Oklahoma State prediction: Wes Lunt
Published: 4/24/2012 3:18 PM
Last Modified: 4/24/2012 7:39 PM
Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy is scheduled to meet on Wednesday morning with offensive coordinator Todd Monken. They will discuss whether junior Clint Chelf, redshirt freshman J.W. Walsh or first-year freshman Wes Lunt should be designated the current No. 1 QB for the Cowboys.
How will the Gundy-Monken decision be conveyed to the public? An OSU media relations spokesman said he expects it to be announced with a press release. It could happen on Wednesday afternoon, but more likely on Thursday or beyond.
The coaches have seen Chelf in mop-up game conditions. Monken said Chelf was the most consistent through 15 spring-practice sessions.
The coaches love Walsh’s football IQ and leadership qualities.
But for two weeks, I’ve believed that the 18-year-old Lunt was destined to win the job. Until January, he was a Rochester (Ill.) High School kid. Now, at 6-4 and 211 pounds, he’s an extremely viable QB option and the most complete passer in the program.
Not since 1993 (Tone Jones) has a first-year freshman started at quarterback for Oklahoma State.
If Lunt weren’t a legitimate presence in this competition, the candid Gundy and incredibly candid Monken would have said as much.
Instead, this is what the coaches have said about Wes Lunt:
Gundy: “The fairest way to put it is this – for where he’s at in his career and his life, he’s further along than what I thought he would have been at this point. I don’t know any other way to say it. He’s done real well out here with not being flustered. . . . He’s further along passing the ball now than really any freshman I’ve ever been around.”
Monken: “That was probably the most impressive of anything – me dog-cussing the crap out of him . . . and he was able to function without basically just going in the tank and quitting. . . . His body language doesn’t change. It’s so similar to Brandon (Weeden) in that regard. When (Lunt) gets excited, you hardly even know it. That’s probably the most impressive thing.”
In February, Monken did not seem to view Lunt as a credible, immediate option at quarterback. But by the midway mark of the 15-date spring-practice period, Lunt commanded a higher level of consideration.
“It got to the point where, ‘All right, it doesn’t always come out exactly the way you like, but he’s an accurate son of a gun now. That ball’s on the money,’ ” Monken said. “And he’s got a calm demeanor about him. . . . By the middle of the spring, there was a possibility that he could be our starter.”
A lot will happen between now and Sept. 1, when OSU opens the 2012 season against visiting Savannah State. The Gundy-Monken decision is interesting and enlightening, but nothing is set in stone. A No. 1 QB now could be the No. 3 guy by mid-August.
And while I expect Lunt to get the No. 1 designation, there also was this quote from Monken following Saturday’s spring-finale scrimmage: “If it was that obvious, we would have already made the decision.”
-- Bill Haisten
Written by
Bill Haisten
Sports Writer
