Five things to know about Oklahoma State, Wisconsin's foe in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl
It's been a tale of two seasons for Oklahoma State, the football team that Wisconsin will meet Dec. 27 in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix. The Cowboys started the year 6-1, reaching as high as No. 9 in the Associated Press poll, and then wilted down the stretch with losses in four of five games, leaving them at 7-5 for the season and 4-5 in the Big 12 Conference. What went wrong?
Here are five things to know about the foe for Wisconsin:
Just like Wisconsin and Graham Mertz, Oklahoma State starting quarterback Spencer Sanders is in the transfer portal
With the coaching change from Paul Chryst to interim Jim Leonhard and now Luke Fickell, the Wisconsin program is in a much-discussed state of flux, with quarterback Graham Mertz one of multiple UW players entering the transfer portal. Mertz, a three-year starter, will thus be unavailable for the bowl game, and the same can be said for Oklahoma State starter Spencer Sanders, a four-year starter who also indicated he was putting his name in the transfer portal on Dec. 5.
Sanders threw for more than 9,000 yards in four seasons, and his departure leaves Oklahoma State with just one scholarship quarterback in Garret Rangel, a true freshman. Rangel has started two games this season, including the regular-season finale against West Virginia as Sanders negotiated through a shoulder injury that he'd been dealing with for over a month. Sanders had 17 touchdown passes this season and nine interceptions, with 2,642 yards passing and eight rushing touchdowns.
Sanders was a first-team all-Big 12 pick last year and has twice been named bowl game MVP for the Cowboys, including in the Fiesta Bowl last year when Oklahoma State rallied from a 28-7 deficit to stun Notre Dame, 37-35, for the biggest comeback in school history. Sanders ran for 125 yards in that game and threw for 371 with four touchdowns.
Rangel went only 18 of 42 against West Virginia but did so in rainy conditions.
Redshirt freshman walk-on Gunnar Gundy, the son of head coach Mike Gundy, also made one start this year at quarterback.
More:Jim Leonhard announces he will not return as UW's defensive coordinator
Yes, head coach Mike Gundy is the 'I'm a man; I'm 40' guy.
He's 55 now, but Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy achieved internet fame in 2007 when he became agitated at a news conference over a media report surrounding the demotion of quarterback Bobby Reid. Frustrated at his perception of The Oklahoman's criticism of his player, Gundy demanded that instead reporters should "Come after me! I'm a man! I'm 40!" It became known as "The Rant."
Gundy is the third-longest-tenured football coach in the FBS at the moment, hired just one month after Utah's Kyle Whittingham. Kirk Ferentz at Iowa has the longest active run as head coach, starting in December 1998.
Injuries have decimated Oklahoma State football
How does a team start 6-1, with a 43-40 overtime loss against College Football Playoff semifinalist TCU as the only setback, and wind up where the Cowboys did? Injuries.
After an uplifting 41-34 win over Texas on homecoming day, Oklahoma State took lopsided losses to Kansas State (48-0) and Kansas (37-16) before edging Iowa State (20-14) and losing to Oklahoma (28-13) and West Virginia (24-19).
The injury to Sanders is just the beginning. More than a dozen Oklahoma State starters have missed at least one game with injury this season, and key contributors such as receiver Jaden Brey, top offensive lineman Hunter Woodard, highly regarded defensive end Trace Ford, defensive tackle Brendon Evers and safety Thomas Harper have missed multiple games, as has punter Tom Hutton, who is 32 years old and ended his career mid-season. No, that age is not a typo. Ford is now in the transfer portal and Evers has declared for the NFL draft.
Receiver Bryson Green, the team's second-leading receiver, and leading rusher Dominic Richardson also missed the regular-season finale, as did offensive lineman Jason Brooks. The Cowboys did, however, rush for 180 yards in that game, led by 136 from true freshman Ollie Gordon. Richardson is now in the transfer portal.
Another standout injured defensive lineman, Tyler Lacy, may not have played in the bowl game anyway but also declared for the NFL draft.
Can the offensive line hold up?
Oklahoma State ran the ball just 131.8 yards per game, ranking ninth in the conference; meanwhile, the Badgers have been stingy in that department, allowing 103.1 yards per game. A massive part of that equation has been linebacker Nick Herbig, who figured to be a significant test for a Cowboys offensive line that has struggled and dealt with injuries this season ... except Herbig has now declared for the NFL draft and won't play.
Keeanu Benton is also off to the NFL, so it's a big opportunity for linebackers such as Jordan Turner, C.J. Goetz and Maema Njongmeta, who have been solid contributors all season.
Three names you need to know
Jason Taylor II has six interceptions on the season to lead the Big 12 — no, he's not the son of NFL Hall of Famer Jason Taylor, but he has NFL potential himself. He was a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award given to the nation's best defensive back. Taylor is also second on the team with 87 tackles and second with seven pass breakups.
Brennan Presley. Through all the injuries, Presley has been a consistent contributor as the team's top receiver in both catches (61) and yards (739), with a penchant for gaining yards after the catch. He also returns kicks for the Cowboys and averaged 26.4 yards on kickoff returns.
Brock Martin. His snap counts continued tor rise as the season went on, and he finished the year with 9½ tackles for loss, 3½ sacks and nine quarterback hurries as the rock on the defensive line. He's headed to the NFL draft but said he'll be training for that after the bowl game.
JR Radcliffe can be reached at (262) 361-9141 or jradcliffe@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JRRadcliffe.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Five things to know about Wisconsin bowl-game opponent Oklahoma State
