Why This Big 12 Weekly Award Matters Most to Oklahoma State Football

For the second time in three weeks, the Oklahoma State Cowboys racked up weekly awards from the Big 12 Conference. But one award mattered more than the others.

In all, the Cowboys picked up four awards from their 41-24 win over the West Virginia Mountaineers. Quarterback Drew Mestemaker was named the co-offensive player of the week. Linebacker Ethan Wesloski was named the co-defensive player of the week. Kicker Sam Keltner was named the special teams player of the week.

But the award that may mean the most to the Cowboys is that they were recognized as having the offensive line of the week. It’s the second time in three weeks the offensive line has won the award, and it stands out for a couple of reasons.

Why OSU’s O-Line Award Stands Out

Oklahoma State Cowboys quarterback Drew Mestemaker celebrates with offensive line Shaun Torgeson. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It was unclear what the expectations were for Oklahoma State’s offensive line coming into the season. There was only one offensive letterwinner returning from last season and that was lineman Jakobe Sanders, who started several games for the Cowboys.

New head coach Eric Morris and his staff put a premium on finding experienced offensive lineman in the transfer portal. Morris wanted to have his top eight or nine offensive lineman sorted out by the first scrimmage of fall camp. He was able to accomplish that. But even the best laid plans sometimes go awry.

Left tackle Braydon Nelson, who transferred to Oklahoma State from North Texas and started at that position last year, was recovering from knee surgery and was unavailable to start the season. The Cowboys hope to get him back when they play UCF on Oct. 10.

Six snaps into the season, the Cowboys lost Jacob Sexton, who won the starting left tackle job in fall camp, to a season-ending injury. That threw the line into flux, and it performed below expectations against Tulsa.

The offensive line experienced a huge bounce back against Oregon, but lost Joseph Hanson, their starting right guard, for most of the Oregon game and all the Murray State game with an injury. That required the Cowboys to shuffle their line further.

Saturday's game against West Virginia represented something unique in the context of the first four games of the season. For the first time all five offensive lineman played every snap together and they played well.

Left tackle Shaun Torgeson, left guard Johnny Dickson III, center Tyler Mercer, Hanson and right tackle Ashton Lepo helped the Cowboys rack up more than 600 offensive yards, part of what led to Mestemaker’s award.

This offensive line is starting to coalesce in the way that Morris was hoping, even though it hasn't had the starting left tackle that he had hoped for to begin the season. But this is part of why Morris wanted to choose his personnel early in fall camp at this position group. He wanted them to play together, build chemistry and be on the same page once the season started.

It didn't work out that way against Tulsa, but the line has gotten increasingly better with each game. Monday's award is a testament to the planning Morris started weeks ago and how this line has come together in the past month.

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