OSU Notebook: A new QB question
BY JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer
Monday, October 29, 2012
10/29/12 at 3:53 AM
Because starter Wes Lunt was healthy enough to return to duty in a victory over TCU, Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy won't have to deal with questions about who will line up at quarterback. Lunt played for the first time since he was injured in a Sept. 15 game against Louisiana and his replacement, J.W. Walsh, is out for the season with a knee injury.
But Gundy got a different kind of quarterback question during a Sunday teleconference. Who is his scout team quarterback this week?
The question surfaced because OSU's next game is against Kansas State and Heisman Trophy favorite Collin Klein. The K-State quarterback is unique in an old-school way. On the week of Halloween, do the Cowboys have anyone on the roster who can masquerade as Klein in practice?
"We'll try to do it the best we can," Gundy said. "We don't have anybody like him. Not being sarcastic, but if you had somebody who was a frontrunner for the Heisman, you would want him to be playing on the (starting) team."
Which OSU player will get the honor of imitating Klein in practice? Gundy said he isn't sure yet. He said those kinds of discussions usually occur Monday afternoon.
Poll respect: Three consecutive victories allowed OSU to improve to 5-2 and gain a No. 24 ranking in the coaches poll.
Asked for a reaction, Gundy said, "I just don't put anything into it. I am just not a big fan of the polls."
Gundy indicated that he sees teams in the polls who are ranked because they may have played lesser competition.
"Ultimately the only thing that matters is where you end up," he said. "I just think (the poll system) has got a lot of holes in it. I don't know what we do to change it. But you can just go back and look at it. You can go look and see some of the teams that are in it and some of the teams that should be in it and other teams could be in it for whatever reasons. So I just don't put much stock into it."
OSU also showed up at No. 24 in the BCS standings.
Kickoff time set: OSU's road game at Kansas State will kick off at 7 p.m. Saturday. The game will be broadcast by ABC.
Unbeaten K-State is ranked third in the AP poll and the coaches poll.
Tight fit: After reciting a string of Kansas State superlatives, Gundy said his team will "have to do what we can to stay in the game." History suggests a down-to-the-wire finish.
Four of the past five series meetings have been decided by a touchdown or less, including three games decided by four points or less. OSU didn't clinch victory last year until the game's final play. The average score over the past five meetings is OSU 36.4, Kansas State 32.8.
