The Oklahoma State Cowboys will visit the West Virginia Mountaineers on Saturday, September 26, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. ET from Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, WV.
Oklahoma State enters at 2-1 after a 59-0 win over Murray State. West Virginia is 3-0 after a 38-27 win over Virginia. The Mountaineers are 1.5-point favorites over the Cowboys.
West Virginia has leaned on the run to stay unbeaten. The Mountaineers average 281.3 rushing yards per game and score 40.3 points per game while allowing 19.3. Oklahoma State arrives with balance of its own. The Cowboys average 221.7 rushing yards per game and allow 18.3 points per game.
Oklahoma State’s Big 12 opener rides on Mestemaker’s dual-threat game after he authored the biggest win of his young career. He accounted for 426 total yards and three touchdowns in the Cowboys’ 39-31 upset of then-No. 6 Oregon, completing 26 of 43 passes for 317 yards and two scores while adding 109 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground, including a game-sealing leap into the end zone in the fourth quarter. On the season he is 75 of 114 passing for 882 yards with eight touchdowns against four interceptions. Mestemaker was intercepted twice by Tulsa in Oklahoma State’s season opener, and his ability to extend plays with his legs gives the Cowboys a way to sustain drives on the road in their conference opener as long as he protects the ball better than he did that day.
Bowick has emerged as Mestemaker’s top target, hauling in 16 receptions for 281 yards and three touchdowns while averaging 17.6 yards per catch through Oklahoma State’s first three games. Nine of those catches and 178 of those yards came in a two-touchdown outing against Murray State, and his chemistry with Mestemaker also showed up down the field during the Oregon comeback.
West Virginia’s 3-0 start has been built around Hawkins, who has completed 26 of 38 passes for 477 yards and five touchdowns with zero interceptions while also rushing 44 times for 322 yards and six more scores through three games. His signature moment came in the Mountaineers’ 38-27 win over then-No. 25 Virginia, when he threw for 190 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 123 yards and three more scores, earning Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors. Hawkins’ dual-threat profile, both through the air and on designed runs and scrambles, gives West Virginia an edge at home in its Big 12 opener.
Epps gives West Virginia a weapon built to take advantage of Oklahoma State’s defense, which just allowed 31 points to Oregon. He leads the Mountaineers with eight catches for 240 yards and three touchdowns, an average of 30 yards per reception. Against Virginia he turned in three catches for 92 yards and both of Hawkins’ passing touchdowns, including a 29-yard seam route he hauled in before stretching across the goal line, plus a 42-yard catch that set up another score.
For Oklahoma State, the number that stings is 1,036. That is the number of days since the Cowboys won a Big 12 Conference game. That was Nov. 25, 2023, as they beat BYU in double-overtime, 40-34. The Cowboys get their first crack at fixing that on Saturday against the West Virginia Mountaineers. It is a fresh slate. New head coach Eric Morris. New coaching staff. More than 90 new players. First time the Cowboys have had a winning streak since starting 3-0 in 2024.
Big 12 Conference play means regularly updated player availability reports for West Virginia University football. These are more commonly known as injury reports, and they are announced each night leading up to a conference game, beginning three days out. For a normal Saturday game, that means Wednesday night, Thursday night and Friday. Then, ninety minutes before the game, the final report is released.
