Max Olson May 13, 2026, 07:00 AM ET

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Covers the Big 12

Joined ESPN in 2012

Graduate of the University of Nebraska

STILLWATER, Okla. -- Drew Mestemaker insists he hadn't made up his mind yet. The prized quarterback had just been on a call with Oregon and felt it went well. He phoned his head coach, Eric Morris, to check in.

They had agreed from the start that Mestemaker would be a fool not to consider his options with millions of dollars on the line as one of the top QBs in the portal. While most expected him to follow Morris from North Texas to Oklahoma State , Mestemaker confessed he was still trying to work through his decision.

"All right, two things," Morris told Mestemaker.

He reminded his star pupil what they'd just accomplished together. In Mestemaker's first season as a college starter with North Texas, he led the nation in passing yards, operated the No. 1 scoring offense in FBS and achieved a 12-2 record, the best in school history.

"And two?…