Garret Rangel Remains Positive through Broken Collarbone, Another Quarterback Battle

STILLWATER — Garret Rangel hit the grass at LaVell Edwards Stadium and his left arm went numb.

He rolled to his back to see Ollie Gordon waiting to help him up, and as Rangel was helped to his feet, he heard a cracking noise. It was the two-minute timeout, so Rangel went to the sideline.

“They’re looking at it,” Rangel said. “They’re like, lift your arm up. I thought I was lifting my arm up, and then I wasn’t lifting my arm up. Then we finally lifted my arm up, and they’re like, yeah, it’s broken. I’m like asking Coach (Mike) Gundy, like, ‘Please let me stay in. Please let me stay in.'”

It was a big opportunity for Rangel. He was making his first start of the season after the Cowboys started Big 12 play 0-3 and benched Alan Bowman. In Provo, Rangel had the 3-3 Cowboys tied with unbeaten BYU. The 54-yard run that would end Rangel’s season put the Cowboys on BYU’s 13-yard line. OSU would take the lead a few plays later and go into the locker room up 21-14.

But as quick as Rangel’s shot came, it was over.

“It was definitely tough,” Rangel said. “It was really tough. My career has been up and down here. Just to have my shot — my true shot — been playing good, we were rolling, and then I’m out. Definitely tough for anybody to go through that, but I know I can handle anything. But it was tough, yeah.”

Rangel had played before that BYU game, but that trip to Provo did feel like his first true shot at being the Cowboys’ starter.

He played as a true freshman in 2022 when Spencer Sanders went down with injury. His first start came on the road against Kansas with the Jayhawks a win away from bowl eligibility for the first time since 2008. It felt similar to Wes Lunt’s game against Arizona in 2012 — there was promise, but there were moments it was evident a true freshman was playing quarterback. Rangel threw 40 passes that game, throwing for 304 yards and two touchdowns, but he also had three interceptions.

Rangel’s next start came against West Virginia in a monsoon. With rain pouring from the heavens, Rangel was asked to throw 42 passes, completing 18 for 178 yards.

Then he started OSU’s Guaranteed Rate Bowl against Wisconsin, throwing for 229 yards and two touchdowns to two interceptions. It wasn’t raining at Chase Field, but playing football in a baseball stadium provided it’s own challenges with players’ footing. Many, Rangel included, were slipping and sliding all over the place.

Rangel took part in OSU’s three-quarterback rotation in 2023 — his redshirt freshman season. He got sick the week of OSU’s 33-7 loss to South Alabama, the final game of the three-QB weave, and played only nine snaps. The loss seemed to expedite the process of picking a starter, as Bowman took over from there, but Rangel’s illness is perhaps another sliding doors moment in his career.

He finds himself in another quarterback battle this spring. This time, it’s a four-horse race with Zane Flores, Maealiuaki Smith and TCU transfer Hauss Hejny.

“It’s been good,” Rangel said. “We’re all talented guys. It’s gonna be a fun competition in the spring. I know how it is — competition every year. But we’re just gonna continue to get better each day and continue to grow in the offense because there’s a lot of new guys, and we’re all gonna get a lot of reps together, and it’s gonna be fun. It’s gonna be a fun process.”

Credit to the Frisco, Texas native, no matter how many ups and downs this rollercoaster has thrown at him, Rangel keeps answering the bell.

“My career here has been, I mean, y’all know, it’s been up and down,” Rangel said. “I just know that no matter what God throws my way, I know I can handle it. That’s just kinda how I was raised, and now I’m actually going through adversity in my life. I finally get the starting job, and I break my collarbone. I think just going through that whole rehab process, and just being mentally tough and having a positive outlook on it really helped me grow on and off the field pretty much.”