Gundy Says OSU Plans to Give Spencer Sanders Some Rest This Week Ahead of KU Game

With Spencer Sanders nursing a shoulder injury picked up on Saturday in addition to other various maladies picked up throughout the grueling season, Mike Gundy on Monday said he plans to give QB1 some R&R in the lead-up to the Kansas game.

“I hope he’s doing good,” said Gundy. “We’re gonna rest him some this week and try to get him back, get him going, just like we’ve been doing.”

Sanders left the Kansas State game with a shoulder injury late in the game and did not return. He was replaced by Gunnar Gundy, Mike Gundy’s son who is No. 2 on the QB depth chart. Gundy finished as the leading rusher.

It seems pretty likely the offense will change significantly if Sanders can’t go — no one in the Big 12 is a more versatile weapon at QB than him with his legs — but the elder Gundy said the plan won’t change much if the younger Gundy has to step up in Sanders’ stead.

“With Shane (Illingworth), Shane couldn’t really maneuver, and he’s not going to hurt you running the ball,” said Gundy. “The guys that we have here, all of our guys practice the same way, practice the same plays. Very similar to Kansas. So if you look at the games that the other quarterback played in, just recently, they’re running the same plays and we run the same plays.”

Sanders is second in the Big 12 in total passing yards and total passing touchdowns on the season. His 343 yards rushing also rank second in the Big 12 among quarterbacks behind only Kansas State’s Adrian Martinez.

“Hopefully Spencer (Sanders) will play, because obviously that’s a different level,” added Gundy. “But if [not], then we go through the path that maybe you’re talking about and we figure it out, we go play and see where it goes.”