Oregon stunned by Oklahoma State by running and throwing of Drew Mestemaker
Dan Lanning fools you once, shame on you. But fool you twice?
No. 6 Oregon again played a difficult game against an unranked opponent in the first two weeks of the season, but this time didn't escape, falling to Oklahoma State 39-31 in one of the biggest upsets in recent years.
The Week 2 result came after the Ducks outlasted Boise State in the season opener 34-27. While it may have been a surprising result, the Broncos are a strong candidate to be the Group of Six representative in the College Football Playoff.
But losing at Oklahoma State as a more than three-touchdown favorite? Now there's a real reason to be worried.
There was plenty of hype of what the Cowboys could be with Eric Morris and Drew Mestemaker coming in from North Texas, going from a one-win team in 2025 to a playoff dark horse. But all that got wiped away when it went up to Tulsa and laid an egg against the Golden Hurricane, losing 24-10 to extend the nation's longest losing streak to 12, with 21 straight losses to Bowl Subdivision opponents.
On Saturday, Sept. 12, it should have been a blowout, much like what happened when the Pokes rolled into Eugene last season and lost by 66 points, its worst loss since 1907.
In 2026, it was the Ducks getting embarrassed.
That high-powered Oregon offense was flat out of the jump, with its first five drives resulting in four punts and one turnover on downs. It only scored thanks to a pick six.
And while the Oklahoma State offense did itself no favors in gifting points off interceptions, the Ducks had trouble stopping the Cowboys. Drew Mestemaker resembled his Mean Green-self enough, tossing for 317 yards and running for 109more with three total touchdowns, leaving the Ducks unable to fully stop the gunslinger. That's on top of running back Caleb Hawkins adding 103 more rushing yards.
Oregon's offense eventual woke up and was able to come back from a 10-point second half deficit, but it could not slow down the Cowboys.
The result is serious cause for concern with this Ducks team, turning more and more suspect with each possession. Dante Moore was a surefire top 10 pick in the NFL draft if he had gone to the NFL and he hasn't looked like a top-tier quarterback despite plenty of weapons around him.
He threw for 191 yards and completed just 14 of 29 passes. There were several throws that should've been intercepted that he got lucky avoiding.
But really, the defense is a major issue. It's now given up at 68 points total and atleast 27 points in consecutive games something it hasn't done since Lanning's first season in 2022. The 39 points is the most it's given up since that year. Oregon gave up 554 yards while it had just 281 yards in dominant outing by the Cowboys.
Still, Oregon had a chance to tie the game at the end, but a costly fumble under two minutes opened the door wide open for Oklahoma State to close out the win.
It's a disastrous result as the schedule doesn't get much easier. Oregon goes to Southern California on Sept. 26, and in the back end of the season has to deal with Ohio State, Michigan and Washington. There's always wiggle room in the Big Ten for a couple of losses, but now the Ducks are in danger territory, making it all more necessary to win out β something that doesn't seem all too realistic after two weeks.
They say it doesn't rain in Autzen Stadium, but just two games into the 2026 season, that storm cloud is looming heavily in the area, ready to wipe out the hopes of the Ducks.
