Big 12 Football: 3 biggest storylines heading into spring 2020
By Phil Poling
3. Does Oklahoma State have enough to contend for playoff?
Two of the biggest offseason surprises in the Big 12, and college football as a whole, were the announcements of star Cowboys Chuba Hubbard and Tylan Wallace returning to Stillwater for their junior and senior seasons, respectively.
Hubbard led the nation in rushing with 2,094 yards while scoring 21 touchdowns. He didn’t get much media attention, though, forcing him to fall out of Heisman voters’ top candidates. He still finished eighth in voting, but Jonathan Taylor (Wisconsin; 2,255 all-purpose yards and 26 touchdowns) and J.K. Dobbins (Ohio State; 2,250 all-purpose yards and 23 touchdowns) each received more votes while having eerily similar on-field production. Hubbard’s 2,292 all-purpose yards still ranked first among the three, but his team didn’t have as much success. And Hubbard had arguably the biggest load to carry.
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Wallace somehow swooped in under-the-radar in 2019 after racking up the second-most receiving yards in the country the previous season with 1,491. That was good enough to be named a Biletnikoff Award Finalist, given to the nation’s top receiver. In 2019, he was on pace for similar production before a knee injury sidelined him for the final stretch of games. He played in nine total, but still caught 53 passes for 903 yards and eight touchdowns.
Will another year of Hubbard and Wallace be enough for quarterback Spencer Sanders to take the next step in his progression?
The freshman gunslinger completed 62.8 percent of his passes a season ago and managed over 2,000 yards, but threw just 16 touchdowns to 11 interceptions. Hawaii-transfer Dru Brown played in just six games for the Cowboys, but posted a better completion percentage (67.3) and a better touchdown-to-interception ratio (7-1) than Sanders. With any sort of leap forward, the Pokes will have a “Big 3” on offense many can’t compete with.
A big addition via the transfer market is former West Virginia offensive lineman Josh Sills. He has 22 starts under his belt, but missed the majority of 2019 following an ankle injury. With two years of immediate eligibility on the horizon, the 6-foot-6 Sills could bolster an already strong Cowboys’ offense the day he steps on campus.
Assuming Sanders takes command of the offense, Hubbard and Wallace continue their upward trajectory, and the defense offers any sort of resistance, the Cowboys could be a force in 2020. Could it possibly be enough to push them toward a College Football Playoff berth?