The Oklahoma State Cowboys followed up a loss with a victory for the third time this season — and it came with an added benefit.

The Cowboys (6-3, 4-2 in Big 12) destroyed the Kansas State Wildcats (4-5, 1-5), 66-28, as they set a record for most points scored in a game in Manhattan and did it in one half of football. Oklahoma State clinched a bowl game berth for the first time since 2023, after which the program fell apart, and it went 4-20 in 2024-25 before the Cowboys hired new head coach Eric Morris.

The Cowboys answered some questions on Saturday, especially on defense. The offense had several great performances. It was a family reunion of sorts on the field.

Here are four immediate takeaways from Saturday’s game.

The Defense Figured Some Things Out

Even after Cowboys linebacker Isaiah Chisom slowed down Wildcats quarterback Blake Barnett and he was tackled from behind by defensive lineman DeSean Brown Jr., which set up OSU’s first touchdown drive, the Cowboys’ defense reverted to last week’s form on one awful play.

Fortunately, it was the only awful play of the first half.

By halftime, the Cowboys had allowed just 183 total yards, forced two turnovers and forced K-State out on downs two other times. Of those 183 yards, 75 came on that busted play — a touchdown pass from Barnett to Derek Salley Jr. K-State had three receivers on one side and Oklahoma State had three defensive backs, but none trailed Salley after he passed them.

Plus, one side of the OSU defense was playing a different coverage than the other, leading a safety to be out of position that might have picked Salley up.

But everything else went the Cowboys’ way. After that bust, the Cowboys stuck to assignments, bottled up the Wildcats’ run game and frustrated Barnett into mistakes he didn’t make last week against Colorado, when he threw three touchdown passes against no interceptions. Dillon Duff later replaced him as he appeared to get banged up.

Of all the things that stood out in that first half it was OSU’s ability to get the Wildcats off the field. The most plays Kansas State ran on any drive was six plays. That’s because the Cowboys limited Kansas State to 3-of-9 on third down and 0-for-2 on fourth down. Kansas State averaged just 4.9 yards per play — and that was with the touchdown pass.

That was the football game defensively. Head coach Eric Morris said the Cowboys coaching staff did a lot of self-scouting this week and tried to simplify assignments defensively. For the most part, it worked.

Caleb Hawkins, Beast Mode (Again)

246 total yards, 4 touchdowns.

Caleb Hawkins, everyone.

📺: TNT pic.twitter.com/xrfEscPgE2

— OSU Cowboy Football (@CowboyFB) November 7, 2026

In my bold predictions piece, I highlighted the fact that I thought OSU running back Caleb Hawkins would rush for 200 or more yards because Kansas State’s run defense looked ripe for the picking. Well, with the Cowboys offensive line paving the way, Hawkins took a wrecking ball to the Wildcats.

By the end of the game, Hawkins had 175 rushing yards with three touchdowns along with six catches for 71 yards and one touchdown. So he didn’t reach 200 rushing yards — but Oklahoma State rightly shut him down after three quarters. He had done more than enough.

He passed 1,000 yards rushing for the season with at least three games remaining — likely a fourth with a bowl game. It was the second 1,000-yard rushing season of his career. He’s already climbing OSU’s all-time rushing list and at this pace he could find himself among the Top 25 by the end of the season.

His increased production started four weeks ago against Houston when the Cowboys started injecting him more into the passing game. In his last four games he has 557 yards rushing and 349 yards receiving. That’s 906 combined yards and eight combined touchdowns.

Look — quarterback Drew Mestemaker gets plenty of attention and it’s deserved. But without Hawkins it’s fair to ask how good this team would be. He might be the team’s most indispensable player.

Thanksgiving Bragging Rights

got a guy there

📺: TNT | @FieldsLadainian pic.twitter.com/MhPZRTZytq

— OSU Cowboy Football (@CowboyFB) November 7, 2026

In the game’s play-by-play, Blake Barnett’s second interception of the game looked like this:

(04:31) [SG] BARNETT, Blake pass deep up the middle intercepted by FIELDS, LaDainian at the KSTATE44 intended for FIELDS JR., Rodney. Fields return for 27 yards to the KSTATE17 (TIBBS, Jaron), clock 04:24.

It was Fields-on-Fields crime to some degree. Rodney Fields Jr. played at Oklahoma State last season and then transferred to Kansas State after the firing of Mike Gundy and the hiring of Eric Morris as head coach. LaDainian Fields — his cousin — chose to stay.

Now, the redshirt sophomore Cowboys cornerback has something to hold over his cousin’s head when the families get to together for Thanksgiving. To be fair to Barnett, he was under incredible duress under the play and barely got the pass away.

For LaDainian Fields, it was his sixth interception of the season — which leads FBS — and his fifth pick in the last four games. Just go ahead and send him his invitation to the all-Big 12 first team now. He picked off a seventh pass on a tipped pass in the third quarter.

Rodney Fields rushed for 87 yards rushing and a touchdown for the Wildcats. So he's got that going for him at the dinner table.

That Explosive First Half

6️⃣ ON THE BOARD

Drew Mestemaker pass to Justin Bowick for a 32-yd TD

📺 TNT/HBOMAX pic.twitter.com/DHAwNaWtct

— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) November 7, 2026

The Cowboys couldn’t even hang more than 14 points on Murray State in the first quarter of their game in September. In fact, the most points Oklahoma State scored in any first quarter before Saturday was, well, those 14 points against Murray State.

The Cowboys doubled it in the first quarter against Kansas State. It was the first time OSU scored 28 points in a first quarter since 2023. It got better.

By halftime the Cowboys had 49 points and was up 49-14. The most points Oklahoma State had scored in a first half this season was … 31 against Murray State.

Per OSU Stats and Information, the 49 points were the most in a half in a conference game for the Cowboys since they scored 49 in the first half at Texas Tech on Nov. 12, 2011.

7 TDS IN THE FIRST HALF FOR @CowboyFB 😳

Oklahoma State leads 49-14 🤯 pic.twitter.com/NE76EmuEyG

— TNT Sports U.S. (@TNTSportsUS) November 7, 2026

But the biggest thing that came out of the first half was that the Cowboys led a Big 12 game for the first time at halftime this season. Of the five previous games, only one was knotted up at the break — UCF.

Other nuggets? OSU’s first-half total was the points scored by the Cowboys in a GAME in Manhattan. The Cowboys had 383 total yards and scored on seven of their 10 possessions. That including two OSU turnovers.

The defense pitched in to give the Cowboys extra possessions. The unit forced two turnovers and forced the Wildcats to surrender the ball twice on downs.

That wasn’t a fast start. That was lightning-quick.