Believe it or Not: On Spencer and Special Teams

Originally published at: https://pistolsfiringblog.com/believe-it-or-not-on-spencer-and-special-teams/

Resetting after OSU’s first loss.

“But OSU needs to — and probably will — ride this out with Sanders at the helm.“

What OSU NEEDS to do is find someone that isn’t turnover prone. If you ride the rest of this season out with Sanders the best you can hope for is 7-3 with a 3rd place finish.

Riley wasn’t afraid to bench Rattler during the Texas game after his second turnover. That’s exactly what Gundy should’ve done. Sanders needs to be bench so he can accept the reality that his job can be taken at any moment.

Will he cry and enter the transfer portal? Or will he make better decisions with the football. You take a player out of the game that loves to play they will do their best to right the ship.

Of course the OL could’ve done a better job, but Sanders needs to realize he isn’t sitting behind his high school OL any longer. Dude is just a turnover machine and Rattay really needs to imprint basic fundamentals in Spencer’s head.

This is dumb. If he doesn’t turn the ball over 2-3 times, 400 yards isn’t necessary.

At the very least, Spencer Sanders needs to be on a shorter leash. He starts having multiple TOs in the first half against K-State, then he needs to be benched.

If Gundy sticks with Sanders regardless of turnovers, it will cost OSU at least two more games. That is just the simple truth. If he had been benched for at least two series, we probably would have won the game.

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Agreed,

If he has two turnovers in the first half against K State he needs to be bench. I’m just going to say it right now. K State is not a very good football team and they’ve gotten lucky since the OU game until WV totally exposed them for what they are.

They have a turnover prone QB right now and they literally only have one offensive weapon with a defense that’s average at best. You can beat K State with a Shane Illingworth.

What you don’t want to do is keep K State in the game by spotting them 20 points or more. I don’t think they lose in Manhattan, but then again OSU football have proven time and time again they can make the impossible a reality.

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“I don’t think there is any discussion within OSU’s walls that he’ll be benched.”

If there were such a discussion, you would be the last journalist to know of it.

I’m really torn here… I love Sanders dual threat capability, and especially his speed within the pocket given our cut and paste O-line, and the fact that no matter who is taking snaps this year, they will likely be provided with very spotty protection at best…

His biggest issue is that he is careless with his passing decisions, (consistently throwing inaccurate jump balls into double coverage) and more so that he is slow making his progressions leading to late throws, or a breakdown in line coverage (AKA sacks!)… It doesn’t help that he is having to throw the ball far more then he should for our offense to be effective given those O-line issues, and the clear drop off is Hubbard’s effectiveness as a runner this season (why Brown isn’t getting far more touches I have NO idea??).

Yes our defense is absolutely the best we have seen in the Gundy era l, (maybe ever?) but if they are having to take the field multiple times a game inside our OWN REDZONE, there is little hope for even the best defenses to hold off even mediocre offensive programs. IMO, our biggest issue is a coach that is completely unwilling to make in season position adjustments unless they are forced upon him, and more then that, a coach that for years now consistently plays his games “not to lose”, instead of putting forth the effort (and occasional “balls”!) to push for victory…

Sadly Gundy has realized that so long as he manages a winning record at seasons end, while distancing his own culpability via an ever rotating set of in game coordinators, that he will maintain that multimillion dollar salary and face little (if any) chance of a coaching “hot seat”… As far as I’m concerned, if we don’t take a conference title this season, given so much returning talent, and a very down year for the Big 12’s “traditional powers”, Gundy needs to be gone… without question!

I’ll put it this way:

I’d rather have a semi-talented QB that takes care of the football, and is disciplined in the basic fundamentals of ball protection that’s able to decently distribute the ball where it needs to go. I think despite Illingworth being a true freshman you kind of have that with him.

All Spencer Sanders needs to be is a Clint Chelf for this team to win out. That’s it!!! Considering how well the defense has played he doesn’t have to be a Brandon Weeden, Mason Rudolph, or Zac Robinson. He just needs to be able to throw anywhere from 240-280 yards per game and limit his turnovers to one per game.

Chelf wasn’t going to be an NFL QB, but he have great fundamentals and did all the little things correctly to become a pretty good and reliable college QB. Sanders needs to challenged more in the film room and a physical practice.

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Infrequently turns ball over and makes questionable mistakes just at inopportune times? These occur almost every drive. And on the special team being the Achilles heel, to this point Hale has been better than Ammendola was last year, Hutton is much improved over last year, and the roughing the punter is bad but I blame that more on Gundy for trying to block a punt on 4th and 22 that’s stupid, the kick off return is bad but if that’s the only one we have all season which I would be willing to bet it will be that’s not terrible. I thought our special teams had actually played better to this point.

