Successful Spring Game for Oklahoma State as Orange Beats White 14-10

STILLWATER – It was a successful day in Boone Pickens Stadium for the Orange Team as they beat the White team, 14-10. 

“There’s a lot of excitement,” said head coach Mike Gundy. “Guys are fired up. In the end, young people still love to play the game. So, I think today was a tremendous success for us. I think we had about 87 plays. Little bit less than what we’ll have in a game, because we huddled up on both sides. But I thought it was great. Really liked the excitement with the players. And they started to get into the game. Great day for us.”

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Jackson finishes his touchdown return.

Auburn transfer Sam Jackson V had one of the two scoring highlights of the day, both by the Orange team, as he showcased his speed and broke off an 80-yard punt return for the first score of the day. He had another big return, this time on kickoff that could’ve been another score had it not been called off for an early touch for a tackle. As it is, the return was for 38 yards.

“Very unusual athlete,” coach Gundy said. “Not a lot of guys have played and started at receiver, then started at quarterback at different schools at this level of football. I’m going to go back to what I said earlier. Sam loves football and likes to play. He’s very athletic. He can catch, he can throw it, he can run it. He can make people miss. He’s a guy that’s going to get a chance to play a lot of inside receiver. We’ve got 2 or 3 guys that can compete there, in my opinion, and can help us. We’ve got big shoes to fill. But he’s certainly a guy that gives us a chance to have a little success there.

Running back Rodney Fields Jr. was the other scoring highlight of the game, also showcasing his speed, as he broke off a 74-yard touchdown run up the middle for the Orange team. He finished the game with four carries for 91 yards and the lone score.

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Fields breaks the one tackle he had to on the 74-yard touchdown run.

“We got some good backs,” said coach Gundy. “Rodney has shown signs last year, really likes to play football. He’s tough. Kalib [Hick’s] done well, Sesi [Vaiilahi’s] done well, Trent’s done well. You guys asked me about that, and I told you they’re all performing pretty well and I’m happy with the way they’ve come along in the spring, and I think that’s what you saw today.”

It wasn’t the most productive day at quarterback for either squad as all four quarterbacks combined for 213 yards on 24 of 37 passing with one interception and no touchdowns. Zane Flores led the way in attempts, completions and yardage going 7-of-17 for 76 yards, but also had the lone interception of the day, which came on a hail mary on the final play of the game. He was also sacked three times, with seven carries for negative 29 yards.

Redshirt freshman Maealiuaki Smith went 6-of-8 for 56 yards.

On the Orange side, Hauss Hejny went 6-for-6 for 29 yards and Garret Rangel went 5-for-6 for 52 yards.

One of the main contributing factors for that was addressed by coach Gundy following the spring game. 

“When you split teams like this, the one area that’s going to struggle is the offensive line. Because now you’ve got guys that haven’t played and competed, and they’re not communicating with each other. Because we didn’t just take one group of guys, we split it down the middle. That’s the risk you take. In most cases, it’s difficult to play a spring game, because you don’t have enough guys, and when you split ‘em up, it’s hard to function. So, every position’s important. But defensive guys putting their hand on the ground, or running to the quarterback’s one thing, offensive guys knowing who to block on all these different looks is another. So that area, you saw what, five, six sacks today? That’s going to happen in a spring game in most cases, because these guys don’t work together much, and they haven’t had much experience. But I will say this. It was worth playing the game, because we were able to see some guys in pressure situations, and particular quarterbacks and their ability to avoid the rush, because that’s the real world.”

As you can tell from the score, the defense on both sides had a solid day. Splitting up the defense also doesn’t have effect as splitting up the offensive lines. 

“I’m pleased with what I saw on defense,” said coach Gundy. The good thing about what happened out here today is what I’ve been telling you guys is what’s happening. So, you guys realize, that’s what he’s been saying. They’re playing good, sound defense. They’re in the right gaps. They got out of the gap on Rodney’s long run, then the safety missed a tackle. They gave up the big play. Other than that, they have done a good job this spring of not giving up big plays. And I feel like we’re a better tackling team. We’ll see. But I feel like at this time, we’re a better tackling team.”

As I predicted throughout the spring, and this past week leading into the spring game, I didn’t learn who the starting quarterback’s going to be this fall, you didn’t learn who just how good the running game or passing game is going to be this fall. But there were superlatives, such as there is a ton of speed in the receiver corps, which was on display on both offense and special teams. 

“We’re pretty fast at wide receiver,” said coach Gundy. “That is an advantage for us. With the exception of the portal, we’re inexperienced, but we’re fast. And we’ve continued to bring guys in to try to help bring the young guys along. Ayo wasn’t out there today; he’s banged up just a little bit. He should be back the middle of next week. He gives us a little more girth out there. A 225-pound receiver. But those guys are competing. They’re playing well.”

There is still a week left of spring football for the Cowboys, which will feature three full practices, which should be more intense and physical than what we saw today.