Week 2: Oregon at Oklahoma State
Saturday, September 12, 11:00 a.m. kickoff, Boone Pickens Stadium, Stillwater, on ESPN, sold out. Oregon opened as roughly a three-touchdown favorite and the number has only grown through the week, sitting at Oregon minus 22 and a half at most books after opening closer to 18 and a half, with the over under near 58. I want to be honest about why before we get to the gameplan, because there is a real gap on paper here, and after Week 1, that gap looks wider rather than narrower.
Where the program is at
Let us not soften this one either. OSU walked into Chapman Stadium a two-touchdown favorite against Tulsa and left with a 24 to 10 loss, the program's first back to back defeat to the Golden Hurricane since 1952. The tape was not as bad as the scoreboard. OSU actually outgained Tulsa 368 yards to 361 and held the ball longer, and the defense held Tulsa to 1 for 11 on third down for long stretches of the afternoon. What sank the Cowboys was discipline, not talent. Drew Mestemaker threw two interceptions, OSU lost two fumbles, and Eric Morris's aggressive fourth down approach went just 2 for 6, with those failed conversions directly setting up 17 of Tulsa's points. A turnover margin of minus 3 will beat a good team on most Saturdays, and it beat this one.
The bigger problem walked off the field on a cart. Left tackle Jacob Sexton suffered a serious leg injury on OSU's fifth offensive play and did not return. Morris was blunt afterward, saying, "We haven't heard for sure, but it's not good. It wasn't good." This is the second consecutive season opener in which Sexton has gone down, having missed nearly all of 2025 after an injury in that opener as well, and with the new eligibility rules already having used up his available years, there is real uncertainty about whether he plays again this season at all. Mestemaker was sacked twice and hurried ten times behind a patchwork line the rest of the way, and Morris admitted afterward the staff has "no answer" yet at left tackle. Shaun Torgeson finished the game there and started at the position for Portland State a year ago, Ashton Lepo has experience on that side as well, and Desmond Magiya got a look but struggled. Braydon Nelson, the presumed answer once healthy, still has not practiced with the full team as he continues to come back from his own knee issue. Whoever lines up there Saturday inherits the single hardest assignment in college football this week, because Oregon is about to bring a defensive line that is one of the best in the country to Stillwater.
On the ground, Caleb Hawkins was a bright spot at 4.4 yards a carry, but the group behind him was not, with Tre Page and Ayo Adeyi combining for just 43 yards on 13 carries. That depth question matters against an Oregon defense that will not let this offense simply abandon the run and live in obvious passing situations.
Oregon, meanwhile, needed a fourth quarter surge to survive its own opener, beating Boise State 34 to 27 as a 24 and a half point favorite in what a lot of Duck fans are already calling their second real scare against the Broncos in three seasons. Dante Moore was excellent, 28 of 37 for 378 yards and three touchdowns, and receiver Jeremiah McClellan had 150 yards on six catches, but Oregon also went 0 for 3 on fourth down, committed 10 penalties, and managed only 3.3 yards a carry on the ground before the passing game bailed the Ducks out late. The signature play was a 62 yard go ahead touchdown from Moore to five star sophomore Dakorien Moore in the fourth quarter, though Dakorien Moore needed help off the field afterward after appearing to hit his head on the turf, and his status for Stillwater is worth watching closely as the week goes on. Oregon is No. 2 in the country to start the year and figures to stay in that range regardless of a shaky opener, because a team with this much talent surviving an ugly night is still a very different problem than a team that actually loses one.
This is a home game for OSU, and Boone Pickens Stadium is sold out for it. That crowd should matter, particularly for a first-year staff still building chemistry, but it is worth remembering what happened the last time these two programs met. Oregon leads this all-time series 2 and 0, and the most recent meeting was a 69 to 3 defeat in Eugene last season, the worst loss of the Mike Gundy era at Oklahoma State and a data point that still hangs over this rivalry even with an entirely new coaching staff and roster in Stillwater now. History says the talent gap here has been enormous. This week is the first chance to find out whether that gap has actually closed at all.
