Who is Cowboys' forgotten freshman QB?
Published: 10/30/2012 4:08 PM
Last Modified: 10/30/2012 4:08 PM
Oklahoma State was throwing the ball around all over the place with a freshman quarterback.
Wes Lunt?
J.W. Walsh?
How about none of the above.
The year was 2000 and starting quarterback Tony Lindsay underwent season-ending shoulder surgery midway through his farewell tour.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Aso Pogi inherited the starting job and the training wheels came off immediately.
Instead of being conservative and using a run-heavy game plan, the Cowboys allowed Pogi to throw 45 passes in his starting debut against Iowa State.
Pogi passed for 328 yards, which at that time, ranked as the fourth-most in school history and the most ever by an OSU freshman.
One week later, Pogi got the green light again in a game against Colorado. He set a school record for completions (30) and threw 49 passes, one shy of Tony Pounds’ single-game school record. Pogi finished that game with 319 passing yards and became the first Cowboy quarterback to throw for 300 or more yards in consecutive games.
Despite starting only half a season, Pogi broke Mike Gundy’s single-season freshman record for passing yards while accumulating the eighth-most passing yards in school history.
Why bring up the Pogi story this week?
Because the timing seems right.
OSU’s offensive coordinator during Pogi’s air-it-out season was Del Miller. It’s the same Del Miller who is quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator at Kansas State, the team the Cowboys will face Saturday night in Manhattan, Kan.
Miller’s stay in Stillwater lasted just one year because head coach Bob Simmons and his staff departed after the 2000 season.
Les Miles became OSU’s coach the following season and Gundy came aboard as Miles’ offensive coordinator. The new staff inherited Pogi, who started every game in 2001, but his hold on the quarterback job was loosened after freshman Josh Fields came off the bench to be a Bedlam hero.
Pogi transferred to Central Oklahoma after the 2002 season, but his single-game freshman passing record survived for another decade. Lunt and Walsh now own the top three spots on the freshman passing list.
Pogi has been eclipsed. But his freshman feats shouldn’t be forgotten.
Written by
Jimmie Tramel
Sports Writer
