Ranking the Potential First Games for Spencer Sanders

It’s Spencer Sanders weekend here at PFB, and we got things kicked off with a hot pod with Bill Haisten and a follow-up where I noted that, yeah, OSU is going to have to play Spencer at some point.

There are a lot of moving parts here, but I’ve pieced together a list of the five best spots for Spencer Sanders to make his debut.

In doing this, you have to keep in mind a lot of different considerations. The first is that Oklahoma State, presumably, wants to redshirt Sanders. That means he can play up to four games but no more than that. OSU has five games left in the regular season. There’s also the bowl to keep in mind, which it doesn’t appear right now like they will make.

Anyway, I put these thoughts in a blender, and this is what came out.

1. Texas on Homecoming: The more I think about it, the better it gets. The top-ranked-in-the-Big 12 Horns coming to town with the premiere high school QB from their state on a team that swiped him as the No. 1 prospect at that position in 2018.

National television. Homecoming. A season on the brink. A chance to turn the entire program back in the other direction. You’re not burning his redshirt by playing him in this game, but you might burn the memory of the last seven games.

2. OU in Norman: If you wait until past the Texas game, you clearly want to protect the redshirt at all costs. At that point, why not save him until OU and let it rip to see if he can win out (or win two of three) and get you to the postseason. Shades of Josh Fields in 2001!

3. Baylor in Waco: This would have been first on my list if we’d been doing this exercise last week just for the Rudolph parallels, but I think Texas makes a lot more sense unless you’re going for the “he’s less likely to get pummeled against Baylor’s defense than Texas'” angle.

4. West Virginia in Stillwater:

5. at Oregon State in 2019: This would be frustrating and disappointing … at best. If you have the best quarterback in the state of Texas — and maybe the best non-Weeden arm ever in your program — and a 2018 season that’s going nowhere, then why are you slowing down instead of speeding up his progression and development?

Who knows what’s going to happen, but at some point — likely in one of these five games — we’re going to see Spencer Sanders play football for Oklahoma State for the first time. I’m excited about that, even if I have to wait until 2019.