What makes this matchup unique
This is a discipline and explosiveness mismatch layered on top of a talent mismatch. Oregon plays fast and clean when it is right, new offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer wants his group to "play aggressive" and "play to win," and Dante Moore has the arm to make almost any defense pay for a busted assignment. OSU, by contrast, just turned the ball over four times and cannot yet identify a starting left tackle. When one team is hunting explosive plays and the other is still trying to eliminate self-inflicted wounds, that is usually a formula for a lopsided afternoon regardless of what the raw talent gap alone would suggest.
The other outlier is up front on both sides of the ball. Oregon returns a defensive line that chose to stay in Eugene over entering the NFL draft, led by tackle A'Mauri Washington, a preseason All American, and edge rusher Matayo Uiagalelei, who had six sacks a year ago, with transfer Bear Alexander rounding out the interior. That group is walking into a matchup against an Oklahoma State tackle rotation that has no settled answer at left tackle and already allowed two sacks and ten pressures against a Group of Five front. On the other side, OSU's defense recorded zero sacks against Tulsa, and now it has to find a way to speed up a Heisman caliber quarterback behind an Oregon offensive line that, Emmanuel Pregnon's own leg injury against Boise State aside, is deep and well coached. Neither trench matchup favors Oklahoma State on paper, and in a game like this, that usually means the game gets away from the underdog early rather than late.
OSU offensive gameplan
The truth is that OSU's best path here is to shorten the game, not to try to trade scores with Dante Moore. Expect offensive coordinator Sean Brophy to lean hard on Caleb Hawkins and to establish enough of a run threat that Mestemaker is not simply dropping back forty plus times behind a line still figuring out who plays left tackle. Oregon did allow 3.3 yards a carry itself and does not always run the ball cleanly, which at least suggests a defense that can be had for moderate gains if OSU can get a hat on a hat up front, even against Washington and Alexander controlling the interior.
Through the air, the staff should be looking for whatever soft spots exist behind that Oregon front, and cornerback Theran Johnson working through a knee issue this week is worth watching, along with the uncertainty around receiver Evan Stewart on the other side of the ball, which at least keeps Oregon from being at full strength everywhere. Wyatt Young and Chris Barnes need quick access throws and manufactured touches, screens, motion, quick game, anything that gets the ball out of Mestemaker's hands before Uiagalelei and this front gets home. This is not the week to ask a patchwork offensive line to hold up on five and seven step drops. Stay on schedule, protect the football after last week's giveaways, and manufacture explosive plays through scheme rather than through Mestemaker standing in the pocket extending plays that are not
there.
OSU defensive gameplan
Skyler Cassity's defense was the better unit against Tulsa, and now it faces the hardest test imaginable in Week 2. The approach has to be to make Dante Moore go through his full progression rather than let him play backyard football off structure, because the one thing worse than Moore throwing on rhythm is Moore extending a play against a defense that has not generated pressure with four rushers yet this season. Cassity will need his front, led by fifth year end Jaleel Johnson, to win some one-on-one snaps rather than relying purely on scheme pressure, because dropping extra bodies into coverage against Jeremiah McClellan and Dakorien Moore, assuming Dakorien Moore is full go, is not a bind this defense wants to sit in for four quarters.
Just as important, take away the free access underneath that Boise State could not, and make Oregon actually execute a long, methodical drive rather than hitting a home run in one or two plays. OSU's new linebacker trio needs to be sound in its landmarks against a Ducks running game that, whatever its early struggles, still has the horses to wear a defense down if it is allowed to. This is a game where five or six clean defensive series that force Oregon into second and long is a legitimate accomplishment, even if the final box score does not show it.
