Brandon Weeden On OSU’s Depth, Spencer Sanders and the 2021 Team

Two GOATS — Dave Hunziker and Brandon Weeden — convened this week for an extended conversation ahead of OSU’s 2021 football season-opener on Saturday. Hunziker, the radio voice of OSU football and Weeden, the QB of OSU’s 2011 Big 12 title-winning team and a member of the commentary team this year, talked about OSU’s depth, comparisons to the 2010 team OSU fielded, expectations for Spencer Sanders this year and more. Highlights of the conversation are below. The full 21-minute audio is embedded at the bottom (and is definitely worth a Friday listen).

Weeden on depth

“Everything I’ve watched, and seeing it firsthand, this team’s got some depth. Mike Gundy hit on this earlier in the week, but I think it’s a great plan he’s got getting the 3s reps early on and throughout the camp and throughout spring. Those guys could be 2s, could be 1s. You can tell when you go to practice, especially the running backs and at receiver, that’s going to be one of my questions for Gundy on Friday, is ‘how are you going to rotate these four running backs?’ They’re deep. I think depth is something they’ve got to be excited about. But with the offensive line being better, if they can stay healthy, I think it gives that offense a chance to be better.”

Weeden on 2010 team comparison

“I hadn’t even thought about that. I think it’s spot on. This team is in a pretty good spot. Everybody’s kind of writing them off. They don’t have the target on their back. In 2010, nobody thought we were going to be any good. … There was a ton of question marks. But we all knew we had a chance to be pretty good. I think it’s the same thing with this 2021 team. If I’m playing with this 2021 team, I like where I’m at. I want to go out and shock the world. I want to go out and surprise people.”

Weeden on Spencer Sanders entering Year 3

“For him, I think being comfortable in the pocket and trusting what he sees. I know he’s well coached. Tim Rattay is a hell of a football coach. Smart, mechanically he’ll get him right. I think mechanically [Spencer] could be better with his lower half. He kind of locks that front leg out. I think that forces him to throw some balls a little more erratically than he probably could or should. But for him, it’s been beat like a dead horse, but it’s taking care of the football and making good decisions.

“I think when you’re that good in high school and you come in to college, you think you can make every single play that comes at you, you know, that’s not necessarily the case. Checking down to the back and getting three or four yards every once in awhile is not a bad play. … For him, take care of the football, being patient, taking what they give you … from what I’ve seen he’s growing in that offense and he looks a little more comfortable. As long as he takes that into Saturday, I think they’ll like what they see.”