‘He’s a Fighter’: Zane Flores Is Tough Enough to Survive the Growing Pains Ahead

STILLWATER — Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy didn’t shy away from questions regarding his hot seat on Monday.

And there were a lot of them.

But when asked even neutral questions about quarterback Zane Flores, Gundy’s tone got somewhat protective of the freshman.

“I’m not trying to make him (former Dallas Cowboy quarterback) Roger Staubach. … I don’t read what’s out there,” Gundy said. “But they should be fair to him and his development as a quarterback and just understand that he’s going to get better.”

In his postgame press conference on Friday, Gundy praised Flores for his growth during the game itself, highlighting his efforts to pick up three first downs in the final 26 seconds of play.

After watching the film back over the weekend, the head coach expressed his continued belief that Flores is getting better with every live rep.

“If he’ll continue to have grit and toughness — he loves the game of football, he studies the game of football — he’s only going to improve as he goes,” Gundy said.

Grit shouldn’t be a problem. On Friday, Flores averaged 8.8 yards per carry, ignoring two sacks, and found the end zone with his legs.

“Zane fights,” OSU right guard Noah McKinney said. “I mean, no matter what, he’ll take a big hit, he’ll get knocked down, he’ll jump right back up, and he’ll keep going. … So I feel like Zane is a true fighter, and he’s really good at what he does. And I feel like he takes great accountability in his leadership and what he tries to do with our offense.”

Although his legs powered the Cowboy offense at times, there were signs on Friday that he’s developing as a passer.

Flores’ completion percentage while under pressure against TU rose to a season-high 44%. In the first two games, Flores completed 20% of such passes.

The young quarterback also finished the game with a season-high PFF grade of 67.7 when blitzed. Flores averaged seven yards per attempt when Tulsa blitzed him and only 4.5 when TU played more conservatively.

“I thought he showed toughness,” Gundy said. “I thought he ran, I thought he protected the ball, and I know for a fact that he had decent vision of the game, and that’s going to get better and better. He’s going to have more vision a month from now than he will this Saturday.”