Special teams
Oregon's Atticus Sappington enters as one of the more reliable kickers in the country, tied for second all time at Oregon in field goal percentage with a career long of 51 yards and multiple Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week honors, including a game winning kick against Iowa a year ago. That is a real weapon in a game where field position could matter if OSU's offense is going to try to play a slower, more controlled style. OSU counters with its own settled group from a week ago, Sam Keltner and Joseph Kim at kicker, Lachie Pozzobon and Nate Ost handling punting duties, and Chris Barnes and Miles Coleman back to return, both explosive enough to manufacture a short field if OSU's coverage units do their job. In a game where the Cowboys likely need to win the hidden yardage battle just to keep this from getting away from them, special teams may matter more here than in a typical game between two programs this far apart on paper.
Coaching matchup
Eric Morris is not going to abandon his aggressive fourth down approach just because it backfired against Tulsa, and that is worth remembering here, because Dan Lanning and this Oregon staff will happily let Morris hang himself on a bad number if OSU's execution does not match the aggression. Lanning's new coordinators, Drew Mehringer on offense and Chris Hampton on defense, both preach an attacking, fast style, replacing Will Stein and Tosh Lupoi, who left for head coaching and coordinator jobs of their own this offseason. That is real continuity of philosophy even with new names calling plays. Cassity, for his part, needs to be willing to bring pressure rather than sit back, because a defense that plays it safe against Dante Moore usually loses by more, not less. This is not a game where either staff should be expected to play conservative, which means execution, not scheme, is likely to decide just how lopsided this one gets.
Bottom line and prediction
I do not think OSU is as bad as it looked in the fourth down math against Tulsa, and I do not think Oregon is as shaky as it looked surviving Boise State. What I do think is that this is a significant talent gap at the two positions that matter most in a game like this, quarterback and the offensive and defensive lines, and OSU is walking in without a settled left tackle against the best defensive front it will see all year. The home crowd will matter for a half, and I expect OSU to find a way to make a competitive series or two out of Hawkins and the running game. But Oregon has the horses to pull away in the second half the way it usually does against overmatched competition, even accounting for a shakier opener than the Ducks wanted. I like Oregon to cover comfortably here, and I will put a number on it, Oregon 42, Oklahoma State 17. Go Pokes, and here is hoping the young offensive line finds an answer sooner rather than later.
Saturday, September 12, 11:00 a.m. kickoff, Boone Pickens Stadium, Stillwater, on ESPN, sold out. Oregon opened as roughly a three-touchdown favorite and the number has only grown through the week, sitting at Oregon minus 22 and a half at most books after opening closer to 18 and a half, with the over under near 58. I want to be honest about why before we get to the gameplan, because there is a real gap on paper here, and after Week 1, that gap looks wider rather than narrower.
Where the program is at
Let us not soften this one either. OSU walked into Chapman Stadium a two-touchdown favorite against Tulsa and left with a 24 to 10 loss, the program's first back to back defeat to the Golden Hurricane since 1952. The tape was not as bad as the scoreboard. OSU actually outgained Tulsa 368 yards to 361 and held the ball longer, and the defense held Tulsa to 1 for 11 on third down for long stretches of the afternoon. What sank the Cowboys was discipline, not talent. Drew Mestemaker threw two interceptions, OSU lost two fumbles, and Eric Morris's aggressive fourth down approach went just 2 for 6, with those failed conversions directly setting up 17 of Tulsa's points. A turnover margin of minus 3 will beat a good team on most Saturdays, and it beat this one.
The bigger problem walked off the field on a cart. Left tackle Jacob Sexton suffered a serious leg injury on OSU's fifth offensive play and did not return. Morris was blunt afterward, saying, "We haven't heard for sure, but it's not good. It wasn't good." This is the second consecutive season opener in which Sexton has gone down, having missed nearly all of 2025 after an injury in that opener as well, and with the new eligibility rules already having used up his available years, there is real uncertainty about whether he plays again this season at all. Mestemaker was sacked twice and hurried ten times behind a patchwork line the rest of the way, and Morris admitted afterward the staff has "no answer" yet at left tackle. Shaun Torgeson finished the game there and started at the position for Portland State a year ago, Ashton Lepo has experience on that side as well, and Desmond Magiya got a look but struggled. Braydon Nelson, the presumed answer once healthy, still has not practiced with the full team as he continues to come back from his own knee issue. Whoever lines up there Saturday inherits the single hardest assignment in college football this week, because Oregon is about to bring a defensive line that is one of the best in the country to Stillwater.
