STILL WATER – Caleb Hawkins exploded onto the college football landscape as a freshman phenom at North Texas, but before that he was a Oklahoma State fan.
How serious was his fandom, growing up in Shawnee, an hour south of the OSU campus?
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“Growing up, I always had the opportunity to watch them online, on TV and everything,” the new Cowboys running back said. “As I got older and saved a little money, I was able to come to the Bedlam game, which was great. Basic memory, of course.
“The very last Bedlam. The best.”
And was he part of the storm that followed after OSU’s victory over OU in that 2023 Bedlam game?
“Absolutely, I stormed the pitch,” he said with a smile. “I was very excited.”
Hawkins rushed for 1,434 yards and set the FBS freshman record with 29 total touchdowns at North Texas, and will be a key cog in Morris and Oklahoma State’s offense.
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A 2025 graduate of North Rock Creek High School, Hawkins is one of the new faces at OSU, but he’s obviously not. new to OSU.
“There’s not a lot of change,” he said in his first meeting with OSU media since transferring to join former North Texas coach Eric Morris in January. “I grew up here, I’ve been here my whole life. These are my roots. I love Oklahoma.”
More: These Oklahoma State football players are poised for a stellar 2026 season
OSU returning Caleb Hawkins speaks during a news conference Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater.
Mestemaker calls pressure ‘privilege’
After his fantastic redshirt freshman season at North Texas, where he led the nation in passing yards, new OSU quarterback Drew Mestemaker knows he has his eyes on him to perform.
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He’s already seen the attention OSU fans get when other students recognize him on campus or kids ask for his autograph at public appearances like the wrestling match he attended recently.
With that type of attention comes pressure, but at least for now, Mestemaker doesn’t seem worried.
“This is what I dreamed of,” he said. “You look back and you think about all those times I was emailing schools and they were saying they didn’t have a quarterback spot for me, and you know, now you have the privilege of having that, all that pressure on you.
“It’s everything you could have dreamed of.”
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Jaleel Johnson motivated by “unfinished business”
Among the 25 OSU players who returned from last year’s team, defensive end Jaleel Johnson is part of a small group of redshirt seniors who have been with the Cowboys their entire careers.
And the Oklahoma City native wouldn’t have it any other way for his final season of college football — especially after how the last two went for the Pokes.
The 6-foot-5, 265-pound Johnson admits he debated whether to stay after longtime Cowboys coach Mike Gundy was fired last September, but ultimately believed OSU was his home.
“Obviously, seeing Coach Gundy leave, it hurt me, because he’s the one who gave me the opportunity to play here,” Johnson said. “But ultimately there will be changes, even in the NFL. People come and go all the time.
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“I decided that staying here would be my best choice because I have unfinished business here. The last two years haven’t been great and I want to be the reason we change the narrative.”
Even with that, Johnson didn’t know until he met Morris if he would be welcome again, which created some nervous moments before their first discussion.
“We didn’t know each other,” Johnson said. “I didn’t know what he was going to think of me or how he felt about me. There was a chance he wouldn’t want me here. There was this nervousness. But when I got on the phone with him, we had a good conversation, so that made me feel good.
“The feeling of being wanted makes everyone want to come back. He told me he wanted me to run the defense and he wanted me to be here and be a part of this 2026 team.”
OSU defensive end Jaleel Johnson speaks during a news conference Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater.
Malik Charles knew “after Tulsa” he wanted to stay at OSU
When defensive end Malik Charles looked for a new college football destination in December 2024, he wanted to find a place to stay for his final two years of college football.
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So even in late September, when Gundy had been fired and the season seemed to be derailed, Charles already knew he wanted to be a 2026 Cowboy.
“I kind of knew I was going to stay here, after the Tulsa game, honestly,” he said. “I’m telling you all, I really had no idea about leaving here. I love this place.”
Like Johnson, this meant Charles had to have a conversation with Morris about whether he would be allowed to stay.
“I was extremely nervous,” Charles said. “I was sitting on the couch and I walked in to meet him, and I was like, ‘Oh man, what if they don’t want me here?’ I was just preparing to hear it in my head if I had to.
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“But when I went to talk to him, he calmed my nerves. He kind of let me know that I was a guy they wanted to keep here. That excited me.”
And like Johnson, Charles wants to be part of the team that changes the trajectory of Oklahoma State football.
“I don’t think the way people talk about us is the way we played,” he said of the 2025 team. “We’re there every Saturday. It didn’t go the way we wanted it to, but the guys that stayed, we’re here to try to turn it around. Loyal and faithful to the end.”
Oklahoma State quarterback Drew Mestemaker takes a photo with a fan during a college wrestling matchup between the Oklahoma State Cowboys and the Iowa State Cyclones at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026.
Scott Wright covers Oklahoma State athletics for The Oklahoman. Do you have a story idea for Scott? He can be reached at [email protected] or the @ScottWrightOK. Register for the Oklahoma State Cowboys Newsletter to access more OSU coverage. Support Scott’s work and that of other Oklahoma journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at Subscribe.oklahoman.com or using the link at the top of this page.
This article was originally published on Oklahoman: OSU football’s Caleb Hawkins remembers storming the field in the Bedlam final
