Analyzing 4 best QBs that Texas football will face in 2022
3. Spencer Sanders, Oklahoma State
The first Big 12 quarterback in this ranking outside of the honorable mentions is another dynamic and experienced dual-threat. Senior Oklahoma State Cowboys quarterback Spencer Sanders is a player that the Longhorns have faced on three occasions, two of which resulted in wins for the men in burnt orange.
Even the lone win for Oklahoma State over Texas with Sanders as the starting quarterback was a close one. Oklahoma State edged Texas last fall by a one-possession margin where it took another second-half collapse from the Longhorns to get head coach Mike Gundy’s squad the win in Austin.
The leg up that Texas has in terms of facing Sanders this fall has to do with his turnover issues in the last three seasons. Sanders actually leads the Big 12 in interceptions thrown in the last three seasons combined, with more than 30.
Yet, Texas has yet to face this new version of Sanders that really turned a corner in terms of managing turnovers effectively down the stretch last season. Sanders really did turn a page in his book in terms of his ability to guide Oklahoma State’s offense more effectively by limiting bad mistakes.
A good illustration of that is the nine turnover-worthy plays that Sanders registered in the first five games of last season. That accounted for well over half of his turnover-worthy plays on the season. In the last eight games of last season, Sanders only had five turnover-worthy plays.
That shift for Sanders occurred right after Oklahoma State’s win over Texas last year.
The fact of the matter here, though, is still that Texas was good in the past in getting Sanders to turn the ball over and just get generally uncomfortable in the pocket. In the two wins for Texas over Sanders and the Pokes, the Oklahoma State quarterback registered eight turnover-worthy plays and an adjusted completion percentage just north of 65.0.
Meanwhile, Sanders registered just two turnover-worthy plays last fall and an adjusted completion percentage of 76 when he beat Texas for the first time.