HOUSTON — Drew Mestemaker hoped for one more chance, but standing on the Oklahoma State sideline Saturday night at Houston, the Cowboy quarterback knew he didn’t get to determine whether he and the offense would get it.
The defense had to get a stop in the final minutes of the game.
Mestemaker felt helpless watching.
“But then,” he said, “you also got to look back.”
Back at what the offense had done.
And not done.
On a night Houston defeated OSU 35-32, there was plenty of blame to go around for the Cowboys. The defense struggled to tackle, contain receivers in the secondary and get off the field on third- and fourth-down. The coaches have identified that slow starts are a huge and ongoing problem, but they have yet to identify a fix.
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Still, the harsh reality is that Mestemaker and the offense didn’t do enough. They scored only three points in the first half. Managed just 14 rushing yards before halftime. Turned the ball over twice. Both of those turnovers were Mestemaker’s, an interception and a fumble. He fumbled another time, too, but the Cowboys recovered it.
Those kinds of miscues are difficult to overcome, especially when the quarterback on the other sideline is clicking — and Cougar quarterback Conner Weigman was doing just that.
He went 24 of 33 for 343 yards and five touchdowns and tacked on 52 yards rushing, including victory-sealing runs of 4 and 8 yards in the final 2:12 of the game.
“I thought he was phenomenal,” Cowboy coach Eric Morris said of Weigman. “I thought he put it in some tight windows, man-to-man coverage, put it on some spots that gave his players a chance to make plays.”
Truth be told, Weigman outdueled Mestemaker.
Now, Weigman is no stiff. Morris, who knows a good quarterback when he sees one, held Weigman in high regard long before Saturday night’s game.
“I just think he’s improved so drastically over the course of the last year and a half and is really comfortable in this offense,” Morris said.
“Great player.”
But Mestemaker has played so well over the past month or so that it seemed unlikely that he wouldn’t be the best quarterback on the field. But when he had chances to make plays, he missed on a few too many.
On OSU’s first possession, the Cowboys had a third-and-goal from the 5, and Mestemaker just missed connecting with Wyatt Young. OSU settled for a field goal, which didn’t seem all that bad.
But on the Cowboys’ next possession, Mestemaker again had a couple of shots into the end zone that didn’t connect. A first-down throw to Justin Bowick from the Cougar 23-yard line. A fourth-down throw to Young from the 2. Neither hit.
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And failing on fourth down meant no points.
On the first two drives of the game, OSU got within 5 yards of the end zone both times and managed only three points.
That’s a kick in the teeth.
“We can't be a team that can't score in the red zone, an offense that is a one-half team,” Mestemaker said. “We have to play a full game on offense, and it starts with me. I have to play better at the end of the day."
Granted, Mestemaker was 22 of 34 for 365 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for 34 yards on six carries.
But his turnovers and misses early narrowed the Cowboys’ path to victory — and ultimately, it dead-ended.
“I just can’t do those dumb plays,” Mestemaker said, “and give our defense some short fields.”
Morris didn’t lay all the blame at Mestemaker’s feet.
“I thought he was getting pressure; early on, they did a nice job with some twist game, and they hit us with some zero blitzes at times,” Morris said. “Receiver missed the hot route; (Mestemaker) had nowhere to go with it.”
But …
“Probably not his best performance.”
Definitely uneven.
First half: 6 of 15 for 124 yards, no touchdowns, one interception.
Second half: 16 of 19 for 241 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions.
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Mestemaker was a big reason why the Cowboys had to play from behind, but at the same time, he was a big reason why they almost came from behind to knock off the Cougars.
On OSU’s final possession, Mestemaker was 6 for 6 on an array of throws, hitting tight end Carson Kolb over the middle, shoveling a pass to Ayo Adeyi, finding Young for a couple of 17-yard gains, connecting with Chris Barnes for a short gain, then finding Bowick in the left corner of the end zone for the touchdown that drew the Cowboys to within three points.
Mestemaker even threw in a nifty 29-yard dash down the sideline that got the Cowboys into the red zone.
“He’s maybe the toughest kid on our team,” Morris said. “He continued to battle. His competitive character is through the roof.
“Gave us a chance at the end.”
But of course, Mestemaker and the rest of the offense were left to hope that the defense would get them one more opportunity. If only they’d taken advantage of the opportunities when they had them earlier in the game.
“Obviously, you want the ball in that last second,” Mestemaker said. “But I'm not blaming the defense in that moment.
“I’m not one to point fingers.”
After all, there's the bit about how if you point one finger, three others are pointing back at you. But on Saturday night, that’s the kind of scrutiny Mestemaker and the OSU offense deserved.
Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at jcarlson@oklahoman.com. Like her at facebook.com/JenniCarlsonOK, follow her at @jennicarlsonok.bsky.social and twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok, and support her work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Drew Mestemaker 'can’t do those dumb plays' if OSU football wants to make noise | Carlson