Thanks for stopping by – here’s your daily dose of Oklahoma State sports news. 

OSU Bullets

• Pokes won their Tuesday night, opening round game of the Big 12 men’s basketball tournament, upsetting the 11 seed, 92-83 (PFB)

• Where the Cowgirls are projected to land in the NCAA Tournament (GoPokes 247)

• The Cowboys got a 6-5 win over DBU in Stillwater last night, while the Cowgirls shut down the game in the seventh against Wichita State due to weather (OKState.com)

• Quotes from Eric Morris after the Pokes’ first spring practice – highlighted by comments about Drew Mestemaker’s growth areas and adjusting to all the space in facilities (PFB)

• Pokes landed another commitment for the 2027 wrestling class (X)

• Eric Morris on how to look at defense’s building confidence:

“It’s taken me awhile to learn how to deal with that…” Eric Morris is more ok than he used to be with the Defense having a better day in practice than his offense. pic.twitter.com/S2cU2cCdMT

— Cayden McFarland (@caydenmc) March 10, 2026

Non-OSU Bullets

• SGA ended the MVP race Monday night •Fun, romanticized piece about how the iPod was technology at its best • Solid six-minute video on how Christians should disagree with each other (faith-based)

Spring (football) has sprung with the new-look Cowboys getting onto the practice field for the first time this week. Let’s continue our look at their 2026 fall slate.

The Cowboys will get an early bye week in 2026. Following their first conference game, a trip to Morgantown to face West Virginia, they’ll return to treat fans to a Big 12 home opener against the Knights.

For the second game in a row, OSU will be trying out its new coaching staff against a recent retread. Week 4 opponent West Virginia will be in Year 2 of the Rich Rodriguez re-experiment while Central Florida will be in the second year of Scott Frost 2.0.

Frost spent the 2016 and 2017 seasons in Orlando, going from 6-7 to a perfect 13-0 before jumping ship to Nebraska. After five years in Lincoln and a couple years off, Frost returned to UCF ahead of the 2025 season to get his first taste of the Big 12.

Be sure to check out our previous episodes: Noncon | WVU

Week 5: UCF | Oct. 10 | Stillwater, Okla.

Series history: 0-2

Last meeting: The Cowboys coughed up a 14-0 halftime lead, spoiling what, at the time, seemed like their best chance at an FBS win all year. To add insult to the injury of not scoring in the second half, there were several squinky-esque moments like two UCF fourth-down conversions, a near muffed punt by the Knights and Jaden Nixon almost gifting his former team a fumble. In the end, the Knights followed up OSU’s 14-0 first half with a 17-0 second to get the win on Senior Knight.

UCF in 2025: The Knights slumped over the last half of Scott Frost’s first season back at the helm. They were 2-7 in the Big 12, and, had it not been for that comeback against OSU, they would have dropped last five games of the season.

UCF in 2026: On one side, you have the Cowboys with the league’s top transfer portal class, and on the other you have UCF. As of writing, the returning 5-7 Knights are ranked last place in the Big 12 in both portal class and high school class, per 247Sports.

Of note: Another touted mid-major QB.

Those rankings notwithstanding, Frost and Co. did make some thoughtful moves in the portal to shore up some key positions, namely at quarterback. They turned over their QB room with a group headlined by former James Madison dual-threat Alonza Barnett III. Last year’s Sun Belt Player of the Year led the Dukes all the way to the College Football Playoff. He went 20-6 the last two seasons as a starter.

Justin Southwell, Nathan Gilsleider and Marshall Scott discuss the start to Oklahoma State’s spring football practices. They also recap a dominant showing in Tulsa for Oklahoma State wrestling and more.

PFB+ Sale: ⁠PFB+ subscriptions are 25% off when using this link

Thanks for stopping by – here’s your daily dose of Oklahoma State sports news. 

OSU Bullets

• Previewing tonight’s OSU-Colorado game in Kansas City (PFB)

• OSU coaches talking about receiver Wyatt Young after the first practice – it was pointed out that Cooper Kupp’s college coach was brought in to coach him (PFB)

• This feels like a pretty undeniable statement about expectations for Drew Mestemaker that Bill Haisten concludes with: 

Because of Mestemaker’s revenue, because he was so good for North Texas last season and because the Cowboys have an 18-game losing streak against league opponents, more will be expected of the 6-foot-4 Austin native than any previous Oklahoma State first-year starting quarterback. [TulsaWorld]

• Impressive offensive improvement from Hoyt’s Cowgirls this year (X)

•  Chuba Hubbard’s backup left Carolina and is headed to Pittsburgh to play with Jaylen Warren (ESPN)

• Eric Morris on the first day of spring practice: 

Eric Morris speaks after first spring practice pic.twitter.com/FVNlrVtPKB

— Scott Wright (@ScottWrightOK) March 9, 2026

Non-OSU Bullets

• On SGA’s big night • Stop buying these four things at Costco • Five escapes from dry devotions (faith-based)

“Trust in yourself is not only built through successful repetitions, but also through failed ones. When you have worked through failures in the past, you fear them less in the future. You know you can bounce back. Successful repetitions build competence. Failed repetitions build resilience.” James Clear

This guy is easy to cheer for. 