On the ground, Caleb Hawkins was a bright spot at 4.4 yards a carry, but the group behind him was not, with Tre Page and Ayo Adeyi combining for just 43 yards on 13 carries. That depth question matters against an Oregon defense that will not let this offense simply abandon the run and live in obvious passing situations.
Oregon, meanwhile, needed a fourth quarter surge to survive its own opener, beating Boise State 34 to 27 as a 24 and a half point favorite in what a lot of Duck fans are already calling their second real scare against the Broncos in three seasons. Dante Moore was excellent, 28 of 37 for 378 yards and three touchdowns, and receiver Jeremiah McClellan had 150 yards on six catches, but Oregon also went 0 for 3 on fourth down, committed 10 penalties, and managed only 3.3 yards a carry on the ground before the passing game bailed the Ducks out late. The signature play was a 62 yard go ahead touchdown from Moore to five star sophomore Dakorien Moore in the fourth quarter, though Dakorien Moore needed help off the field afterward after appearing to hit his head on the turf, and his status for Stillwater is worth watching closely as the week goes on. Oregon is No. 2 in the country to start the year and figures to stay in that range regardless of a shaky opener, because a team with this much talent surviving an ugly night is still a very different problem than a team that actually loses one.
This is a home game for OSU, and Boone Pickens Stadium is sold out for it. That crowd should matter, particularly for a first-year staff still building chemistry, but it is worth remembering what happened the last time these two programs met. Oregon leads this all-time series 2 and 0, and the most recent meeting was a 69 to 3 defeat in Eugene last season, the worst loss of the Mike Gundy era at Oklahoma State and a data point that still hangs over this rivalry even with an entirely new coaching staff and roster in Stillwater now. History says the talent gap here has been enormous. This week is the first chance to find out whether that gap has actually closed at all.
What makes this matchup unique
This is a discipline and explosiveness mismatch layered on top of a talent mismatch. Oregon plays fast and clean when it is right, new offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer wants his group to "play aggressive" and "play to win," and Dante Moore has the arm to make almost any defense pay for a busted assignment. OSU, by contrast, just turned the ball over four times and cannot yet identify a starting left tackle. When one team is hunting explosive plays and the other is still trying to eliminate self-inflicted wounds, that is usually a formula for a lopsided afternoon regardless of what the raw talent gap alone would suggest.
The other outlier is up front on both sides of the ball. Oregon returns a defensive line that chose to stay in Eugene over entering the NFL draft, led by tackle A'Mauri Washington, a preseason All American, and edge rusher Matayo Uiagalelei, who had six sacks a year ago, with transfer Bear Alexander rounding out the interior. That group is walking into a matchup against an Oklahoma State tackle rotation that has no settled answer at left tackle and already allowed two sacks and ten pressures against a Group of Five front. On the other side, OSU's defense recorded zero sacks against Tulsa, and now it has to find a way to speed up a Heisman caliber quarterback behind an Oregon offensive line that, Emmanuel Pregnon's own leg injury against Boise State aside, is deep and well coached. Neither trench matchup favors Oklahoma State on paper, and in a game like this, that usually means the game gets away from the underdog early rather than late.
OSU offensive gameplan
The truth is that OSU's best path here is to shorten the game, not to try to trade scores with Dante Moore. Expect offensive coordinator Sean Brophy to lean hard on Caleb Hawkins and to establish enough of a run threat that Mestemaker is not simply dropping back forty plus times behind a line still figuring out who plays left tackle. Oregon did allow 3.3 yards a carry itself and does not always run the ball cleanly, which at least suggests a defense that can be had for moderate gains if OSU can get a hat on a hat up front, even against Washington and Alexander controlling the interior.
