going into the season," Rodriguez said. "He gets rid of the ball quickly. I think it is 1.8 seconds or something close to that. It is hard to sack him. Whether it is their RPO game or dropback, he gets rid of the football."
The Austin, Texas, resident passed for a career-high 608 yards in a 2025 victory over Charlotte while at North Texas and had 109 yards rushing two weeks ago against Oregon.
Mestemaker's career passing totals show a 68.1% completion percentage on his 623 pass attempts for 5,399 yards and 44 touchdowns. He threw for a national-best 4,379 yards in 14 games last season at North Texas.
Morris has a long track record of developing elite college quarterbacks going back to his days at Texas Tech where he was offensive coordinator when Patrick Mahomes starred for the Red Raiders. He also counts time spent with Baker Mayfield and Cam Ward, although both were not coached by Morris during their final collegiate seasons.
"They play pretty quickly. I think they are right behind us in tempo," Rodriguez said.
"(Mestemaker) has good skill players around him, they are good up front, and they have a really good plan on offense," he added.
Oklahoma State's ability to pass the football matches up favorably against a West Virginia pass defense that was the worst in the Big 12 last year and struggled in its season-opening win against Coastal Carolina, particularly in the second half.
Last Saturday, however, West Virginia limited Virginia's Beau Pribula to 197 yards through the air, one week after holding UT Martin to 170 yards.
Mestemaker's calling card is his quick release, reminiscent of former NC State and NFL standout Phillip Rivers the way he holds the ball a little bit lower than other quarterbacks. While possessing plenty of arm strength, his true value comes in his ability to throw the ball accurately from different arm angles, off balance or on the run.
Naturally, slowing him down will be West Virginia's biggest challenge on Saturday night.
"It's a different challenge than what we've seen the last couple of weeks," Rodriguez observed. "You have to make sure defensively that you have really good eye discipline, in the right spot, and know they are going to make good plays. You have to hold them down a little bit. Even though it is their first year, they've been together and they know the system, know what the plan is going to be."
The Mountaineers, too, have gotten exceptional quarterback play from Oklahoma transfer Michael Hawkins Jr., named national player of the week last week after his stellar five-touchdown performance against Virginia.
Hawkins was the nation's top-graded quarterback last Saturday, according to Pro Football Focus, and ranks No. 1 this week among all FBS quarterbacks averaging 18.3 yards per completion.
His 322 yards and six rushing touchdowns make him one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the country through three games, which fits in nicely with Rodriguez's run-oriented attack.
"This is just his third game in our system, so he just continues to learn and grow," Rodriguez said. "He was very decisive and seeing the field, making good decisions, and showing his athletic ability. He played a really good football game (against Virginia), and I think he is only going to get better."
The Mountaineers currently rank sixth in the country among all FBS teams in rushing, averaging 281.3 yards per game, and have gained more than 247 yards on the ground in all three games this season.
Senior Cam Cook is the team's second-leading rusher with 317 yards on a team-best 70 carries.
Skyler Cassity, in charge of Oklahoma State's defense, has recent experience facing Rodriguez in 2024 when Rodriguez was at Jacksonville State and Cassity was Sam Houston State's defensive coordinator.
Jacksonville State won the game 21-11, although Cassity's defense held the Gamecocks to one of their lowest scoring totals of the season. Jacksonville State rushed for 278 yards and passed for 54 that day.
Saturday's game will be the 17th meeting between the two schools, with the majority of those contests taking place since 2012 when West Virginia joined the Big 12.
OSU holds a 10-6 overall edge in the series and has won five straight in Morgantown from 2015 to 2023. That matches Miami's five-game winning streak here dating back to 2002 and ranks third behind Penn State (12) and Pitt (eight).
The contest will kick off at 7 p.m. and will be televised nationally on FS1 (Eric Collins and Spencer Tillman).
Mountaineer Sports Network radio coverage begins with the GoMart Mountaineer Tailgate Show at 4 p.m. leading into regular network coverage with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Jed Drenning at 6 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com, and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps.
Saturday's matchup has been deemed a "Gold Rush" and fans are encouraged to wear gold to the game. Members of the 1981 Peach Bowl championship team will be in town for their 45-year reunion and will be recognized on the field during the first quarter.
A limited number of tickets still remain and can be purchased through the Mountaineer Ticket Office by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
| Tale of the Tape | OSU (2-1) | WVU (3-0) |
| Points Per Game | 36.0 | 40.3 |
| Points Against | 18.3 | 19.3 |
| Rushing Yards Per Game | 221.7 | 281.3 |
| Rushing Yards Allowed Per Game | 100.0 | 119.0 |
| Passing Yards Per Game | 306.3 | 177.0 |
| Passing Yards Allowed Per Game | 167.3 | 246.7 |
| Total Yards Per Game | 528.0 | 458.3 |
| Total Yards Allowed Per Game | 267.3 | 365.7 |
| First Downs For | 85 | 62 |
| First Downs Against | 32 | 58 |
| Fumbles/Lost | 3/3 | 3/2 |
| Interceptions/Return Yards | 2/13 | 1/0 |
| Net Punting | 39.8 | 38.0 |
| Field Goal/Attempts | 6/6 | 3/3 |
| Time of Possession | 34:22 | 28:22 |
| Penalties/Yards | 11/119 | 16/131 |
| 3rd Down Conversions | 14/40 | 24/45 |
| 3rd Down Conversion Defense | 6/37 | 15/42 |
| 4th Down Conversions | 3/7 | 2/2 |
| 4th Down Conversion Defense | 2/6 | 4/8 |
| Sacks By/Yards Lost | 4/9 | 10/75 |
Players Mentioned
RB
/ Football
QB
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