Sports

Oklahoma State had made its recent history on the gridiron based on offensive fireworks, but ended this season with duds in terms of scoring.

With steady rainfall and a 46-degree temperature in Stillwater on Saturday, fans didn’t have much reason to show up at Boone Pickens Stadium for the Cowboys’ regular-season finale, which they lost 2419 to West Virginia.

OSU head coach Mike Gundy reduced incentives for fans to find an orange seat when, after starting quarterback Spencer Sanders and running back Dominic Richardson were listed as game-time decisions and Sanders walked in the Senior Day ceremony in full pads, both were ruled out due to injuries.

After the game, Gundy said he could not remember another year when the Cowboys (7-5, 4-5 Big 12) were this banged up and described Sanders’ shoulder injury as day-to-day and “not a black-or-white thing.”

The soaked crowd was left watching underclassmen play from behind most of the game.

Freshman Garrett Rangel started decently at quarterback, completing 12 of his first 17 passes. Only one of these, a 32-yarder to Brennan Pressley late in the first quarter that set up Pressley’s 4-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter that tied it 7-all, was a deep throw.

In only his second start, Rangel didn’t appear ready in his second start to make magic the way OSU depended on Sanders to create. Also, Gundy didn’t open the playbook for him until the end.

Rangel reared back for two deep throws on the final drive, but both slipped through the receivers’ hands.

One might expect that, but OSU’s top three ballcarriers entering the game — Richardson, Sanders and Jaden Nixon (who left the game with an injury) — and despite breaking out with 137 rushing yards, freshman runing back Ollie Gordon wasn’t set for his clutch moment.

Rangel finished 18-42 for 178 yards, an expected performance due to the conditions. The scoring deficit and the dearth of running backs forced him to throw more than he would otherwise.

Oddly, senior kicker Tanner Brown ended the regular-season finale as the shining beacon of the offense. He nailed two field goals to reach 21-for22 and third place in Division I-A in field-goal percentage at 95.5 percent.

Sanders’ shoulder injury was a factor in the Cowboys finishing the regular season with its first fivegame streak without more than 20 points.

While Sanders (17 passing touchdowns and nine interceptions this season, 67 touchdowns and 40 interceptions in his fouryear career) isn’t the perfect QB and fans have had to ride the roller coaster with his performance, he has been the key to their production.

Another is that OSU struggled to produce much on the ground in the first four of those games, getting 110 or fewer rushing yards.

Additionally, the offensive line was hurt by Hunter Woodard (head injury) and Logan Nobles (back injury), giving up four sacks in the first half against West Virginia after allowing six sacks against Oklahoma on Nov. 19.

Gundy normally seems eager to find humor in postgame press conferences, but was as weary as the normal 55-year-old would be from spending three-and-a-half hours coaching in the rain.

The 18-year veteran Cowboys head coach hoped for guys to get healthy for the to-be-determined bowl game, but he’ll also need inspiration to create amid uncertainty.