The first true legend of March is a High School Hooper named Hunter Abner. Walking Bucket.

pic.twitter.com/JEw4QIMlZg

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) March 9, 2026

STILLWATER — The first spring of the Eric Morris Era is here.

Oklahoma State opened its spring practice schedule on Monday. Afterward, Morris met with reporters to discuss how it went. Here are five things he hit on, and you can watch his news conference in full below.

The Defense Got the Better of the Offense

Morris is an offensive guy. He said he’s had to learn that it’s alright if the defense beats the offense in practice some days.

Monday, the first day of spring practice, was one of those days.

“I thought the defense really got after the offense for most of the day,” Morris said. “Maybe it was a little bit of the elements. We were outside the whole entire day. It was beautiful out there, pretty windy. We had some 18-22 mph wind at our backs, and so I didn’t think we adjusted very well to that. We threw a bunch of balls over the receivers’ heads today.”

Being a part of the Mike Leach tree didn’t help Morris expand on his views of defenses having their days in practice, but he learned about it in his short stint at Washington State.

“It was really good for me to go to Washington State and work for a defensive head coach like Jake Dickert,” Morris said. “And sometimes practice was scripted for the defense, really, to have success. And it was amazing for me to see on the flip side of the way I grew up under Leach and Kingsbury and Sumlin, all the offensive guys when it was predicated that way, the defense, they got a lot of confidence in what they were doing. 

“This is like the ultimate team sport, and so we’re going to need everybody to win football games. Defense, they say, wins championships. I mean, I’m not angry. It took me a while to learn not to go home at night and be so frustrated as a play caller. I just know we have some things to fix on that side of the ball.”

How Does Mestemaker Get Even Better?

Spring is a time for young guys to continue to develop, and though Drew Mestemaker led the country in passing last year, he’s still entering only his redshirt sophomore season.

How does Mestemaker get better in his first spring in Stillwater?

“Just a growth mindset,” Morris said. “Here’s a kid that, when you look at it, he didn’t play football at all in high school at the position he’s playing right now. So if you look at his body of work, we are at 13 or 14 games that he started. And although you had so much success last year, I think he’s still in such a growth phase of his life. And then obviously, the speed of the game is going to be a little bit faster playing P4 football, and being able to adjust to the speed of the game and realize how much faster he has to get some balls out, anticipate a little bit more, how much tighter some of the man coverage stuff is going to be. I think this is going to be a big spring for him to grow a ton after playing only 14 games.”

Oates’ Future ‘Still Up in the Air’

The Cowboys are still waiting word on whether defensive tackle Iman Oates will be eligible for the 2026 season.

It would be Oates’ sixth year of college ball, but his first two were spent at junior college NEO. With NIL’s implementation, a lot of guys have gotten JUCO years voided off their eligibility clocks.

He’s played in all 24 of the Cowboys’ games the past two seasons and has made 39 tackles, five tackles for loss and two sacks.

“Still up in the air,” Morris said. “So all these things with the NCAA, I mean, everything changes, judges, injunctions. I mean, then the NCAA comes back, sues people. Your guess is as good — You’ll probably know if he’s eligible before I will because it’s going to come out on social media. But we should know in the next couple of weeks, is what they’re telling us, the judge is telling us right now. I don’t know how to take some of these NCAA lawsuits right now.”

New Facilities Have ‘Almost Too Much Space’

Back when Morris was the head coach at Incarnate Word, he had one field to practice (and play) on.

The Sherman E. Smith Training Center across from Boone Pickens Stadium hosts four fields: one indoor, an outdoor turf field and two natural grass fields.

“There is almost too much space, I would say,” Morris said. “I go back to my days of Incarnate Word, and we had one field, one practice field, one game field, one any field on the whole entire campus. And so we had to share that with soccer and track and field at the same time. So the organization of trying to figure out how to practice and get everything done on that small amount of space. And then at North Texas we had a great practice space with two fields with an indoor and a practice field right next to it, which was just like, I didn’t know what to do when I saw that. It was all ours.

“And then you get here. So every stop along the way, I double up on space. I really like the grass fields to really protect our players’ knees and ankles during the course of spring, and so a ton of time on that grass. But it was nice to be able to utilize all this, all this space for the first practice.”

