Mike Gundy’s lips are sealed regarding his starting quarterback for Oklahoma State’s Friday night visit to BYU.
At least as far as anyone outside the program knows.
Internally, the Cowboys are likely more settled on the decision about who the starting quarterback will be when they take on the 13th-ranked Cougars at 9:15 p.m. Friday at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah.
With the starter of the first six games, Alan Bowman, having been benched twice during OSU’s three-game losing streak, and unspecified injury concerns looming around redshirt freshman backup Zane Flores, it seems most likely that Garret Rangel will be handed the keys to the offense for now.
With the Pokes coming off a bye week and heading into a crucial part of the schedule, Rangel deserves a clean runway at this opportunity — something he’s rarely had in his three seasons as a Cowboy.
Rangel has appeared in 12 games at OSU. Four were starts, four were mop-up duty and four were off the bench in relief — two this year when Bowman got pulled and two last year during the three-QB rotation.
In all, Rangel has completed 87 of 171 passes (50.9%) for 1,024 yards with seven touchdowns and six interceptions. Including sacks, he’s credited with 36 rushing attempts for 30 yards.
The numbers don’t wow you. But context matters.
So let’s take a look at the details surrounding Rangel’s opportunities as the Cowboy quarterback:
2022: Thrown to the wolves
In the spring of 2022, Shane Illingworth transferred out of Stillwater, essentially handing the backup job to Rangel, who had arrived on campus in January of that year.
Rangel made his first career start at Kansas in early November, a week after OSU’s massive collapse had already begun. The Pokes had lost 48-0 at Kansas State a week earlier and starting QB Spencer Sanders, who had been banged up in previous games, finally had to take a seat.
Rangel completed 67.5% of his passes for 304 yards at Kansas, showing promise for his future. But a health issue kept him out the next week, when Gunnar Gundy started and Sanders finished a win over Iowa State.
Sanders was back in the saddle for a Bedlam loss, then the job went back to Rangel for a home game against West Virginia on a cold, rainy day on Thanksgiving weekend. Despite a breakout performance from Ollie Gordon II, the wet conditions kept Rangel from producing a consistent passing attack.
His final start of the year came against a stout Wisconsin defense in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl, and a solid performance was derailed by a rough stretch in the middle of the game when he completed just 2 of 13 throws.
The bowl is the only game of his career when he’s had more than a week before a game to work as the starter in practice.
2023: The QB carousel
Not to be soon forgotten, the Cowboys rotated three quarterbacks in each of the first three games to begin the season.
As a redshirt freshman, Rangel drew the start in the opener against Central Arkansas, then was the third QB in for the next two games.
Again, a health issue caused him to miss significant practice time prior to the South Alabama game and he only got five pass attempts on his three possessions when the game was already out of hand.
In the wins against Central Arkansas and Arizona State, Rangel completed 16 of 24 passes for 164 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, showing a significant improvement in his consistency over the previous year.
Bowman got the job for Week 4, and Rangel saw the field twice more in mop-up duty against Cincinnati and Central Florida.
2024: Off the bench
Now a redshirt sophomore, Rangel has appeared in three games this season. The first was at Tulsa when the Cowboys were well ahead.
But twice during the current three-game losing streak, he has been asked to replace an ineffective Bowman.
Rangel struggled in the first appearance, completing 3 of 11 passes for 31 yards, but rebounded with a solid showing in his most recent performance. He went 4 of 5 for 75 yards and a touchdown against West Virginia two Saturdays ago.
And maybe that gives him some momentum, should he get the call to start Friday night.
“He’s very calm, collected,” left tackle Dalton Cooper said of Rangel’s approach. “Even if he does throw an interception or miss a guy on a pass, he’s very much, ‘All right, play the next play.’
“His approach to letting stuff happen, like water on a duck’s back, he just lets it roll off. Even the good stuff, he’ll just let it happen and go on to the next one.”
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