Tramel: Why the enigmatic Spencer Sanders is the key for OSU against Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl
Berry TramelOklahoman
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Brandon Weeden in 2011 on OSU’s Fiesta Bowl team of 10 years ago. Mason Rudolph on OSU’s Sugar Bowl team of five years ago. Spencer Sanders on OSU’s Fiesta Bowl team of right now.
One of these things, isn’t like the others. One of these things just isn’t the same.
And it’s the 2021 Cowboys who stick out. An elite team, without an elite quarterback.
It happens from time to time, particularly in places like the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference, though not so much lately in the latter.
But in the Big 12? Not often. Great quarterbacking usually is necessary for excellence.
So OSU is bucking the trend with Sanders, a good but not great quarterback.
“It was kind of like a rollercoaster,” Sanders said of his 2021 season. “I had some bad games, some good games. But we played together as a team, and I feel like we had a great season overall.”
No doubt. Beat Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl on Saturday, and the ninth-ranked Cowboys will tie a school record for victories in a season (12) and finish in The Associated Press top 10 for only the fourth time in school history.
But OSU will have gotten to such heights the hard way. With a hit-and-miss quarterback.
Sanders is a consummate leader, and his mobility gives OSU a coveted offensive trait, but his decision-making and throwing are not dependable. Sanders this season has thrown 16 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions. That’s straight out of the 1980s.
Sanders’ career TD/interception: 46-31. Here are the ratios of OSU’s other 21st-century QBs: Rudolph 92/26, Weeden 75/27, Zac Robinson 66/31, Taylor Cornelius 32/13, Josh Fields 55/25, Clint Chelf 37/15, Donovan Woods 14/5, Bobby Reid 27/16. Sanders’ backups have better ratios: Dru Brown 7/1, Shane Illingworth 7/2.
The only OSU quarterbacks who played much at all and had worse ratios in the 2000s were Al Pena, Daxx Garman and Wes Lunt.
Make no mistake. Sanders has made a bunch of winning plays. But he’s a three-year starter who has thrown seven interceptions in two games against Baylor and two more in Bedlam.
That can’t happen against Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish are too good.
“The thing we need from him, and it's always been this way, is just to manage the game,” said offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn.
The only OSU quarterbacks who played much at all and had worse ratios in the 2000s were Al Pena, Daxx Garman and Wes Lunt.
Make no mistake. Sanders has made a bunch of winning plays. But he’s a three-year starter who has thrown seven interceptions in two games against Baylor and two more in Bedlam.
That can’t happen against Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish are too good.
“The thing we need from him, and it's always been this way, is just to manage the game,” said offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn.
That’s the thing. While everyone in orange and black praises Sanders’ leadership, most everyone also pulls punches on Sanders’ actual quarterbacking.
Tailback Jaylen Warren: “When Spencer is calm and collected, we're just doing our thing, I think that's when he plays his best. Obviously, emotions run during the game and some people handle it different than others. But when he keeps his composure, I feel like that's when he plays his best game.”
Dunn: “Probably the No. 1 thing that he brings to the table for us right now, is just this ability to have a comfort out there about him. He's not panicked about things. He's not missing signals. He's not getting himself caught up in a situation where he can't get himself out of it, as far as understanding the play. Do we wish he would pull it down sometimes and take off and run? For sure. I just said that a little bit ago, because he can go. That's him.”
Here’s the truth. Sanders is a wild card. He’s a good quarterback with a propensity to occasionally throw the Cowboys out of a game. Sure, two of Sanders’ interceptions against Baylor in the Big 12 Championship Game weren’t much his fault. But that still leaves two, in a game OSU lost 21-16 and finished a couple of inches shy of the goal line in the final seconds.
Sanders appears to dwell in that nebulous neighborhood of being too good to replace and not good enough to rely on for sustained quality play.
That doesn’t mean Sanders won’t produce a big-time game against Notre Dame. Having Warren back will help. Warren missed the Big 12 title game.
“Going to make a difference,” Dunn said. “He's a hell of a player, and to be able to just get him the football and get him running will make a difference for us. So I think it just comes back to Spencer, again, managing the game.”
Sanders’ experience pays off. He operates the offense efficiently. The calls, the formations, the adjustments. They all come natural to Sanders now.
Despite the occasional brain lock, Sanders is a cool customer. A great example is the 90-yard drive at the end of the Baylor game, which ended mere inches shy of glory.
And that came after a mostly-miserable game that included four interceptions. Dunn said Sanders put that game behind him even before it was over, which is hard to do.
“He put together one hell of a drive,” Dunn said. “I think he put it behind him before we ever got to that point. I don't think he's thinking about it at all. The kid is pretty resilient. We all saw that on the final drive of the game.”
Sanders is talented. There’s no doubt. But he’s an enigma. Football is a game of big plays. Offense and defense. Sanders produces plenty of the former. Alas, he also provides opportunity for some of the latter.
“At the end of the day, people are going to love you or they're going to hate you,” Sanders said. “But the people you surround yourself with, your team, is what really matters.
“As long as you're getting up and doing everything possible you can do to help your team, I feel like it's pretty good. So it kind of just helps me shut out all of what's around and what goes around. As long as I'm making sure I'm doing my best and giving 110 percent, there's nothing more than I can do.”
Sanders’ story is quality quarterbacking interspersed with bewildering plays that hurt the Cowboy cause. Will that be the story of the Fiesta Bowl?