Return of the TE?

With all the new happening, Morris hasn’t fielded a ton of questions on individual players.

But one guy OSU fans are excited about is LSU tight end transfer Donovan Green. The tight end position has been, let’s say, underutilized in recent seasons in Stillwater, and Green has a ton of talent, evident by that fact that he was a four-star recruit coming out of high school.

Green had an excellent true freshman season at Texas A&M, catching 22 passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns, but he was injured ahead of the 2023 season and hasn’t exactly had regular snaps since.

“Donovan has done a great job,” Morris said. “I call him an old head just because he’s been around so many programs. I think he’s a guy that he’s been scarred in the past because he was such a good young player at Texas A&M had a big role as a young buck gets hurt, gets injured, goes through some major surgeries and just working his way back up to be a guy that’s counted on each and every day.

“He’s married. He’s living here with his wife. He’s going through a lot of different scenarios and situations that the rest of our players aren’t right now. So he’s a guy that just handles his business. The maturity comes out each and every day. I like the progression he’s on right now.”

STILLWATER — If Eric Morris had his way, the Cowboys won’t be going to the portal to get quarterbacks too often.

That’s a bit of a zig while others are zagging. The College Football Playoff semifinals included four quarterbacks who weren’t at their initial school. But with Morris’ well-documented track record of identifying and developing talent at that position, it’s hard to put up much of an argument with what he thinks makes a good QB. He said he’d prefer to keep it the old-fashioned way — developing high schoolers.

“I think now every year is different,” Morris said. “You never know what’s going to happen. Even with Drew (Mestemaker). I mean, Drew has a great year and comes out the NFL next year, then all of a sudden, you’re in a different market than what you thought you’re going to. So, I think you have to be flexible in this day and age, just with the volatility of where football is right now.

“But yeah, we’re focusing hard on getting us a high school kid in here to develop. We got Brodie (Vehrs) this year. I think Brodie’s really shown some promise for a young guy. We’ll always try to find the best high school guy and get him in here. And then obviously the retention piece of it’s the next piece.”

Drew Mestemaker has, justly, garnered all the Cowboys’ quarterback headlines this offseason, but he’s one of four guys in OSU offensive coordinator/QB coach Sean Brophy has in his room.

Morris mentioned Vehrs, one of two freshmen in the room.

Vehrs had been committed to Morris and Brophy at North Texas before a nerve-enducing Thanksgiving weekend saw him sign with the Cowboys.

Listed at 5-foot-11, 205 pounds, Vehrs was a three-star prospect who threw for more than 1,500 yards and had 18 touchdowns to three interceptions before an injury ended his high school career. As a high school junior, Vehrs completed 71% of his passes for nearly 3,000 yards and 27 TDs to two INTs.

“Brodie is somebody we had a longstanding relationship with, was committed to us at North Texas and is a really confident, confident quarterback,” Brophy said. “Is a super smooth thrower of the football, has won a lot of games in high school, comes from a great program at Basha (AZ). You can see his confidence just oozing out of him on the field.”

With an unquestioned starter already in place, it had to be tough to find an experienced passer to put behind Mestemaker, but Brophy and Co. found that in UMass transfer Grant Jordan.

A 6-foot-2, 217-pound redshirt senior, Jordan was Yale’s starter in 2024, where he earned All-Ivy honorable mention honors by throwing for 1,938 yards and 22 touchdowns while completing 66% of his passes. He also had 360 yards on the ground to go with five touchdowns.

He spent 2025 at UMass, where he played in seven games (two starts) where he threw for 595 yards and a pair of scores with 73 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

“Grant has played a lot of football, and he’s a smart guy,” Brophy said. “They don’t just let anybody graduate from Yale. Being the starting quarterback at Yale is a big deal. They put a lot on his plate mentally, and then I think physically he’s got a really nice skillset. He’s someone that’s athletic and that can move the pocket and can do some things with his legs. He’s a well-built kid. He’s got plenty of arm talent, plenty of arm strength, is an accurate passer of the football, and then his character, too.

“Came with good reviews from his coaches from Yale. Was in an interesting situation last year at UMass, and didn’t have a great experience there and was just looking for a fresh start. So the opportunity to come in here, what he felt like with this staff and this room to grow and develop as a quarterback, regardless of Drew being here, felt like the right fit for him being here for his last year.”

Luke Tepas, listed at 6-3, 207 from Illinois, is the other freshman on the roster.

Tepas had more high school quarterback experience than Mestemaker, but not by a ton. He wasn’t the full-time starter at Barrington High (IL) until his senior season, where he threw for 2,254 yards and 24 touchdowns while running for 313 yards and three more scores.

