Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy was asked about a plethora of topics during his 20(ish) minutes at the podium at Big 12 Media Days on Thursday.
Topics included NIL, playoff expansion and, of course, his freshly cut hair, to which he said the mullet is not extinct, just rehabilitating.
But, with everything brought up, some of Gundy’s comments slipped through the cracks. So, over 24 hours later, here are three of Gundy’s comments from Thursday that were overlooked by many.
Could Tay Martin be the new star wide receiver to replace Tylan Wallace for Oklahoma State football this upcoming season?
Gundy was asked about replacing standout wide receiver Tylan Wallace and who he believed would help fill that void.
The obvious answer was Brennan Presley after a monstrous bowl game, but after first mentioning Presley, Gundy quickly started praising Tay Martin, who transferred from Washington State before the start of last season.
“It will be very interesting to watch how Tay Martin develops,” Gundy said. “We feel good about his development after getting into our program. And he’s in really good physical condition now.
“He played last year, started to develop some in the latter part of the season when he finally got in good shape. So we’re hoping that those guys will carry us a little bit at that position.”
Martin was Wallace’s main backup last year, and like Presley, had his best game in the Cheez-It Bowl, during which Wallace sat out the second half.
Martin had six catches for 73 yards in the win over Miami (FL). He finished the season with 15 catches for 149 yards.
Last year was technically Martin’s senior season, but thanks to an NCAA eligibility rule from COVID-19, he chose to stay and take advantage of an extra season.
Two-QB offense, again?
It’s not uncommon for Gundy to find ways for a talented backup quarterback to get on the field, and he could work that magic again this season.
Shane Illingworth got Cowboy fans excited for his future last season, but we could be seeing more of him sooner than later, even though Spencer Sanders is the solidified QB1.
“Our ability to change our style of play based on our quarterbacks is pretty common,” Gundy said. “And so we have areas that if Shane were in the game that plays that would be called that Spencer can execute, (but) maybe that’s not his strong point. And we have some that Shane may execute that may not be as beneficial to him as they are to Spencer.”
Illingworth already got more playing time than expected as a freshman last season after Sanders suffered an injury that caused him to miss time. Illingworth saw significant playing time in four games, including two starts, because of injuries to Sanders.
Illingworth was 2-0 as a starter with wins over West Virginia and Kansas. He also saved OSU from a disastrous offensive performance against Tulsa, coming in after Sanders went down and leading a comeback. His two starts followed that effort.
Ultimately, Illingworth finished the season completing 59% of his passes for 554 yards and four touchdowns, compared to one interception.
“He’s been fantastic,” Gundy said. “Great young man with a great work ethic. We’re extremely happy that he’s in our program.”
Gundy confident in OL’s improvement
OSU’s offensive line struggled mightily at times last season, but the good news is that Gundy sounded fairly confident about the big guys’ improvement when asked about it.
“We’re already better just by depth chart,” Gundy said. “We’re already better. We haven’t played a game yet. We’ve got some depth. And, hopefully, we can stay healthy. If we do, we don’t have to play musical chairs where a guy plays left tackle one play and right guard another.
“Not making any excuses for them, but I think it’s important that we’re fair to them based on their situation. And it’s almost like going on the playground in junior high and getting beat up four, five times. You learn to fight back or you just keep getting beat up. And these guys got beat up a lot. And I saw them start to fight back in the spring.”