Oklahoma State QB Recap: Bowman's Rough Season, Injuries Doom Cowboys
Oklahoma State’s season didn’t go as planned, and it started with the most important position in football.
Coming into the 2024 campaign, OSU was a favorite to win the Big 12 and make the College Football Playoff. After winning 10 games in 2023, OSU returned most of its starters, including almost every important piece on offense.
Among those was Alan Bowman, who was granted a waiver after 2023 to return to OSU for his seventh season of college football. Bowman had 3,460 yards in his first season in Stillwater and had an opportunity to improve in 2024. However, his concerning 15 touchdowns to 14 interceptions in 2023 would foreshadow some of his issues this year.
Still, Bowman began the season hot. From a win in the season opener to firing finger guns toward Arkansas’ sideline to dominating at Tulsa, Bowman’s nonconference play was nothing short of spectacular. He entered the Big 12 opener with 967 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions while completing 67% of his passes.
However, the Cowboys’ conference opener against Utah was the first point of controversy. After struggling to get OSU into a rhythm, Mike Gundy benched him in favor of Garret Rangel for a few drives before letting Bowman finish the game. Gundy compared the veteran’s benching to needing a relief pitcher, but it started a season-long distrust in Bowman’s ability to get the job done.
Bowman continued to start over the next couple of games, finishing with lackluster results. With OSU sitting at 3-3 going into its first bye week, the team chose to make a change at quarterback and start Garret Rangel at BYU.
Rangel shined against the undefeated Cougars and put the Cowboys in a position for an upset. After a big run to put OSU in the red zone late in the second quarter, Rangel was tackled hard and suffered a season-ending injury with a broken collarbone.
With Rangel out of the equation and third-string quarterback Zane Flores undergoing season-ending surgery, Bowman and true freshman Maealiuaki Smith were the Cowboys’ remaining options.
Smith secured a redshirt by not playing in the first eight games and played limited snaps in the final minutes against Arizona State and TCU. With a bye week before the Texas Tech game, Smith was inserted into the starting lineup.
In his first career start, Smith had 316 yards, two touchdowns and one interception while also running for another score. His mobility was a key to OSU’s offensive success, and he made a case to be in the quarterback battle next season. While Smith didn’t perform well against Colorado in the season finale, OSU still saw some promising things from the freshman.
OSU’s quarterback situation was turbulent throughout the season and never truly got resolved. With so much uncertainty going into next season, a similar situation could be on the horizon in 2025.
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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.