Josh Pate believes Oklahoma State is one of college football's biggest dark horse teams in 2026. After going 1-20 in its last 21 games, the Cowboys responded by hiring offensive guru Eric Morris and adding QB Drew Mestemaker, a player Pate believes has an NFL future.
Can OSU reach over 5.5 wins?
When you're coming off a season in which you won just one game and failed to win a conference game for the second straight year, "dark horse" probably isn't the first label that comes to mind.
That's exactly where Josh Pate sees Oklahoma State.
On a recent episode of his show, Pate identified the Cowboys as one of college football's biggest dark horse teams entering the 2026 season, pointing to just how dramatically things have changed in Stillwater.
It's not hard to see why.
"You can't get much darker than 1-20 in your last 21 games," Pate said.
He's not wrong.
Oklahoma State enters the season after one of the toughest stretches in program history. But instead of trying to patch things together, the Cowboys completely reinvented themselves.
Pate pointed to perhaps the biggest reason for optimism.
Eric Morris.
If your offense finished near the bottom of college football, what's the logical response?
Go find one of the sport's most explosive offensive minds.
That's exactly what Oklahoma State did.
Pate joked that Morris essentially brought his entire offense with him from North Texas.
"Drew Mestemaker? Come on down."
"The receivers? Come on down."
The running backs?
Come on down.
The chemistry is already there.
That's what makes this situation so intriguing.
North Texas scored more than 40 points nine times last season and finished as one of the most explosive offenses in the country. Rather than asking Oklahoma State players to learn a completely new system, Morris arrives with many of the same players who already know how to execute it.
Pate also singled out quarterback Drew Mestemaker as a major reason for excitement.
In fact, he went a step further.
He believes Mestemaker has a future in the NFL.
That's lofty praise.
But it's not the first time national analysts have spoken highly of the quarterback who threw for more than 4,300 yards and 34 touchdowns last season.
Perhaps the most important point Pate made, however, was about expectations.
The Cowboys' win total currently sits around 5.5 games.
For a team coming off a one-win season, that number tells you something.
Vegas isn't expecting Oklahoma State to contend for a national championship.
They are expecting significant improvement.
Pate believes the Cowboys have a chance to make some noise.
After all, there's one thing everyone can agree on.
It's hard to be worse offensively than Oklahoma State was a year ago.
The Cowboys finished near the bottom of the country offensively, ranking around 130th nationally in several major categories.
That's why so much attention has shifted toward Morris and Mestemaker.
If the offense resembles anything close to what North Texas produced a season ago, Oklahoma State won't need to be perfect everywhere else.
It just needs to be competitive again.
Whether that translates into six wins, eight wins or even more remains to be seen.
But when one of college football's most recognizable analysts starts calling you a dark horse, it's a sign that people outside of Stillwater are beginning to notice what many Oklahoma State fans have been saying all offseason.
This team may be a lot better than its record from a year ago suggests.
