'Like anything's possible': OSU quarterback Spencer Sanders comes off bench to save Cowboys

STILLWATER — As he was leaving his postgame press conference, Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy took a detour to check on his quarterback, Spencer Sanders, who sat with a giant ice pack wrapped around his right shoulder.

After all, heroes get sore, too.

“You OK?” Gundy asked. “Need a massage?”

The Cowboys were 20-14 winners over Iowa State on Saturday night at Boone Pickens Stadium, and though Sanders has quarterbacked his team to 30 wins in the past four years, he’s never done it like this.

He’s had bigger comebacks and more meaningful wins. But none so rare or unexpected as his off-the-bench heroics on Saturday.

Sanders finished 9-of-13 for 84 yards, going 6-of-7 for 54 yards on the drive to the touchdown that put OSU ahead for good.

Trying to heal his banged-up throwing shoulder, Sanders hasn’t practiced in several days, maybe several weeks, though no one would say — whether they didn’t want to share or just couldn’t remember — exactly how long it’s been.

Sanders’ grandfather died early in the week, and he took time to be with family, though he said he didn’t miss attending a practice.

While the Cowboys went through pregame warmups on Saturday, Sanders was in the locker room. He had no intention of playing, and hadn’t even thrown a football before he stepped onto the field late in the third quarter with the Cowboys trailing 14-10 in a game they desperately needed to win.

He dressed out for the game, but spent most of it as a cheerleader. His most activity of the day had been a 50-yard sprint down the sideline, celebrating as receiver John Paul Richardson finished off an 83-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter.

More: See photos from the Oklahoma State vs. Iowa State game

But after redshirt freshman Gunnar Gundy threw an interception with 53 seconds left in the third quarter, Sanders tracked down quarterbacks coach Tim Rattay.

“If you wanna throw me in there, I’ll go in there,” Sanders said.

“You ready?” Rattay asked.

“Let’s go.” Sanders responded.

On his first play, Sanders rushed for a gain of 1 yard, then completed an 8-yard pass to Langston Anderson. Even though running back Dominic Richardson was stuffed short of a first down on the next snap and the Cowboys had to punt, Sanders had immersed himself in the moment.

And like he flipped a lightswitch, Sanders had ignited an energy in Boone Pickens Stadium that had been absent all day.

Gundy, the third starting quarterback OSU has used in the last three games, was forced into action because of Sanders’ shoulder and a lingering injury that last week’s starter, Garret Rangel, suffered at Kansas that limited his ability to practice all week.

Gundy hit John Paul Richardson for the 83-yard touchdown, but otherwise was uninspiring, finishing 5-of-12 for 103 yards with two interceptions.

As Sanders jogged on to take over for Gundy, the fans gradually began to notice, and a low rumble built into a roar.

“Spencer being in the game, it just makes a difference,” said running back Jaden Nixon, who caught Sanders’ go-ahead touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. “Seeing him go out there and do what he loves to do, like he didn’t even miss a beat, I’m proud of him.

“Coming back and helping us get the win, that’s something special.”

Offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn admitted the coaches were hoping to give Sanders another week to heal, with hopes of having him in better health for next week’s Bedlam game at OU.

But for a team badly needing some good vibes following two demoralizing losses, the time came to forget about saving their most dangerous weapon.

“We hadn’t been on any stretches of moving the football,” Dunn said. “(Sanders is) a dynamic competitor. The guys follow him, for sure. He’s our unquestioned leader. When he takes the field, everybody just feels like anything’s possible.

“And as you saw tonight, it was.”

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Whether it was last week with Rangel, or earlier Saturday with Gundy, the playbook was limited with a freshman quarterback, as opposed to a fourth-year starter. So Dunn could open things up when Sanders entered.

For instance, because Sanders is such a threat to run the ball, the play Dunn called that turned out to be the go-ahead touchdown was one that might not have worked so smoothly with a different quarterback.

Sanders took the snap and faked left, then went right, holding the ball as if he was going to run with it. When the Iowa State cornerback ignored Nixon and charged toward the line of scrimmage to contain Sanders, Nixon popped into open field and Sanders lofted a soft pass to him for the easy score.

Without Sanders’ rushing threat, the cornerback might’ve stayed with his coverage responsibility, and the play would’ve died.

Nixon couldn’t remember the last time he and Sanders had worked that play in practice — “it’s been awhile,” Nixon said — but that shows how fluently Sanders comprehends the offense.

“I can’t say enough good things about how he handled his preparation this week, knowing that he probably wasn’t going to play,” Dunn said. “And then, all of the sudden, he’s thrust into the situation and he prepared for it.”

Though Sanders is supremely confident in his ability, he maintains a sense of humility when it comes to team success. So he wasn’t entertaining the hero-of-the-day talk.

“I just did my role,” he said, instead passing credit to the other offensive players, as well as a re-energized defensive effort that limited Iowa State to just 333 total yards, including 1.6 yards per carry on the ground.

The defense had five takeaways and four sacks following a two-game stretch in which it had none of either while allowing nearly 1,100 yards in blowout losses to Kansas State and Kansas.

But even with the defensive turnaround, the Cowboys looked incapable of digging out of a four-point hole with a limited offense.

That is, until Sanders pushed pain aside and rewrote the ending of what seemed destined to be a dismal day.

“You gotta understand how good Spencer is at football,” John Paul Richardson said. “He’s top-tier at this game. We were fortunate to have him back tonight for a little bit there.

“Hopefully he… gets back healthy.”

Before any Cowboy fans get to wondering about how Oklahoma State will handle its quarterback situation in next week’s Bedlam showdown, Sanders has already slammed the door shut on that discussion.

“Oh, yeah, I’m playing next week,” Sanders said. “That ain’t no question. You can count me in. So y’all are not scrambling all week, yeah, I’m playing next week.

“Ain’t no question about it.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State football: Spencer Sanders comes off bench to save day