HOMECOMING SATURDAY
OSU vs. Baylor: 3 p.m. in Stillwater, TV: Fox OU vs. West Virginia: 11 a.m. in Norman, TV: Fox
STILLWATER — Dust off your 1980s sitcom memories and cue the music.
“Show me that smile again.”
Growing pains. They're real for Oklahoma State freshman quarter back Spencer Sanders. That much we l earned two Saturdays ago in Lubbock, Texas.
“Don' t waste another minute on your cryin'.”
Sanders isn' t the crying type, but as a player, he's boiling with emotion. That, too, showed in the 45-35 loss at Texas Tech when he turned the ball over five times. But don't mistake the frustration in his body language for discontentment with anyone but himself.
Sanders is ultra competitive to his core, and his expectations of his own performance reflect that.
“He shows hi se motions differently than other people,” OSU coach Mike Gundy said of his redshirt freshman quarter back. “Mason( Rudolph) was hard on himself. Taylor (Cornelius) was hard on himself. Their appearance might have been different than him. When he goes back on the field, he's fine. He competes.”
Coming off an open week, Oklahoma State is 4-2 (1-2
Big 12) with its homecoming showdown against No. 18-ranked Baylor (6-0, 3-0) set for 3 p. m. Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium.
OSU's regular season is at its midway point, and potentially, a turning point. For the team, and for Sanders.
A win puts the Cowboys back in the hunt for a topt h r e e s p o t i n t h e B i g 1 2 Conference race, back on track for a season that could exceed expectations, rather than crumble short of them.
A s t e p f o r wa r d i n h i s p e r f o r mance s h o ws t h a t Sanders is, in fact, progressi ng through these painful stages of youth.
“We're nowhere near the end.”
Baylor coach Matt Rhule doesn't need to be convinced hi s t e am wil l be f aci ng a quarterback pulled from the top shelf of the recruiting supermarket.
“I think Sanders is going to be one of the next ones who is up for all the awards. I think he is unbelievably special,” Rhule said. “His ability to run, his ability to improvise, his ability to make all the throws — he reminds me of (Patrick) Mahomes.”
A lofty comparison by any account for the wildly talented Sanders.
Mahomes s e t mul t i p l e NCAA passing r ecords at Texas Tech and was the NFL MVP l ast season with the Kansas City Chiefs.
But even Mahomes needed the bumps in the road of his Oklahoma State's Spencer Sanders (3) strikes the Heisman pose while trying to get past Tulsa's Diamon Cannon (6) in the Cowboys' win at Tulsa, on Sept. 14. [SARAH PHIPPS/ THE OKLAHOMAN]
56 percent completion rate as a f r eshman and t he 1 5 i nterceptions he threw as a sophomore — i ncluding a f our- pick game against Oklahoma.
So far, Sanders has completed 63.3 percent of his passes for 1,333 yards with 1 0 t ouchdowns and ei ght interceptions.
He termed the Texas Tech experience as “a development stage,” saying he needs to “keep moving forward.”
His growth i s coming i n the ability to process what he sees from defenses, how to react to coverage changes or pressure, proper decision making, and overall game management.
Sanders' teammates see his progress.
“Really just more understanding of what we're doing as an offense,” star receiver Tylan Wallace said. “I feel like that's a big step he's really taking pride in. He's stepping into that leadership role.
“He's really hard on himself, but he's trying not to be so down on himself when he gets into tough situations. But I've been surprised at how much of a leader he's trying to be.”
Sanders doesn't buy the growing pains idea. It feels too much like using youth as an excuse for him and he's in the no-excuses business.
“I'm not going to lie; I'm a football player, I'm competitive, I don't like losing,” Sanders s ai d. “I ' m going to do whatever I can, I'm always going to fight for my team, no matter what.
“You gotta c ompete t o wi n . We j u s t g o t t a k e e p competing.”
But growing pains aren't a wholly negative experience. The pain stinks for everyone, but the growth is what will allow Sanders' rare gifts to fully blossom.
After all..
“T h e b e s t i s r e a d y t o begin.”