Bundage bulks up for season
STILLWATER — When Calvin Bundage was a high school freshman, he weighed 252 pounds.
That’s right around the time he decided he didn’t want to be a lineman, and he went to work trimming the weight off.
By his senior season at Edmond Santa Fe, he was a 180-pound safety.
Now entering his junior season at Oklahoma State, Bundage has gradually muscled up to help him handle the physicality of playing linebacker in college.
Listed at 215, Bundage says he’s a few pounds heavier than that as he prepares for a season that will see him mixing it up in the trenches more than before.
“I’m gonna be in the box more,” said Bundage, who played a hybrid linebacker/ safety role in Glenn Spencer’s defense the last two years.
Now in Jim Knowles’ 4-2-5 scheme, Bundage will be a more traditional linebacker, and that’s where the added weight is showing a benefit.
“I’ll still be blitzing off the edge and doing some of those things,” Bundage said. “I gained this weight to help me, so I’m ready. It’s been a roller-coaster and it took a lot of hard work. I’m just ready to play football now.”
With Bundage at the weakside linebacker position, and Justin Phillips moving from outside to the middle linebacker, OSU has returning starters at both positions.
The 6-foot, 230-pound Phillips feels more comfortable in the middle, and his speed makes him a versatile weapon.
Bundage says in Knowles’ scheme, it’s important to have two linebackers on the field who can be physical in the middle of the formation, and fast enough to play on the edge.
The Cowboys are deep at linebacker as well, which keeps the starters on their toes.
“Those guys keep pushing me and Justin to be better and to be sharper,” Bundage said. “And we push those guys and compete with them.”
Equally important, the backups are athletic players who can contribute
in other ways.
“It’s encouraging, because we know we’ve got guys who can do a lot of things,” Phillips said. “Just because they’re not in every snap on defense, they’ll be making an impact on special teams as well.”