Oklahoma State freshman Garret Rangel 'made plays' in up-and-down first start at Kansas

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Oklahoma State quarterback Garret Rangel did not flinch in the pocket as he stepped into the deep throw late in the fourth quarter.

The sideline pass to the back shoulder of Langston Anderson, who leapt and made the play over Kansas star Cobee Bryant, was near perfect.

Three plays later, Rangel again turned to Anderson.

This time, Bryant won the battle, batting the ball to teammate Rich Miller for an interception.

It was a bitter end to Rangel’s evening and an example of the up-and-down nature of starting a true freshman.

But it was a day that showed promise for the future.

The 18th-ranked Cowboys were blown out 37-16 by the Jayhawks. But those around the program left David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium on Saturday encouraged by Rangel in his first start.

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It started rocky. But he mostly handled himself well.

“Once he settled down, he made some plays,” OSU coach Mike Gundy said. “Obviously, turnovers are difficult. But he made a few plays.”

Rangel completed 27 of 40 passes for 304 yards and two touchdowns. He did have three interceptions — two coming in his first five passes — and was part of a fumbled snap inside the red zone.

“Just being able to take hits, be in situations where there’s pressure and deliver beautiful passes,” OSU receiver Bryson Green said. “He did that today.”

Rangel earned the start with veteran Spencer Sanders sidelined due to a lingering shoulder injury. Sanders was in uniform on the sideline, but he did not participate in warmups.

Throughout the week, Rangel split practice reps with redshirt freshman Gunnar Gundy. Mike Gundy said the coaches graded both out, with Rangel narrowly edging out Gunnar.

“We started him for that reason,” Mike said.

Gundy did not have an update on Sanders’ status moving forward. Sanders will be re-evaluated on Monday.

Gundy also did not commit to Rangel starting again should Sanders miss next week’s home matchup with Iowa State.

More:Oklahoma State vs. Kansas football: Five takeaways from Cowboys' loss to Jayhawks

But that’s not a knock on Rangel, who can play in only two more games and preserve his redshirt season.

He was impressive in a tough situation.

On the fourth drive of the game, he completed 7 of 8 passes and capped it off with a touchdown pass to freshman Stephon Johnson Jr. And though he wasn’t perfect, Rangel displayed an awareness to throw the ball away when needed after the early picks.

Gundy said he never considered making a change after Rangel threw the early interceptions.

This was Rangel’s game, even as he was forced to throw the ball more than planned.

“I think we put him in a bad position,” OSU offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn said. “We didn’t move the ball well enough early for him and stay in the game. We got behind a little bit and now all of a sudden you gotta pitch the ball more than you wanted to coming in.”

Dunn said Rangel has impressed in practice. He understands the playbook well, too.

And that’s all he can ask for so early.

“I think he’s going to be a great player here for us,” Dunn said.

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Already short-handed, Cowboys hit with more injuries

Dunn opened a pregame meeting with an experiment.

He asked the starting offensive players to stand up in the room. He reminded the team that there is a lot of talent standing and they’ve played a lot of good football.

Then he asked for only senior starters to remain standing.

All 11 players sat down.

“I want those guys to understand that they’re young, we’re going through a little bit of a learning curve here, we’ve been down that road before and we've gone on massive runs in years following,” Dunn said.

“We’ve got a really good football team. We’ve got a lot of guys right now that are waiting to come back. I hope they can come back here fairly quickly and that’ll add some depth, obviously, and then obviously some leadership.”

OSU entered the day without key players on both sides of the ball due to injuries.

Offensively, Hunter Woodard, Braydon Johnson and Jaden Bray were sidelined alongside Sanders. Defensively, Thomas Harper was out.

And it only got worse.

Starting center Preston Wilson suffered an injury and did not return. He’s battled a leg injury the past month.

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But the defense seemingly was hit the hardest.

Star defensive end Trace Ford left the game in the first half, appearing to suffer an injury to one of his surgically repaired knees. He was later taken to the locker room on the cart and returned to the sideline in street clothes with crutches.

Defensive end Tyler Lacy hurt his ankle early but returned briefly. He was later seen wearing a walking boot on the sidelines.

Veteran defensive end Brock Martin left with an injury but returned.

Safety Jason Taylor II entered less than 100% and appeared to injure his arm. He returned but was limited, still finishing with a career-best 11 total tackles.

“It's not great,” OSU safety Sean Michael Flanagan said. “We got to kinda jimmy rig the defense.”

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Is OSU close to solving its running issues?

Dunn was asked directly about the Cowboys’ struggles to successfully run the football. Are they close to solving the problem?

The short answer: It’s unclear.

“I don’t know,” Dunn said. “I gotta go back and look. I know I say that every week, but it’s the truth. There were times that I thought we ran the ball well and all of a sudden you get hit for a minus-2. When you’re trying to move the ball methodically down the field like that, you just can’t have a minus-2.”

OSU ran for just 111 yards, averaging 3.2 yards on 35 carries. It only got past the 100-yard mark on the final possession of the game, which began with 40 seconds remaining. The Cowboys ran the ball twice for 18 yards then.

Dominic Richardson returned from an injury that forced him to miss last week’s loss at Kansas State and carried the ball 14 times for 51 yards. But he did not play the second half, though he said he feels good.

Texas A&M transfer Deondre Jackson rushed for 34 yards on five carries in the second half.

Gundy said some of the issues started with offensive linemen slipping off their blocks at times.

“We had some great blocking up front and the next play it might be a missed assignment where a guy leaks in and might get me from behind,” Richardson said. “Just plays like that. We need to eliminate all the mistakes. We just need to fix that problem and we’ll be OK.”

The inability to get the run game going added more pressure to an inexperienced Rangel.

“That was the intention having a young guy at quarterback stepping in for the first time,” Dunn said about running the football. “But they get behind and it's hard to say, ‘OK, we’re going to run the football and try to get back in it.’”

Jacob Unruh covers college sports for The Oklahoman. You can send your story ideas to him at junruh@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @jacobunruh. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OSU football: Garret Rangel 'made plays' in first start vs. Kansas