Through the air, the staff should be looking for whatever soft spots exist behind that Oregon front, and cornerback Theran Johnson working through a knee issue this week is worth watching, along with the uncertainty around receiver Evan Stewart on the other side of the ball, which at least keeps Oregon from being at full strength everywhere. Wyatt Young and Chris Barnes need quick access throws and manufactured touches, screens, motion, quick game, anything that gets the ball out of Mestemaker's hands before Uiagalelei and this front gets home. This is not the week to ask a patchwork offensive line to hold up on five and seven step drops. Stay on schedule, protect the football after last week's giveaways, and manufacture explosive plays through scheme rather than through Mestemaker standing in the pocket extending plays that are not
there.
OSU defensive gameplan
Skyler Cassity's defense was the better unit against Tulsa, and now it faces the hardest test imaginable in Week 2. The approach has to be to make Dante Moore go through his full progression rather than let him play backyard football off structure, because the one thing worse than Moore throwing on rhythm is Moore extending a play against a defense that has not generated pressure with four rushers yet this season. Cassity will need his front, led by fifth year end Jaleel Johnson, to win some one-on-one snaps rather than relying purely on scheme pressure, because dropping extra bodies into coverage against Jeremiah McClellan and Dakorien Moore, assuming Dakorien Moore is full go, is not a bind this defense wants to sit in for four quarters.
Just as important, take away the free access underneath that Boise State could not, and make Oregon actually execute a long, methodical drive rather than hitting a home run in one or two plays. OSU's new linebacker trio needs to be sound in its landmarks against a Ducks running game that, whatever its early struggles, still has the horses to wear a defense down if it is allowed to. This is a game where five or six clean defensive series that force Oregon into second and long is a legitimate accomplishment, even if the final box score does not show it.
Special teams
Oregon's Atticus Sappington enters as one of the more reliable kickers in the country, tied for second all time at Oregon in field goal percentage with a career long of 51 yards and multiple Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week honors, including a game winning kick against Iowa a year ago. That is a real weapon in a game where field position could matter if OSU's offense is going to try to play a slower, more controlled style. OSU counters with its own settled group from a week ago, Sam Keltner and Joseph Kim at kicker, Lachie Pozzobon and Nate Ost handling punting duties, and Chris Barnes and Miles Coleman back to return, both explosive enough to manufacture a short field if OSU's coverage units do their job. In a game where the Cowboys likely need to win the hidden yardage battle just to keep this from getting away from them, special teams may matter more here than in a typical game between two programs this far apart on paper.
Coaching matchup
Eric Morris is not going to abandon his aggressive fourth down approach just because it backfired against Tulsa, and that is worth remembering here, because Dan Lanning and this Oregon staff will happily let Morris hang himself on a bad number if OSU's execution does not match the aggression. Lanning's new coordinators, Drew Mehringer on offense and Chris Hampton on defense, both preach an attacking, fast style, replacing Will Stein and Tosh Lupoi, who left for head coaching and coordinator jobs of their own this offseason. That is real continuity of philosophy even with new names calling plays. Cassity, for his part, needs to be willing to bring pressure rather than sit back, because a defense that plays it safe against Dante Moore usually loses by more, not less. This is not a game where either staff should be expected to play conservative, which means execution, not scheme, is likely to decide just how lopsided this one gets.
Bottom line and prediction
I do not think OSU is as bad as it looked in the fourth down math against Tulsa, and I do not think Oregon is as shaky as it looked surviving Boise State. What I do think is that this is a significant talent gap at the two positions that matter most in a game like this, quarterback and the offensive and defensive lines, and OSU is walking in without a settled left tackle against the best defensive front it will see all year. The home crowd will matter for a half, and I expect OSU to find a way to make a competitive series or two out of Hawkins and the running game. But Oregon has the horses to pull away in the second half the way it usually does against overmatched competition, even accounting for a shakier opener than the Ducks wanted. I like Oregon to cover comfortably here, and I will put a number on it, Oregon 42, Oklahoma State 17. Go Pokes, and here is hoping the young offensive line finds an answer sooner rather than later.