It was not long ago that Oklahoma State was knee deep in Division 1 starting quarterbacks.
Clint Chelf, long Weeden's backup during the heady days of minor nicks and bruises in 2010-11, would have seemed to have the edge due to experience.
J.W. Walsh, redshirt freshman, seemed to have "it." But could he throw well enough for an offense built around slinging it 40-50 times a game?
Wes Lunt, true freshman and early enrollee, had yet to attend his senior prom.
And then there is Jase Chilcoat, who wasn't on the roster. He was a walk-on that left the team after 2011 to focus on his broadcasting skills.
Spring 2012 seems like it was 10 years ago, but it is suddenly very present for the Cowboys.
As we all know, Lunt surprised everyone by winning the job. More surprising to me, Chelf barely uttered a whimper as he went quietly into that dark night known as 3rd string QB.
After a brutal loss at Arizona, the only bright spot for OSU was Lunt, and we all looked gleefully at the road ahead defending that Big 12 title, dreaming of three-peats and BCS titles...
Then came the "6th Play."
Then came a redshirt freshman who had "it," but couldn't throw a ball worthy of our admiration.
"Shot put."
"Wobbler."
"Wounded duck."
"In-ack-rut."
Then came 3 quarters on one leg. His season was done, but the Cowboys' season may very well have been saved. I'm sure the legend will grow with time, and someone will want to erect a statue. I would.
Now OSU is back to square one. However, in this case, that isn't a bad thing.
Reenter the true freshman, who has been "ready to play if needed" for the last 2 weeks. And say hello to the long time backup that went quietly into 3rd string purgatory and may have returned to 2nd string status. I said may have.
Oh yes, let me also introduce you again to our broadcaster to be...Jase Chilcoat. Turned out that, after Lunt's injury, you really need to have an official 3rd string QB, so football folks tracked him down. The pic above was the only one I could find where you could tell it was him in an OSU jersey.
And the starter? Lunt OR Chelf.
Gundy's Monday presser was pure gold, and obviously a fair amount at the beginning was about the QB situation and the admiration for Walsh and what he did against Iowa State (never mind Gundy's inquiry about whether or not a female reporter would mind if he took off his shirt).
And who knows who will start on Saturday against TCU. Gundy said there are enough snaps in the week to get both Lunt and Chelf prepared to play and make a decision on Thursday as to who gives the Cowboys the best chance to win. Without doing a lot of research, I think that kinda contradicts what Monken AND Gundy have said recently justifying why they have to make a decision early because you have to give the starter plenty of reps in order to be prepared for Saturday.
Remember our trip down memory lane to the days of spring? The days when Gundy was so eager to name a starting QB so that the team could solidify around him. Well I guess that's not so important now, or, I presume, the team must know who the starter is when the week starts. Then it should be ok to keep the opponent guessing who will play.
Except the other potential starter doesn't have much in the way of scouting material available to indicate anything other than the passing frenzy that is our usual offensive attack.
This seems like another time when just going ahead and naming a starter would settle things down a little bit. I'm sure TCU, like Iowa State, already knows what their prep will be. Lunt only has 1 full game of film to study anyway, and he looked pretty good in it. So, really, there is not much mystery to be had here, other than you don't really have a tremendous amount of material to absorb for EITHER QB. So where's the surprise?
Oh well.
I suppose all this intrigue gives us something to ramble on about until Saturday, when the purple frogs invade BPS.
Or maybe Gundy was sweating like a pig in the presser NOT because it was 85 in the press box, but because Chilcoat is one play away from being THE backup QB. Can you imagine Monken scouting the intramural games scouring for our new "official" 3rd stringer?
That would make me sweat.
GO POKES!!!