Starting Alan Bowman Could Still be Oklahoma State's Best Option
Oklahoma State’s offense has looked shaky at best over its three conference games, but a quarterback change might not be the answer.
After a fun 3-0 start, the Cowboys are winless against Big 12 opponents and have failed to score more than 20 points in any contest. Their 38-14 outing against West Virginia was the worst home loss since last season’s South Alabama debacle.
With the offense scoring only seven points against the Jaguars, the Cowboys made some changes and added some stability by giving Alan Bowman the title of starter. After battling alongside Garret Rangel and Gunnar Gundy, Bowman led the Cowboys to a 10-win season, which included a Bedlam win and a Big 12 Championship appearance.
Through three games in 2024, Bowman looked like the guy again for OSU. In nonconference play, Bowman threw for 967 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions while completing 67% of his passes. In three Big 12 matchups, he has 686 yards, four touchdowns and six interceptions, completing only 51% of his passes.
While a step up in competition can account for a small dropoff, Bowman has simply not looked the same. However, in 2023, Bowman had two of his three least-productive performances as a starter against Kansas State and West Virginia.
Meanwhile, he threw for 321 yards against BYU and had his best nonconference outing against Arizona State, the only two teams OSU played last season and which remain on the slate in 2024.
OSU’s inability to run has been a culprit as well, which will hurt any quarterback the Cowboys throw on the field. Rangel is the only other quarterback to play for OSU this season, completing 11 of his 24 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown across three appearances. Even if OSU plans on switching quarterbacks, throwing Rangel into the fire for a Friday night road matchup against a potential top 10 team is not a recipe for success.
Bowman has struggled, but allowing him a bye week to work through his issues and reset for the second half could be exactly what the Cowboys need. The seventh-year quarterback has not lived up to expectations, but making a switch now could seal OSU’s fate for a losing season.
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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.