Could Zane Flores' Return Spark A Cowboy Win?

Oklahoma State might not have beaten Kansas, but they’ve acquired a spark that hasn’t been there in weeks. 

The Cowboys dropped their eighth game straight as they fell to Kansas 38-21 on Saturday. Although it was another loss on their record, the return of Zane Flores sparked a fire in the Cowboy offense that hasn’t been seen since their game against Baylor. 

Flores hasn’t played a game since he suffered a shoulder injury against Arizona earlier in the season. After three weeks of absence, Flores made the start for the Cowboys once again, and he played like a completely different player.

Flores and the Cowboy offense came out of the gate hot, as they took a 7-0 lead on their first possession of the game. OSU had multiple other chances to score in the first half, but ended up missing two field goals in the second quarter. 

Even with the missed field goals, OSU was only down 10-7 at the half. However, Kansas would come out in the second half and score two straight touchdowns to go up 24-7. The Cowboys would try and claw their way back, but in the end, it was too late.

The bright spot of the day for the Cowboys was Flores. Flores had yet to throw a touchdown pass in his career at OSU, but he threw two yesterday in Lawrence. 

Flores completed 22 of his 28 passes and threw for a season high 235 yards. This performance also gave Flores his best QBR rating of the season at 74.4. 

With Flores having an amazing comeback performance, could he lead the Cowboys to a win this season?

The Cowboys currently have three games remaining in their schedule with Kansas State, UCF and Iowa State remaining. OSU looked like it was in for another winless conference season, but with the performance shown by Flores, it seems as if there's still hope to claim a win. 

With teams now having to respect the Cowboys' passing offense, it will open up the rushing game more than the Cowboys already have. Rodney Fields Jr. averaged 3.7 yards per carry against Kansas, and Sesi Vailahi had a rushing touchdown to add to it. 

Flores was also able to get more receivers into the equation as Shamar Rigby had his first touchdown reception in Saturday’s game. Gavin Freeman was responsible for Flores’ other passing touchdown as he now has three receiving touchdowns on the season. 

The Cowboys weren’t able to win against Kansas, but they showed promise that a win might be in the near future.