Doug Meacham Uncertain About Starting Quarterback Ahead of Trip to Texas Tech

STILLWATER — The identity of Okahoma State’s starting quarterback is once again back up in the air.

“Zane (Flores) has come a long way, but we’ll know probably a little bit more about that part once we get through practice,” interim coach Doug Meacham said. “There’s nothing that says it can’t be a two-quarterback platoon situation, or it could be Sam (Jackson) all the way, or could be Zane all the way.”

Flores took simulated snaps from a trainer during warmups on Saturday while four other quarterbacks, including Jackson, took snaps from offensive linemen.

Meacham generally seems to be more upfront regarding personnel announcements, but he has in the past acknowledged there’s a level of gamesmanship to when starting quarterbacks get announced to the media. So this could all be a smokescreen and he knows which guy will play.

Flores completed 55% of passes for 696 yards and three interceptions before missing each of the last two games due to an injury sustained late in the third quarter at Arizona.

Jackson completed 51% of his passes for 233 yards and two interceptions in his two starts at quarterback. His 149-yard passing performance against then-No. 24 Cincinnati was only the fourth time this season OSU’s starting quarterback passed for more than 100 yards.

“He made some great wild plays, and he’s really good with his legs,” Meacham said. “And then at the same time, he made a couple mistakes there that were pretty catastrophic. But I think overall, in his circumstance. … I’d like to see who (as a receiver) that is in this entire country that comes out and kind of performs at that level (at quarterback), coming as a guy that’s been a receiver for two years.”

Officially, Jackson rushed 22 times in the last two games for a loss of 31 yards and a touchdown, but those stats are completely overtaken by four fumbled snaps which required Jackson to dive on the ball for huge losses.

His other 18 rushing attempts, including sacks taken, saw him pick up 15 yards.

“Took his eye off a snap, (and) the pick six was, I don’t know that that was a phenomenal route,” Meacham said of Jackson’s miscues on Saturday. “Receiver is a little bit lazy at the top of the route and may have been a little bit late. But, you know, he had a couple things in there that weren’t good, but for the most part, you gotta admire what he’s done with a limited amount of time at a position that’s, you know, there’s not an eye in the stadium or on either sideline. It’s not on you every snap to do the right thing. So I’m pleased, man.”

Meacham said the biggest difference he saw from Jackson in his second start was the pre-snap stuff at the line including communication.

“He’ll just get better,” Meacham said. “We get that stuff. Like in golf, if you get your sand wedge out, keep hitting it for a while. You probably hit a sand wedge a little better.”

Where Jackson has truly thrived at times this season is when the Cowboys ask him to challenge defenses down the field with his arm.

He completed 3-of-6 passes at least 20-yards downfield and 6-of-14 between 10-19 yards. For comparison, Flores was 3-of-22 on 20-plus passes and 8-of-17 between 10-19 yard throws.

“He’s made some wild throws,” Meacham said of Jackson’s 48-yard throw to Shamar Rigby on Saturday. “Like it comes out, it comes out at a rate that’s, I mean, I haven’t seen too many guys that trigger the ball like that. If you notice the flight of the ball and the rotation of it, it’s tight, it’s light, there’s a lot of rotation on that ball, and it has probably something to do with his hand size, but he’s an accurate thrower.”