WVU Football kicks off the Big 12 Conference gauntlet at home against Oklahoma State in Week 4 of the 2026 season. With more than a decade of sharing a conference and overall history on the gridiron dating back to the 1920s, there is plenty to look back on. A new chapter in the series is set to be written September 26 at Milan Puskar Stadium. Read more: Tale of the Tape 2.0 – Oklahoma State.
The first game between the Mountaineers and Cowboys, according to the WVU Athletics online records, took place on November 10, 1928. Since then, the programs have met 15 other times, most recently in 2024.
Related: Tale of the Tape 2.0 – Virginia
WVU will return home to face OSU after spending the previous Saturday in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the Duke’s Mayo Classic.
Setting the stage
Both teams are coming off poor seasons, but Oklahoma State was on a different level of bad in 2025. The Cowboys finished 1-11, with the lone win coming in the season opener against UT Martin.
Related: Tale of the Tape 2.0 – UT Martin
It was mainly due to an abysmal offense, one that only scored 20+ points in three games.
If WVU fans thought they had it bad with the 4-8 finish, it is safe to say those in Stillwater had it worse.
Luckily, both fanbases can wipe the slate clean. Although, we have reached the point in the series where it becomes incredibly tough to predict where programs will by that point in the season.
Early matchup history
To put it simply, Oklahoma State has had WVU’s number more often than not. The Cowboys lead the all-time series, 10-6.
The Mountaineers started the saga with wins in the first two meetings (1928, 1929). OSU evened the series with wins in the next two matchups (1987, 2012). The Cowboys’ first win in the series came in that 1987 meeting, falling on Christmas Day in the Sun Bowl.
Ranked No. 11 in the country, Oklahoma State (8-2) fended off a pesky 6-4 Mountaineer squad coached by the legendary Don Nehlen. WVU led by 10 at halftime, but NFL Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas blasted through the Mountaineers’ defense. Other notable names on that Cowboy roster include recently-departed OSU head coach Mike Gundy and one of the greatest of all time, Barry Sanders.
Down 35-27 in the final moments, WVU scored to draw within two points. A failed conversion sealed the Mountaineers’ fate on that snowy day in El Paso, Texas. OSU picked up a 35-33 victory.
The modern era
When WVU joined OSU in the Big 12 in 2012, the Cowboys welcomed the Mountaineers to the show with a 55-24 drubbing in Stillwater. WVU got the best of OSU in 2013 and 2014, but the luck ran out soon after.
The Cowboys rattled off seven straight wins between 2015 and 2021, with coach Gundy getting the best of both Dana Holgersen and Neal Brown. WVU finally turned the tide in recent years, taking two of the past three (2022, 2024).
Perhaps the most damning statistic of the bunch is that WVU has not beat OSU in Morgantown since 2013, and have lost five of the seven games in Morgantown all-time.
On Oklahoma State
The Cowboys start a new chapter this year, and a much needed one at that. OSU hired Eric Morris from North Texas at the end of this past season, officially turning the page from the Mike Gundy reign.
Morris led the Mean Green to a program-best 12-win season in 2025 and helped UNT back into the AP Top 25 for the first time since 1959. North Texas even made an appearance in a thrilling American Athletic Conference title game in the process.
Ironically, Neal Brown took over UNT following Morris’ move.
Related: For WVU, the moment is now
On the field, OSU is trying to wipe the 1-11 campaign off the radar. Most notably, QB1 Drew Mestemaker followed Morris from Denton to join the Pokes.
You could probably rename the program to Oklahoma State Mean Green at this point, with expected RB1 Caleb Hawkins joining the fray after a record-breaking freshman year with UNT. Hawkins set an FBS record for most touchdowns scored by a freshman in one season, with 29 this past season.
Beyond that, the roster is just aiming to be better than whatever abomination was on the field the year before. It should make for interesting football when the Cowboys head northeast to the Mountain State.
Final wrap
For the first time in the 2.0 series, and in what will become a trend for the majority of remaining entries, a kickoff time has not yet been set. Regardless, the Mountaineers and Cowboys battle it out on September 26 at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown. It will be televised on either Fox or FS1.
Remember to check back every week for more Tale of the Tape 2.0. Next week, it is a deep dive into WVU’s first true road game of the year, coming against Iowa State.
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