Oklahoma State football rewind: Spencer Sanders' latest school record & redshirt tracker

STILLWATER — Dealt their first loss of the year, the Oklahoma State Cowboys have entered homecoming week in preparation of a Saturday showdown.

The 11th-ranked Cowboys host No. 20 Texas at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium, but before we turn the page to that one, let’s look back at the 43-40 double-overtime loss at TCU.

Here’s a look at a few things we learned from the Cowboys’ road collapse:

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Top 5 players of the week

Running back Dominic Richardson: His final stats were solid, if not mind-blowing, but the importance he provided both as a runner and receiver out of the backfield were key. The junior finished with 72 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries, plus a team-leading 79 receiving yards on three catches. His most impressive quality was the toughness he continues to run with this season, managing to find yardage when it doesn’t appear available.

Placekicker Tanner Brown: The super-senior from Saugus, California, hit all four of his field goal tries on Saturday. Two of those came in the second half when the offense had stagnated, and the final one — a career-long 52-yarder — came under the most pressurized circumstances in overtime when the Cowboys desperately needed the points.

Safety Jason Taylor II: The redshirt senior whiffed on an open-field tackle attempt early in the game, but settled in and became one of the defense’s most reliable pieces, finishing with six tackles. His receiver was targeted seven times, but Taylor allowed just three catches for 23 yards.

Receiver John Paul Richardson: The sophomore slot receiver is turning into a key weapon, and the most meaningful reason for OSU to use its four-wide receiver sets. He had five catches for 51 yards, including a difficult 22-yarder against tight coverage for a touchdown in the second quarter.

Safety Sean Michael Flanagan: He and Kendal Daniels usually split snaps fairly evenly, but Flanagan played the entire first half with Daniels suspended for a targeting call a week earlier. Flanagan took advantage of the extra snaps, totaling 11 tackles and allowing two catches for 22 yards in coverage.

More:Why Mike Gundy wants to see Oklahoma State's defensive line 'working as a unit' vs. Texas

Top 5 players of the season

Quarterback Spencer Sanders: Yes, he’s coming off back-to-back games completing less than 50% of his passes, and yes, his shoulder injury is still a looming concern. But his importance as the triggerman of the offense is unquestioned. Even after a couple of rough weeks, he’s still completing 58.5% of his passes for 1,639 yards with 13 touchdowns and three interceptions. And he has rushed for 309 yards and eight scores.

Defensive lineman Tyler Lacy: Whether he’s playing inside or on the edge, Lacy continues to push his way into the backfield and produce. He had seven tackles with two for loss and the team’s only sack on Saturday. He now leads the team in tackles for loss with 8.5 and is tied for the lead in sacks with three this season.

Linebacker Mason Cobb: The inside linebacker was at the center of OSU’s tackling struggles last Saturday, missing four, but his overall production remains high. He had 16 tackles on Saturday, bringing his season total to a team-best 54, with 7.5 for loss.

Offensive guard Hunter Woodard: The offensive line has begun to show some weaknesses in recent weeks, but Woodard remains the most consistent piece of the puzzle. Among the starters, he remains the highest graded player in both pass blocking and run blocking, according to Pro Football Focus.

Placekicker Tanner Brown: Following his critical 4-for-4 performance on Saturday, Brown is perfect on 12 field goal tries this season. OSU is among the best teams in the country in producing points in the red zone, but also near the top in red-zone field goal attempts. Nine of Brown’s field goals have come after the offense stalled inside the 20. His reliability has been a valuable weapon this season.

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Trends aplenty

Trends can tell you a lot. Or nothing at all.

For instance, Texas has won two of the last three meetings with OSU — not great for the Cowboys. But the Cowboys have won eight of the last 12 in the series — not too shabby.

So it’s impossible to know which trend to follow for this week’s game, in which Texas is now favored by 6.5 points.

But here are a couple of trends that might more strongly apply to Saturday’s showdown.

OSU is unbeaten in its last five games following a loss. The last time it lost back-to-back games was the end of the 2019 season, losing Bedlam then falling to Texas A&M at the Texas Bowl in Houston.

OSU is 5-1 in its last six homecoming games, with only a loss to Baylor in 2019. But the more interesting trend is that OSU is 0-4 the week before homecoming the last five seasons. OSU canceled homecoming in 2020, and hasn’t won the week prior to the event since 2017.

More:Oklahoma State run game struggles caused more pain than Spencer Sanders' injured shoulder

Spencer Sanders record check

Adding 313 total yards to his career stats (68 rushing, 245 passing) over the weekend, Sanders moved into second place all-time in total yardage in OSU history.

And his passing yardage moved him ahead of Mike Gundy on the school’s all-time chart as well.

In total yardage, Sanders jumped ahead of Zac Robinson’s total of 10,175 yards, and still trails Mason Rudolph’s record of 13,646. Sanders began the year in fourth place, just ahead of Gundy. He has now passed Robinson and Brandon Weeden on the list.

Sanders now has 8,550 passing yards for his career, surpassing Gundy (8,473) for fourth on the all-time list.

Sanders now has Robinson in his sights for another rung on the all-time list for touchdowns responsible for. Rudolph, of course, is the leader with 109. Robinson is second with 88. With the 21 he’s been responsible for this season, Sanders has moved from sixth place — where he was tied with Barry Sanders at 60 — to third place with 81. In the process, he passed J.W. Walsh (61), Mike Gundy (66) and Brandon Weeden (76).

Sanders is currently second in wins (29), three behind Rudolph, and fourth in touchdown passes (63), three behind Robinson in third place.

More:'Nothing personal': Injury talk is taboo for Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy

Redshirt tracker

It seems set that the Cowboys will play four true freshmen this season, with two already past the NCAA’s four-game redshirt barrier, and two more on the verge of the limit.

Beyond that, only one freshman has played in more than a single game.

Here’s a look at where the Cowboy freshmen stand in participation:

Appeared in more than four games, unable to redshirt: Running back Ollie Gordon, receiver Stephon Johnson Jr.

Appeared in four games: Cornerback D.J. McKinney, receiver Braylin Presley.

Appeared in three games: None.

Appeared in two games: Cornerback Cameron Epps.

Appeared in one game: Defensive end DeSean Brown, linebacker Gabe Brown, linebacker Chance Clements, offensive lineman Austin Kawecki, quarterback Garret Rangel, tight end Tabry Shettron, receiver Talyn Shettron.

OSU vs. Texas

KICKOFF: 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater (ABC)

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State football: Spencer Sanders' records, redshirt tracker