OSU Football Notebook: Zane Flores Starting, Injury Updates and Wendell Gregory Status
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy met with the media on Labor Day to put a bow on the season opener against Tennessee Martin and look ahead to the match up against Oregon on Saturday.
There were several aspects Gundy talked about, including the obvious announcement of Zane Flores as the starting quarterback, some injury updates and an update on linebacker/edge rusher Wendell Gregory’s status after his arrest over the weekend.
Zane gets the nod with Hauss Hejny’s injury
Starting quarterback in the UT Martin game, Hauss Hejny, left the game towards the end of the first quarter with what ended up being a broken foot. With surgery, Hejny is set to miss an extended period of time, believed to be around five weeks or so, but could be more or less. No one really knows yet how the healing process will go.
With that, the obvious announcement of Zane Flores as the starting quarterback came out on Monday with the new depth chart.
Flores went 13-of-20 passing for 136 yards through three quarters against the Skyhawks. It marked the first game action for Flores since his senior season for Gretna HS in Nebraska in 2022. So, a bit of rust to knock off for sure.
“The comfort level at home I would think would be better than playing on the road, I mean that’s everybody, much less the guy making his first start,” coach Gundy said of Zane’s first start against Oregon. “Zane’s been around. He’s been with us a long time. The system’s somewhat new to him, not 100%. I would expect him to function just fine, I really would. Again, I will go back and say the coaches need to do a good job of preparing him and putting him in a good situation. Not get out of our box too much and put him in a position where he has to do a lot of thinking. We need to live on reps and not necessarily concepts.”
Wendell Gregory update
The other big news out of the Gundy presser came in the form of an update on the status of linebacker/edge rusher Wendell Gregory, who was arrested on Saturday night from charges stemming from a series of alleged thefts from Walmart back in May.
There was some question as to Gregory’s playing status going into the Oregon game. “We will proceed as normal,” coach Gundy said. “If something changes, [Sports Information Director] Sean [Maguire] will let you know.”
Gregory tied the Big 12 sack record against the Skyhawks on Thursday with three sacks in the first half.
Injury updates
A few players left the season opener on Thursday with apparent injuries, including starting center Kasen Carpenter and defensive end, DeSean Brown.
Carpenter played nearly all of the Cowboys’ offensive snaps before going down in the fourth quarter with a leg injury. Gundy told the media on Monday Carpenter’s injury wasn’t a long-term one but didn’t give an update on if he’ll be available against the Ducks this weekend.
As for Brown’s, he’ll most likely be out for an extended period of time. “DeSean shouldn't be available this week," Gundy said. "His (injury) is a little bit more long-term."
Projected starting running back Rodney Fields missed the season opener with an injury from the spring. It’s still unclear if he’ll play against the Ducks, and Gundy played coy as usual. “I wouldn’t be able to give you an answer on that.”
