Gundy on Grier: Best passing quarterback OSU has faced
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy had a lot of praise for West Virginia quarterback Will Grier, a transfer from Florida who has the Mountaineer offense rolling at No. 22 in The Associated Press poll this week.
Grier leads the Big 12 with 26 touchdown passes and is second in passing yards per game with 352.4, behind OSU’s Mason Rudolph at 378.6.
Gundy called Grier the best passing quarterback OSU has faced so far.
“He’s had a lot of success,” Gundy said. “His completion percentage and touchdown-to-interception ratio is very good. He’s fit well into their system and playing with a lot of confidence.”
West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen sees the established relationship Rudolph has with his receivers, and points to that as something Grier still strives for.
“With Will, it’s just new to him,” Holgorsen said. “It’s still year one for Will. He’s got a lot of experience. They’re both very seasoned guys, very old guys, very mature guys.
“But Will’s still trying to establish the timing with more than just a couple guys. We know it exists with Gary (Jennings) and David (Sills), but we’re trying to get a couple other guys. That’s what the Oklahoma State guys have that we’re still lacking.”
Spencer’s movie clip stressed focus for defense
OSU defensive coordinator Glenn Spencer knew most — if not all — of his players had never seen The Legend of Bagger Vance.
The golf movie was made in 2000 — when most of the current Cowboys were toddlers — featuring Matt Damon as a wayward golfer who finds guidance from a new caddie, played by Will Smith.
Regardless, Spencer showed his defense a clip from the film before the Texas game.
“The main thing about it was focusing on the little things, which was our priority in this game,” said junior linebacker Justin Phillips, who admitted he still didn’t know what movie the clip was from. “We wanted to stop the run. It was about making sure everybody’s eyes were right and eyes were paying attention to the little things.
“It was very important, and everybody did a good job with that. Everybody keyed in on what they needed to and was successful.”
Cowboys add juniorcollege defensive end
Oklahoma State’s 2018 recruiting class had been almost exclusively high school players, but the Cowboys added another junior-college player last week, getting a commitment from Michael Scott ,a defensive end from Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, Texas.
A 6-foot-5, 240-pound sophomore originally from Irving, Texas, Scott becomes the third defensive line commitment among OSU’s 21 players in the class and the second junior-college prospect.
With 10 scholarship players on the defensive line who are either juniors or seniors, the Cowboys are working to boost the depth there.
Along with Scott, OSU recently got a commitment from Millwood’s Israel Antwine, a 6-4, 290-pound senior who can play tackle or end. OSU also has Tyler Lacy, a 6-4, 240-pound defensive end from Sachse, Texas, committed.