Oklahoma State winning again is a Big 12 surprise as Cowboys rack up AP midseason awards

Oklahoma State had gone two seasons without winning a Big 12 game before Eric Morris took over as head coach, then lost to Tulsa in his debut this year with the Cowboys.

They have won all their games since, including a huge upset in Morris’ home opener over then-No. 6 Oregon — the same team that beat them 69-3 last season — and their first two conference games.

The 18th-ranked Cowboys (4-1) were the unanimous choice as the most surprising Big 12 team at the midway point of the season in a vote of Associated Press writers who cover the conference. So was Big 12 passing leader Drew Mestemaker, the quarterback who came with Morris from North Texas, as the top first-year transfer.

Mestemaker was among 21 players who followed their coach north to Oklahoma State from North Texas. There were 88 newcomers overall.

Oklahoma State ended a 21-game losing streak against FBS opponents with the 39-31 win over Oregon on Sept. 12. A win two weeks later at West Virginia snapped a 19-game Big 12 skid that began with a loss to Texas in the 2023 conference championship game.

Morris was chosen as the top coach, edging Morgan Scalley, who is in in his first season as head coach for No. 11 Utah (5-0). Scalley had been the Utes’ defensive coordinator for 10 seasons and on former coach Kyle Whittingham’s staff since 2007 after playing for them from 2001-04.

Top offensive player

Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita, who has 10,939 yards passing and 89 touchdowns, breaking the school career records that had been held by Super Bowl-winning QB Nick Foles. Now a senior, Fifita is second in the Big 12 with 292.7 yards passing per game, and has completed 140 of 191 passes (73.3%) with a league-high 17 touchdowns to help the Wildcats (5-1) to their best start since 2014.

Top defensive player

Oklahoma State linebacker Ethan Wesloski, a senior who was at North Texas the past four seasons. he leads the Big 12 and all Power Four players with 53 tackles (10.6 per game), including 17 in each of the first two Big 12 games.

Top first-year freshman

BYU receiver Legend Glasker, who has 19 catches for 378 yards (19.9 per catch) and three touchdowns. He has also run 11 times for 83 yards (7.5 per carry) with two more scores for the No. 8 Cougars (5-0).

Top first-year transfer

Mestemaker, the national passing leader as a freshman last season at North Texas after never being a varsity starting quarterback in high school, is the Big 12 leader with 315 yards per game. He is 114-of-169 passing (67.5%) for 1,756 yards and 13 TDs.

Most surprising player

Iowa State running back Aiden Flora, who has gone from being a walk-on to scholarship sophomore sensation. He is already only the third Big 12 player with TDs passing, rushing and on a punt return in the same season. He is second nationally with 785 all-purpose yards, third with 8.14 yards per rushing attempt, seventh with 118.8 yards rushing per game, and ninth with his 17.9-yard punt return average.

Most disappointing team

TCU (2-3) entered this season coming off back-to-back 9-4 records, but has scored only 33 points total in losing all three of its games against Power Four opponents. That includes being 0-2 in the Big 12 for the first time since 2013, which is why coach Sonny Dykes is part of the next category.

Hottest seat

Dykes and Colorado’s Deion Sanders equally split the votes for the coach on the hottest seat.

TCU had a 12-0 regular season in Dykes’ debut in 2022 and made it to the national championship game, but the Frogs haven’t made a Big 12 title game since then and are now struggling badly on offense after quarterback Josh Hoover’s transfer to Indiana. The Buffaloes (2-3) have lost their last seven Big 12 games, and now play Utah and Oklahoma State in their next two. They are 5-12 since two-way standout Travis Hunter’s 2024 Heisman Trophy season.

Dave Aranda had a 36-38 record at Baylor after a loss to Auburn to open his seventh season, but the Bears lowered the heat on their coach by winning their last four games. They are home Saturday against TCU.

Biggest injury

BYU running back LJ Martin last season was the AP Big 12 offensive player of the year, when he was the league’s leading rusher with 1,305 yards. He was off to another strong start this year (109.3 yards rushing per game) before an injury at TCU on Oct. 3. He was expected to be out 4 to 6 weeks, meaning he won’t be back until maybe mid-November.

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Associated Press writers Dave Skretta, John Raby, Joe Reedy, Eric Olson, John Marshall and Pat Graham as well as AP freelance writer John Coon contributed.

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