Why Oklahoma State Should Start Spencer Sanders Against Texas, Not Wait Until Baylor

I wrote a post today about why Oklahoma State is about to have to start playing its future in the present, and there was an intriguing question in the comments that I thought I would address.

The one glaring question left by this article is, who is going to play the TCU game if Sanders plays the next four? -Glen W.

This is a fair and good question, one I’ve thought about a lot (IF YOU CAN’T TELL I’VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT SPENCER SANDERS PLAYING QUARTERBACK IN STILLWATER FOR A REALLY LONG TIME).

I was previously on the side of OSU waiting until the Baylor game the week after Texas to play Sanders. Get the last four games of the regular season in and preserve his redshirt. Now I’m in the “play him in the biggest spot against Texas on ABC in primetime” camp. Let it ride.

The reason? If it goes well — and let’s define “well” as OSU wins two of the next four games with Sanders at the helm — then I think you let him play the TCU game and the bowl game. You burn the redshirt because the momentum you’re gleaning from Big 12 games and bowl appearances is worth a year of eligibility for No. 3.

We get so caught up in preserving one year of eligibility when the reality is that we have no idea what the landscape is going to look like a year from now, much less four (!) years from now. Desperate times, desperate measures, and while I wouldn’t have said this all season, I’m saying it now: OSU needs a small miracle to reshape its trajectory heading into 2019. That’s worth a year of Sanders’ eligibility.

The potential reward of Sanders slaying Texas and leading OSU to the Cheez-It Bowl is — and I promise I’m not being cheeky — worth the risk of blowing a fourth year (that night really could be a watershed event in the same way Bedlam 2014 was).

And it’s not even really a risk because you don’t have to play him in the TCU and bowl game (if you make it)! The rule doesn’t state which four games a freshman can play. Only that they can only play in up to four games.

The momentum OSU captured in 2014 from inserting Mason Rudolph … was that worth one year of his eligibility? I say yes. That was a program-changing three-game stretch. The decision is so difficult when one play burns a redshirt and alters the future, but now that you get a four-game runway, it’s an easy decision. It’s a no-brainer!

Obviously if it goes poorly — I’ll define that by saying OSU is 1-3 or 0-4 in their next four — then you can sit him for TCU, let TC or Keondre Wudtee play and on to 2019.

But the earlier OSU gets a spark and the more big boy experience No. 3 gets — I think undefeated-in-the-Big 12 Texas on Homecoming on national television qualifies as big boy experience! — the better.

I don’t think this will actually happen. I think Gundy will wait until Baylor (or later?) to roll him out there, but I certainly think it should and that the future repercussions are worth dealing with later on down the road.