Oklahoma State lost its third straight game and its 11th straight against a Big 12 opponent, but the offense found some life with Sam Jackson V.
STILLWATER — Doug Meacham’s answer seemed logical enough when asked why Oklahoma State got away from some of the deceptive play designs with dynamo receiver Sam Jackson V that had sparked the offense in the first half Saturday.
“We actually kinda ran out of trick plays with him,” Meacham said with just enough deadpan to disguise whether he was sarcastic or serious.
Jackson caught passes, threw passes, ran the ball and handed it off as Meacham turned to some new pages of the playbook in his first game as interim coach following the Tuesday firing of Mike Gundy.
But running more traditional schemes in the second half, the Cowboys (1-3, 0-1 Big 12) couldn’t keep pace in a 45-27 loss to Baylor (3-2, 1-1) on Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium.
“At one point, I said, ‘Let's just run them again,‘” Meacham deadpanned once more.
And OSU’s interim coach might be wishing he’d tried at least a couple more. Like snakes on a plane, Sam Jackson caused nothing but chaos for the Baylor defense.
The Cowboys had 349 yards in the first half, their most in an opening half since the TCU game in November 2021 — which, coincidentally, was the same night Jackson completed his first college pass as a quarterback for the Horned Frogs.
So maybe it was destined to be a big day for Jackson and Meacham through some sort of cosmic fate of aptly aligned stars.
Meacham made the point in his first meeting with the media after Wednesday’s practice that he wanted the remaining stretch of OSU’s schedule to be focused on having fun.
And opening Jackson’s Swiss Army skillset was the first objective.
“I haven’t really been involved early on, so I knew this game, it was gonna be a big one for me, knowing they were gonna put the ball in my hands,” Jackson said. “I just had to stay focused and make sure I make the right reads and not try to be Superman. I felt great this week, knowing that they wanted to involve me more in the offense.
“Meacham was like, it’s about that time we do what we do.”
Jackson rushed for 9 yards on two carries and had two catches for 5 yards, but his throwing ability was the game-changer.
He was 3 of 4 for 46 yards, hitting tight end Josh Ford for a 26-yard touchdown in the first quarter, helping breathe life into an offense that had been gasping for it.
“Sam’s a great athlete. He can do anything,” said redshirt freshman quarterback Zane Flores, whose contributions to the OSU offense certainly can’t be overlooked. “Sam’s just a happy guy. He’s excited all the time. He’s always got a smile on his face. If he wants to catch the ball, we’ll let him catch the ball. We’ll let him throw the ball, we’ll let him do anything.”
Flores finished with 232 passing yards, completing 23 of 41 passes (56.1%), and he added 25 rushing yards — though his most impressive run, a 30-yard scramble for a touchdown that included the hurdle of a defender and blocker as they rolled on the ground, was negated by a holding call.
Most importantly, Flores kept the offense moving the chains. Four of OSU’s first seven possessions lasted at least nine plays. Another was a three-play touchdown drive.
Coming into the game, only seven of OSU’s 38 possessions (18.4%) this season had lasted at least nine plays.
“We were moving the ball down the field,” Flores said. “Throwing it, running it. Then stalled a little bit there in the second half.
“But I think the offense played well today.”
The run game with Trent Howland and Rodney Fields Jr. provided a boost as well. Howland had 84 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries. Fields added 114 yards from scrimmage on five rushes and five receptions.
But the key that seemed to unlock the offense was Jackson, a 5-foot-10, 195-pound redshirt senior from Chicago.
Meacham recruited Jackson to TCU as a quarterback, and Jackson spent three years there before heading to Cal, where he won the starting job.
Last season, he transferred to Auburn and switched to receiver. But as he showed Saturday, his throwing ability is on a different level than your typical wideout.
“I mean, a lot of people have receivers that played eighth-grade quarterback that can kinda throw it, and then you got a guy who was a Power Four quarterback starter,” Meacham said.
“His arm is off the chart, but he made the move to receiver. So moving forward, I mean, if I'm a defense, he's on the field, you better back up a little bit, or base up a little bit, because that kid's a weapon.”
Jackson acknowledged the emotional ups and downs of the week after seeing their coach get fired Tuesday, yet still being in the middle of game preparations for the Big 12 opener.
“Gundy talked to us Tuesday night, and Gundy’s a tough guy,” Jackson said. “Guys were emotional, but Gundy was like, ‘I want you to go out there and play hard, go out there and win, no matter what’s going on with me.’
“And I think that kinda motivated the guys to come out and play. I think that’s why we had that spark in the first half. We just gotta learn to finish in the second half.”
It wasn’t as simple as just losing their spark. Baylor doused that flame a bit, too.
“They did a good job in the third quarter,” Meacham said. “They came out, played some man and dropped eight, and did some things to kinda take some of the gadgetry away.”
OSU had just 99 yards of offense in the second half, and with a defense that gave up 612 yards — 325 in the second half — that wasn’t good enough for the Cowboys to keep up, much less mount a comeback.
“I think it's just going to be a phenomenal building block moving forward,” Meacham said “It's very impressive to me to watch these guys, under all the adversity, come out with all the energy. They were the most excited team to play that game, and had no reason to be. And so it's a testament to Mike building a culture here, picking the right kind of guys that will fight through adversity and come together as a team.
“A lot of fun. They were having fun and that's really what it's all about.”
Scott Wright covers Oklahoma State athletics for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Scott? He can be reached at [email protected] or on X at @ScottWrightOK. Sign up for the Oklahoma State Cowboys newsletter to access more OSU coverage. Support Scott’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com or by using the link at the top of this page.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Sam Jackson V creates spark for Oklahoma State football against Baylor
Category: General Sports
