Alan Bowman Listed as Oklahoma State's Starter vs. Texas Tech
Oklahoma State isn’t making any changes at quarterback after the bye week.
On Monday, OSU’s depth chart for Texas Tech was released, and Alan Bowman remained at the top of the quarterback position. The seventh-year quarterback returned for the 2024 season after helping the Cowboys to a 10-4 campaign in 2023 but has had a rough season.
In his last outing against TCU, Bowman had 141 yards with one touchdown and one interception while completing 65.5% of his passes. His overall season has been a disappointment, and he has been a key part of OSU’s offensive struggles.
Although not all the blame could be thrown onto the quarterback, Bowman has thrown as many or more interceptions than touchdowns in every Big 12 game this season. His only two games with a positive touchdown-interception ratio came against South Dakota State and Tulsa.
His performances led to his benching after OSU’s first bye week going into the BYU game. However, Garret Rangel suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in the second quarter, which pushed Bowman back into the starting role.
With third-string quarterback Zane Flores also out for the year, true freshman Maealiuaki Smith is the only other option for the Cowboys. Smith has limited reps in practice throughout the beginning weeks of the season but has seen more action since the injuries to Flores and Rangel.
Smith has appeared in the Cowboys’ past two contests against TCU and Arizona State and looked solid. Across his two appearances, he completed 7-of-10 passes for 103 yards and threw an interception.
In Monday’s press conference, Gundy said Smith has made progress throughout his past few weeks in practice. While the young quarterback has been solid in his game reps, Gundy said he felt that Smith has gotten more out of practicing than the limited time he has seen in games.
Although Bowman looks set to start against his former team on Saturday, Smith could be in line to see the field if the game gets out of hand like the past two.
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Ivan is a sports media student at Oklahoma State University. He has covered OSU athletics since 2022 and also covers the OKC Thunder for Inside The Thunder and Thunderous Intentions.