Sanders in Walking Boot, to Be Re-Evaluated on Wednesday
STILLWATER—Oklahoma State quarterback Spencer Sanders is currently in a walking boot after Saturday's season opener against Tulsa. According to head coach Mike Gundy, Sanders will be re-evaluated on Wednesday.
“We booted him up,” Gundy said during Monday’s Zoom call. “We’ll take it off on Tuesday and then put him out there Wednesday and go from there.”
The redshirt sophomore out of Denton (TX) Guyer left Saturday's game late in the first quarter after suffering a high ankle sprain against Tulsa. Sanders finished the game going 2-of-2 for 23 yards and five carries for just nine yards.
He was replaced by JUCO transfer quarterback, redshirt junior Ethan Bullock who struggled throughout the remainder of the first half.
Freshman Shane Illingworth came in to replace Bullock in the second half, and based on his performance in leading the Cowboys to the 16-7 win over Kansas, one would assume he'd be the logical replacement should Sanders be unable to go on Saturday.
Related: Game details for Oklahoma State's Big 12 road opener against Kansas have been announced.
However, Gundy said the coaching staff is not ready to make that decision yet.
"Well we haven't got that far yet,’ Gundy said. “You know we've got three guys available and we'll have to make that decision based on practice reps. Good news is we don't have to practice until Tuesday, so we'll figure that out on Tuesday afternoon."
But according to Gundy, not having a back up quarterback decided yet isn't for lack of trying, rather because of a lack of first-team reps in practice.
"It's extremely difficult,” Gundy said. “It's become the hardest part of offensive football for a head coach, in my opinion, in that they don't get as many reps as they should get. Sadly enough, I was thinking about that a few months ago. There can be good quarterbacks that never really show up because they don't get enough practice or work with the [first team]. For example, Joe Burrow. That can happen at times just based on the way things fall, who the starter should be, who the backup should be. And the toughest part for a quarterback is to be the No. 2 guy in spring practice, because it's difficult to work with the [second team] when the offense is generally a little further ahead than the defense."
Gundy's quote makes Illingworth's performance on Saturday that much more impressive as he hadn't practice in the two weeks prior to the season opener due to contact tracing and COVID-19 precautions.
