Comparing How the OSU Quarterbacks Played against UT-Martin

STILLWATER — Hauss Hejny did everything he could to put the quarterback battle to bed in the first quarter on Thursday night.

“I thought he played good, moved around and was effective,” Gundy said. “Made plays with his legs, which is what he does. … He missed a couple throws, but he hit a couple throws. He didn’t get to play long enough to really get in a rhythm, but I thought he started out the game really well.”

But Hejny’s hot start came to an abrupt halt when he suffered an injury late in the first quarter, leading Zane Flores to play out the rest of Oklahoma State’s 27-7 win.

With Hejny on the field, Oklahoma State’s offense averaged 8.2 yards per play and scored 14 points in 20 plays.

Flores came off the bench and led the team for the remaining 49 plays. In that stretch, the Cowboys averaged 4.3 yards per play and scored 13 points.

To be fair to Flores, many of his drives came under less-than-ideal circumstances. An injury to starting center Kasen Carpenter shuffled the line mid-drive, plus he had the ball near the end of both halves when Oklahoma State seemed more interested in killing time and moving the chains. 

On Hejny’s three drives, Oklahoma State’s offense averaged 11.6, 7.9 and 0 yards per play. Meanwhile, on Flores’ best three drives (out of eight), OSU’s highest average yards per play were 7.3, 4.8, and 3.6.

That’s a pretty decisive advantage for the TCU transfer, but what worked so well for Hejny? Despite Flores’ huge run, the difference lies with Hejny’s athleticism, which has earned him praise from several teammates throughout fall camp.

Oklahoma State outside linebacker Wendell Gregory became the latest Cowboy to admire what Hejny can do with his legs when he spoke to the media following his three-sack performance on Thursday night.

“He’s a dog, fastest quarterback I’ve ever seen,” Gregory said of Hejny. “Yeah he gets us better running, pulling read options, running, catching up to him is a real hard time at practice for sure.”

The other difference between the two quarterbacks came in their tendency to throw deep. Hejny threw four passes 15-plus yards downfield, completing two of them.

Flores also attempted four passes 15-plus yards downfield, completing one of them.

Oklahoma State QBs based on target depth

Hejny seemed more comfortable airing it out in his limited run, suggesting he might have looked deeper often had he played as much as Flores. 

“Same thing, he missed a couple throws,” Gundy said of Flores. “But you know, he ended up what, 13-of-20, 136 not bad. Took a couple of sacks, one of the sacks I didn’t think he should have taken. But not bad for guys that never played college football.”