Spencer Sanders Says He Has No Shortage of Weapons on Offense
STILLWATER – Earlier this week Oklahoma State quarterback Spencer Sanders tackled one of his least favorite responsibilities as a Cowboy signal caller, he addressed the media. Sanders seems like he would rather be tackled hard by an opposing defender before standing behind the podium and answering questions from the media. He stands up there and does it, but the athletic media relations staff knows they have to have a plan in order to get him there. Sanders acts like he is missing spawning time for the big bass when he is asked to take on the queries.
Sanders is under some pressure this spring as fan expectation is that he will smooth over some of his weaknesses that keep his many positives from flourishing in the OSU offense. Head coach Mike Gundy says he is doing just that and having the best spring since he’s been in Stillwater. Maybe there is a good reason for that, try a little consistency.
“I’ve been through three different coaches, which means I’ve been through different techniques, different footwork,” Sanders said answering the question of whether he has improved.” I didn’t have a spring last year, so I would say this has been different from my first one because my first spring was my first ever learning the playbook and stuff, so it is definitely different. I would say I am much more comfortable from fall camp to spring ball because the offense is much more comfortable, and we are moving good.”
One thing about Sanders is that he never takes much credit. The red-shirt junior from Denton, Texas and powerhouse Ryan High School is always giving up the credit. This spring he doesn’t have the receiver that was obviously his top target in Tylan Wallace around, but Sanders really likes all the guys that he and the quarterbacks are throwing to.
“I feel we have a great receiver corps. We have Braydon Johnson and we have Tay Martin, Brennan Presley, we ‘ve got Rashod Owens, the Green twins, J.P. (John Paul Richardson),” Sanders stated. “I feel the receiver corps is great. Now it is just developing that playbook and getting it right and it is not just with me, but with Shane (Illingworth) and the other quarterbacks. Once we connect on that timing and how people run certain routes and do certain things then I think we’ll be very good. I think we are doing that now. I wouldn’t say it is at the best it can be because you can always do better.”
Sanders is the leader of the quarterbacks and is acting like it. He competes with Shane Illingworth but maintains a team camaraderie with Illingworth and the other quarterbacks. He understands that comes with the territory.
He is also more than happy to get along with all four of the Cowboys top running backs. They can all play. In fact, Spencer sounds like a quarterback that would like to give them the ball more often, either by handoff, pitch, or pass.
“It helps the passing game tremendously because everybody knows you can’t stop L.D. Brown,”started Sanders. “He can stop and start and spin out of moves like he did against Baylor. He spun out and found ways to get out of tackles. He is a helluva player. Then Dez (Jackson) running over people against Texas Tech. He ran for 30-yards, 50-yards, and then ran all the way down to the two and instead of the touchdown he got down on a knee at the end of the game. We’ve got guys like Dominic Richardson and we ran like inside zone and he took it to the house. I feel like we’ve got tremendous running backs and I feel like we could do something special and also utilize them in the passing game because they are all great players.”
Sanders may want to stay away from those microphones and cameras as much as he can. He’s talking like and saying things that could cause Oklahoma State fans to have their expectations jump even higher than they’ve been. That will put even more pressure on the offense. Right now, the Cowboys have a chance to come out of the weeds a little bit. Not the case if Sanders comments get passed around as much as he throws the football in practice.