Oklahoma State Must Unleash Zane Flores Moving Forward

Oklahoma State’s quarterback situation is in an interesting spot, but it can’t hold back its potential young star.

The Cowboys have had some issues nailing down their quarterback over the past few years. After a four-year stretch where Spencer Sanders ran the show when healthy, the Cowboys haven’t had a clear starting quarterback from Game 1 through Game 12 since.

While Alan Bowman was the clear starter to finish 2023 and begin 2024, his inconsistent play kept him from originally running away with the job and keeping it during OSU’s 3-9 campaign. This season looked to be no different for OSU, with Zane Flores and Hauss Hejny competing in a battle throughout the summer.

While Hejny earned the edge and was named the starter for the first game, OSU still seemed ready to use both quarterbacks in the season opener against UT Martin. Whether that was OSU’s plan or not, Mike Gundy’s hand was forced when Hejny broke his left foot in the first quarter, sidelining him for weeks.

With Flores on the field against the Skyhawks, OSU’s offense was a bit sluggish, and there simply wasn’t much juice, especially compared to Hejny’s electric running. Still, Flores played well enough to get the Pokes through that first game with a win.

However, things took quite a turn in his first start in Week 2. Flores was faced with an Oregon defense that is bolstering one of the top teams in the country.

He struggled mightily, failing to find a rhythm all day and finishing the third quarter with pick sixes on consecutive drives. From that point, OSU almost exclusively ran the ball and got out of Eugene to go into the bye week.

While there were some clear signs of distress for Flores against the Ducks, his performance in his first career start against an elite team shouldn’t handicap him moving forward. OSU knows it has an elite arm when Flores is on the field, and with the program at a crossroads, letting him fling it around could be a solution.

There is no doubt that OSU’s top offenses under Gundy have been pass-heavy, and offensive coordinator Doug Meacham even played a role in some of those offenses. With Meacham’s offense accounting for only 30 points in two games, it might be time to go with a bit more of an Air Raid attack, especially considering that the rushing game has been nearly nonexistent.

Although it could hurt Flores to force him to pass at a high rate as he still gets his feet under him, it could also be what ignites an OSU offense that hasn’t seen much success over the past two years.