Youth and Inexperience Prove to be Costly for the Cowboys
LAWRENCE, Kansas– Evidently, Kansas is not the place to be for the Cowboys. After falling 37-16 to the now 6-3 Kansas Jayhawks, there are several things that need to be evaluated.
A big piece of how tonight’s matchup went can be attributed to the lack of experience that saw the field for the injury-riddled Cowboys. After starting QB Spencer Sanders was announced as officially out, true freshman Garret Rangel got the starting nod over Gunnar Gundy.
For his first start in his college career, and aside from the turnovers, Rangel put up pretty solid numbers with 304 passing yards, two touchdowns, three interceptions, and a fumble.
“When it’s a young kid like that,” said coach Mike Gundy as he described Rangel’s performance. “And you give them a chance to play, you’ve got to let them play. If I would’ve taken him out after the two interceptions, that would’ve been nine minutes to go in the first quarter and you just can’t do that. I guess you can, but I don’t believe in that.”
The Jayhawks took advantage of these turnovers, however, scoring 14 points in the first half thanks to one of those interceptions and a fumble by Rangel. They were also able to tally up 554 total yards against a struggling Oklahoma State defense.
Kansas RB Devin Neal was unleashed today for 334 total yards and a touchdown. He was able to pick apart the Cowboy’s defensive line and really exposed every weakness on the defensive side of the ball.
Offensively, the major struggles stem from a lack of experience. Rangel held his own today but could not execute when it mattered most. Responsible for four turnovers on the day, Rangel’s inexperience was highlighted when he was under pressure.
Rangel earned the starting job in practice this week over QB Gunnar Gundy, who played in the loss against Kansas State when Sanders went down.
Other younger players who got some playing time today were WR Stephon Johnson Jr., RB Jaden Nixon, WR Langston Anderson, and S Lyrick Rawls.
Anderson and Rawls are two players that we haven’t seen much of this season. Anderson had a big reception and finished with 61 yards on the day. Rawls, who stepped up to fill in for S Thomas Harper, finished with 3 solo tackles.
“We just got to keep going forward,” Anderson explained. “Unfortunately we have some losses, key losses, but I feel like we’re going to build up. There’s a lot of young guys getting more experience so we’re going to build up off of that.”
Johnson finished the day with only two receptions, 16 yards, and a touchdown, but this scoring play accounted for one of two passing touchdowns and put the Cowboys on the board for some much-needed momentum.
Several injuries continue to plague the Cowboys, leaving them to depend on players who aren’t necessarily as prepared to play on the big stage yet.
While there are multiple areas that need drastic improvement, there is a silver lining to be found. Rangel’s performance showed promise despite the shortcomings, and young receivers were able to make a few plays that provided hope.
“He went through some growing pains, obviously,” Gundy said of Rangel. “That’s what most of them do when they're young and make some mistakes. Still, we didn’t rush the ball effectively enough, which we know that it’s like a broken record, we’re going to keep working at it and we gave up too much on the ground.”
When it comes to Rangel, he’s not quite ready to fill the shoes of Sanders. On the other hand, he’s shown a lot that is a reason to have hope for the future.
Don’t get me wrong, these younger players have a lot of experience to gain and developing to do. They do show promise for how the future of the OSU football program is shaping up, however, and will continue to grow through these hard losses and increased experience.