Newcomer Tracker: Bixby Product Bryce Bray Makes Season Debut Against Baylor

With a maximum of four games remaining on OSU’s 2018 football schedule, the repercussions of playing freshmen/redshirt eligible candidates strictly from an eligibility perspective do not exist. Due to the NCAA redshirt rule, players can participate in up to four games without sacrificing any future years of eligibility.

OSU took advantage of that this past weekend against Baylor with an unexpected name in Bixby (Okla.) product Bryce Bray. Bray was among the star-studded signees of OSU’s offensive line class in 2018.

With OU, West Virginia and TCU on deck to close out the season, might we see other freshman take the field? Might we … maybe … see Spencer Sanders take snaps in special situations? Mike Gundy says don’t hold your breath.

“It’s just not as productive, meaning that you have to share reps during the week,” said Gundy this week about the possibility of giving another QB work in practice. “That’s the one thing I think the public doesn’t understand is: We only get so many reps to get guys ready to play, and there are a few new things that go in every week. Especially a quarterback like Taylor, who doesn’t have a lot of reps in his career anyway, you just say, ‘OK, we’re going to put another guy in there and share reps with him and let him go in and play a couple series in a game.’ That doesn’t give us the best chance to win.”

Here’s an updated look at the season statistics for OSU newbies.