“Luke is somebody that just hasn’t played a ton of football,” Brophy said. “He’s big and 6-3 and can throw it really well, but is just super green. And once he’s able to fully put it together, that’s the hard part for me because I can see what he can become, obviously, and we’re trying to pull it out of him. But he’s doing a really nice job so far, too, and somebody that has an unbelievably high ceiling with what we think he can do and what we think he can become.”

Vehrs and Tepas had their first official college practices on Monday. Brophy noted that Mestemaker is mentoring the young crop, and he gave a shoutout to senior offensive assistant Kevin Kilmer, who had been an OC and QB coach at Angelo State, as a guy who will help in their development. But with Morris acting as the coach and playcaller, Brophy said that frees him up to do more of what he enjoys: coaching quarterbacks.

“I’m young, I’m 29,” Brophy said. “This is Coach Morris’ show. He’s gonna call plays, and I love coaching quarterbacks. That’s the best part of my job. So, I’m extremely hands-on with those guys. I’m gonna be in each of those meetings, obviously, running (individual drills), doing all those things with them, and Drew does a great job with them, Coach Kilmer does too, but I thought it showed a little bit today that this was their first college football practice. They were a little bit starry eyed, but both have a ton of potential.”

STILLWATER — Throughout the last two months, there’s been a lot of discussion about how blessed the Cowboys were to land the No. 7 portal class in the nation.

What sometimes went unsaid was the fact that the feeling went both ways. At least that was the case for North Texas transfer Wyatt Young, who grew up dreaming of playing power conference football.

“I’ve always had the drive to be at this level,” Young said. “As a kid that like, as long as I can remember, I went to A&M games growing up, all the time. I went to any football game that I could. I’ve always wanted to be on that field. I’ve always wanted to be that guy. I never knew how realistic it would be.”

Young carved his dreams into reality when he finished third in the nation with 1,264 receiving yards and 12th in touchdown receptions (10) on 88 catches.

He was a four-star prospect in the transfer portal, ranked 68th or higher nationally by On3 and 247Sports and 17th or higher among receivers.

When asked if any of that success or his jump to power conference football feels crazy to think about, Young said, “yes and no” before elaborating.

“The transition that I took last spring at this time is what made my year last year the year I had,” Young said. “Being able to get out here, understand the route tree, understand how to run different routes, understand where Drew wants me, and at what times. That’s really what took my game to the next level. That’s what I feel like I really thrived on last year.”

Last season’s success is even more incredible considering he split time between receiver, running back and quarterback during high school.

“Wyatt had a great day today, and he just keeps getting better and better playing this position,” OSU coach Eric Morris said after opening spring practice on Monday. “I mean, this will be year three that he’s actually played receiver. He played quarterback all during high school. It took a little bit for him to transition. His jump from year one to year two was just huge. And how comfortable he is in route running, and the ins and outs of really the position that he’s playing now, and how to manipulate defenders.”

Young said he models his game after NFL receiver Cooper Kupp.

“Coach (Nick) Edwards coached Cooper Kupp at Eastern Washington, so he said he saw a lot of the same characteristics,” Young said. “And I’ve watched that guy for a long time. I love the way he’s so explosive, he’s so smart.

“I don’t know if y’all seen that clip of him after the game talking about, there’s a hot blitz, he knew he had one guy to beat on the way to the end zone. Like, that’s just amazing stuff to see. So I want to be that type of game-smart that he was, and I’m trying to get there. That’s my goal for this spring.”

Kupp’s success with his former teammate Matthew Stafford was well documented as a byproduct of the extra time those two put in together, especially in the film room. It certainly sounds like Young gained a lot of his confidence through a similar process during fall camp last year.

“Being able to stick after practices, watch film with Drew and coach,” Young said. “Them teach me different coverages, what they’re expecting, what I’m expected to do. That’s really what took my game to the next level. And that’s when I started like, OK, I can be that guy this year.”

It might be hard to imagine now, but Young wasn’t always viewed as the clear-cut No. 1 option at North Texas. During his freshman season, Young caught 18 passes to finish sixth in total receiving yards with 295.

He had to put in the work, often on his own, last spring.

“Coming out here and just being by myself and being able to take in the field,” Young said. “If you go out and imagine what you’re doing, it makes the difference in the world. It seems weird to do when you’re out there just by yourself, like acting, but it takes your game to the next level.”

This spring, nobody, including Young, questions whether the junior has what it takes to play college football at the highest level.

“Now I know, like I can do it, like I’m that guy,” Young said. “Like I’m the one that they look up to me. So it’s exciting to be here and in this position.”