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First touchdown returned on a kickoff this season and the first roughing the punter penalty.

Hutton has punted really well and Hale is 11-12 on the season kicking field goals.

Nope!!! Special Teams is the problem though!!! Has been all season long!!!

Okay…if it’s so bad then maybe hire a special teams coach???

If Gundy wants to coach special teams, let him and hire a head coach.

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I love listen to guys. Never heard any fan thinking 400 yrds was to many :upside_down_face:. U know he threw just 1 interception. If he could have just learn to hand off the ball we win.

My real issue with Gundy is that whether or not he actually believes so, he still displays the same level of passion and general mentality that we all held as a fans during those crushing years between the Barry Sanders era of the late 80’s and those first years of nationally recognized success behind Robinson and Bryant…

By that I mean the “we should just be happy for recognition”, or “I’m glad we are in contention at all” thought process. It just consistently seems as though the man is content with mediocrity, someone comfortable with a top 25 ranking and consistent 9 and 3 seasons, so long as he continues to deposit those multi-million dollar paychecks… More so, I worry that his overall lack of passion unintentionally extends to the team and extended coaching staff, which is the only way I feel Gundy can personally justify being so incredibly lackluster the moment that any kind of real national expectations find their way to Oklahoma State’s football program.

It seems that we almost never survive a top 10 ranking for more than a week or two, and that seems to be true regardless of our competition, AKA 2011 at Iowa State, 2013 vs. Oklahoma, 2018 vs. Oklahoma, and of course this past Saturday against Texas (we won’t even discuss the multiple mind-numbing bowl defeats in such a situation!)… Over more then a decade and a half walking the sidelines of Boone Pickens Stadium, Gundy has yet prove that he can handle any actual success while in the national spotlight.

Sooner or later (preferably as soon as possible!) we as a fan base need to demand much better of one of the highest paid men in all of college football, and should he again prove unable escort maybe his most talented team since 2011 to a conference title, he needs to go!. There are undoubtedly a number of highly qualified and talented coaching minds in the world of CFP collegiate programs, whom would not only be ecstatic to lead such a promising team, but would do so for half the salary and 10 times to drive and passion for true success!

Leach make 5 million never won a con champ. Gundys double are con champ since the 40’s. The 76’ was a shared title. Does the names solish leach mangino mac brown. Coachs that we winning and pushed out by people who wanted a lil better. Those schools are worse today. Hey but u seem like a win at all cost guy. Switzer is still a live. I know u can get Briles.

A: You don’t know enough about myself, my beliefs, or my general opinions to make any such judgement…

B: You are providing examples of two coaches who lost very promising careers, (and possible future titles) due to their own poor decisions off the field and not on it… I would actually argue with that even without a title, Leach had as much or more success during his brief time at Tech than Gundy has seen in 16 years with the Cowboys, with the exception of a single season in 2011 which still saw him lose on the road to a miserable ISU program, costing us our opportunity at a National Title!.

C: Mangino had an excellent career at KU, including his final year which saw Kansas win the Big12 Title, and the Orange Bowl, which easily could have been a National Championship were it not for the miserably constructed BCS system. He achieved all of which in just a handful of seasons, with a program in shambles, and provided far worse recruiting opportunities, financial backing, and program facilities… all of which Gundy has been all but gifted during his time at OSU.

Please though, wow me with you sporting knowledge, and any kind of rational defense for Gundy’s inability to win anything of consequence during his time here (again, with the exception of one miracle season that he still managed to ruin in a single game!). I’m not going to say the man is irredeemable, or that with some adjustments, he might actually be capable of proving himself worth that massive salary. However, at this moment in his career, given all of the time, money, and program investments that have been made to help build the Cowboys into a successful conference (and National) contender, he has fallen far short of what should be expected, and what this fan-base deserves!.

Thank you for playing

Baylor went from Briles to playing for a conference title, K State went from Snyder to beating OU two years in a row.

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I said briles nothing about Baylor. This yr is no con champ anyway. Briles will win at all cost coach, Baylor could be have a hard time too. U kinda of forgot about snyder’s first exit. When a school is so scared the actually pulls snyder out of retirement. The second time ksu got a good fit( I think)

Just pointing out that schools can have success changing coaches. OU hasn’t went into the crapper after Stoops.

U did wow me kansas paid to get the orange bowl over Missouri. there was know big 12 champ. Ku wasnt even in the champ game. Mangino followed mason who was forced out too and had good teams. Leach was at tech 10 season yes ur rite less then 16, but not a short time. Had 1season over 10 wins. Both leach and mangino were forced out. leach because he is rude. Mangino was fat and rude. But no comment on the others. U do know the difference between forced out and fired.