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09/27 00:32 CDT Mestemaker throws for 389 yards and 3 TDs as Oklahoma State
beats West Virginia 41-24
Mestemaker throws for 389 yards and 3 TDs as Oklahoma State beats West Virginia
41-24
By JOHN RABY
AP Sports Writer
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) --- Drew Mestemaker threw for a season-high 389 yards
and three touchdowns, Caleb Hawkins rushed for a season-high 180 yards and a
score, and Oklahoma State beat West Virginia 41-24 in their Big 12 opener
Saturday night.
The Cowboys (3-1) roared back from a 14-3 deficit to earn an emphatic win in a
hostile environment under first-year coach Eric Morris, and they did it with
three players he brought with him from North Texas: Mestemaker, Hawkins and
wide receiver Wyatt Young.
Mestemaker was up to the task, completing 20 of his 27 passes.
"Whenever you make those big plays, and everything goes quiet, it feels good
running down the field," he said. "This was definitely the best away-game
environment I've ever played in."
Mestemaker hit Justin Bowick with a 21-yard scoring toss just before halftime
and kept making big plays in blown coverage by West Virginia's defense.
Oklahoma State scored on five consecutive drives after Mestemaker threw an
interception on the first drive of the third quarter.
"His response was phenomenal," Morris said. "He handled the whole game like a
professional. Drew's going to play football for a long time."
Mestemaker threw passes of 27 and 40 yards on the Cowboys' next drive to set up
his 4-yard scoring toss to Terrence Lewis to knot the score at 21.
Mestemaker's 48-yard pass to Young set up Hawkins' 22-yard touchdown run and,
after West Virginia turned the ball over on downs, Mestemaker found Young with
another 48-yard pass to set up a short field goal. Mestemaker threw a 6-yard
scoring pass to Young with 5:42 remaining.
"He (Mestemaker) has great vision, and he made some great deep throws, but guys
are wide open," said West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez. "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 tipped pass or something. Other than that, we never got any pressure."
Young finished with eight catches for a season-high 192 yards. Sam Keltner
kicked field goals of 30, 19, 29 and 47 yards for the Cowboys.
Quarterback Mike Hawkins Jr. ran for three touchdowns for West Virginia (3-1,
0-1 Big 12). But he was ineffective in the passing game for the first time this
season, completing 10 of 22 passes for 132 yards. West Virginia compiled 334
rushing yards. Cam Cook rushed for 193 yards, and Mike Hawkins, the nation's
top rushing quarterback, had 102.
The takeaway Oklahoma State: The Cowboys compiled 609 total yards, including 359 after halftime, and the defense threw Mike Hawkins out of rhythm. They've now beaten the Mountaineers in six straight meetings in Morgantown, West Virginia. West Virginia: The Mountaineers couldn't take advantage of a raucous home crowd and fell to 11-3 in night games under Rodriguez, going back to his first stint at the school two decades ago. "Defensively, we didn't play well at all," Rodriguez said. "It's the head coach's responsibility to make sure we have a plan that can succeed, and it didn't succeed." Up next Oklahoma State has a bye week before hosting UCF on Oct. 10. West Virginia plays at Iowa State next Saturday. ___ Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here, visit the Top 25 here and see AP's full college football coverage here |
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