'They've greased up that fade': How Spencer Sanders, Tay Martin are continuing an OSU football legacy
Scott WrightOklahoman
STILLWATER — Spencer Sanders knows his Oklahoma State football history — or, recent history, at least.
And the Cowboy quarterback knows when he throws a fade for a touchdown to receiver Tay Martin, the two are adding their names to the list of quarterback-receiver duos who have made that play a staple of Oklahoma State football in the Mike Gundy era.
“That play has kinda been a tradition here,” Sanders said on Saturday after connecting twice for touchdowns with Martin on fade routes in the corner of the end zone in the 24-3 win at West Virginia. “They’ve really been good at the fade ball, and it seems like we’re just really starting to connect right now.”
Whether it was Zac Robinson lobbing the ball up for Dez Bryant, or Justin Blackmon pulling in fade throws from Brandon Weeden, the play has been mastered by a number of OSU quarterback-receiver combos.
Now, as Oklahoma State prepares to host TCU at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sanders and Martin are making sure they do their part to continue the legacy.
Cowboy quarterbacks and receivers over the years have made the play look easy, but it requires near-perfect execution.
The receiver has to get off the line of scrimmage cleanly, without getting held up by the cornerback who is covering him. The quarterback must loft the throw high, with perfect depth, to make sure it falls between the receiver and the sideline. And the receiver has to be able to react to the ball, snatch it from the defender and get his feet inbounds.
“We’ve been working on it since winter,” Sanders said. “It’s paid off. We harped on it real hard in winter. We harped on it real hard in fall camp. Every practice, if we don’t connect on one during practice, we’ll stay after practice to make sure we get a couple.”
Martin had Division I scholarship offers to play basketball out of high school, and his use of body control and ball skills show up on the fade.
“I’m always confident, especially in the red zone,” Martin said. “I have faith in my jumping ability, so I just want to go up there and make a play.”
The Cowboys don’t get a lot of opportunities to call the play, because Martin has been commanding double-teams since early in the season, which makes the fade an almost-impossible play to execute. The second defender can focus on playing the ball, rather than worrying about covering Martin.
But in single coverage, particularly when the Cowboys are close to the end zone, the fade is a go-to call.
“They’ve greased up that fade pretty well,” OSU offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn said. “They’ve completed a lot of ‘em.”
Even though Martin is only in his second season at Oklahoma State after transferring from Washington State, he has perfected the fade route and has excellent command of his body near the sideline to get his feet down inbounds — a skill he displayed on both his touchdown catches against West Virginia.
“Tay is real good about shaving, getting back into the defender and giving me the sideline,” Sanders said. “I just gotta make sure I drop it in on the sideline.”
Sanders and Martin built strong chemistry in their brief time together. They didn’t get to spend a lot of one-on-one time last season, with Martin in a backup role behind Tylan Wallace. But once the offseason arrived, the two dove in on developing their connection.
And the fade was a big part of that.
“It’s all about the timing and the repetition we get,” Martin said. “Once we get it down, we get it done so many times, it kinda becomes second nature. The timing is there. The touch is there. We’ve been working on it a lot. We even go after practice and work on a couple fades, so it’s paying off.
“I hope we keep doing it — well, we will keep doing it, for sure.”
