Will Sam Jackson V Continue His Dual Role Against Arizona?

The Oklahoma State Cowboys are traveling to Tucson, Arizona, for their second Big 12 matchup of the year. In this matchup, they hope to continue the spark their offense showed last week against Baylor.

Interim coach Doug Meacham showed some new tricks to the Cowboys' playbook that allowed the Cowboys to stay in the game all the way until the fourth quarter. The key factor in the game, however, was the dual capabilities of Sam Jackson.

Coming into the game against Baylor, Jackson had not been a productive part of the offense. He had only caught three passes for a total of 25 yards and did not seem like a threat to any opposing teams.

Jackson proved this point wrong quickly against Baylor, but not because of his receiving abilities. During the first quarter, quarterback Zane Flores dropped back and threw a backward pass to Jackson. Instead of tucking it and finding space like expected, Jackson threw the ball to a wide-open Josh Ford for the Cowboys' first touchdown of the game.

Jackson would complete two more passes in the game and finish with 46 passing yards and one passing touchdown. This wasn't a spur-of-the-moment thing either. Jackson is a former four-star quarterback recruit, according to ESPN, who originally committed to TCU while Meacham was its offensive coordinator. During his time there, Jackson completed six passes, including a 62-yard completion against OSU in 2021.

Jackson was utilized at the right time as quarterback Zane Flores has been struggling to get the ball in the end zone. Through four games, Flores has yet to have a passing touchdown, but is continuing to improve his week-to-week play. With how Flores is slowly progressing, keeping Jackson as a valuable option on the field is something that the Cowboys will need to utilize to stay in games.

Allowing Jackson to also be in the backfield during wildcat formations keeps opponents on their toes. Jackson could pass like he’s shown, run the ball himself, and hand the ball off to Trent Howland or Rodney Fields Jr., who have also been showing out for the Cowboys.

With quarterback Hauss Hejny not projected to come back until Oct. 18 against Cincinnati, Jackson is a good option to allow the Cowboy offense to continue to show productivity. If he continues to showcase his abilities in the following weeks, Meacham could test out how well this style of play is with Hejny at the helm.