Oklahoma State head football coach Mike Gundy speaks during a press conference at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater Okla., on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. NATHAN J. FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Mike Gundy Reveals State of Oklahoma State Quarterback Battle

Originally posted on Oklahoma State Cowboys on SI
By Ivan White | Last updated Aug 2, 2025 3:50 PM ET

Oklahoma State’s quarterback battle is already stealing the spotlight in Stillwater.

Over the next few weeks, head coach Mike Gundy and the Cowboys will be preparing to take the field for the first time this season. With the season opener under four weeks away, there is limited time for OSU to figure things out across the board.

With many coaches overlooking position battles across the roster, there should be some sense of certainty by the time Aug. 28 rolls around and the Cowboys kick off against UT Martin. However, that might not be the case at every position, with the quarterbacks potentially still battling it out when the team first takes the field.

“I can’t put a timeline on [naming a starter] until I know when it’ll happen, and I don’t know that,” Gundy said. “So, we could very well end up playing two in the first game.”

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With Zane Flores and Hauss Hejny battling it out for the starting spot, it wouldn’t be an uncommon sight to see the Cowboys trot out a couple of quarterbacks in the season opener. Just two years ago, Gundy used three quarterbacks throughout nonconference play before landing on Alan Bowman as the starter for the Big 12 opener.

In terms of finding the right guy for the job, Gundy expressed delight with how the two quarterbacks have carried themselves in practice thus far. Assuming both are comfortable taking on the ups and downs of being a Big 12 quarterback, that would simply be one less thing the Cowboys have to worry about as they prepare for the season.

Of course, as the Cowboys look to name their guy, it could take a lot for either of them to truly stand out. While Gundy explained that the ideal situation would be to simply have a returning starter, he also admitted there were advantages to only having two guys competing this time around.

“The good news about where we’re at now is there’s plenty of reps for two guys,” Gundy said. “When you have more than two, you cut into guys really having an opportunity to improve and get better, in my opinion. The difficult part of it is you really wanna keep those two guys healthy.”

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Along with quarterback battles, quarterback health has been a tricky situation for the Cowboys in recent history, particularly with their mobile quarterbacks.

Still, if the Cowboys can get into a position to name a starter ahead of their Week 2 matchup at Oregon, they should be in a good spot. However, if the battle drags on even after the first game, there could be some potential issues in Stillwater.

This article first appeared on Oklahoma State Cowboys on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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