Oklahoma State University Athletics
Josh Fields
July 03, 2003 | Cowboy Football
All-America Candidate
Davey O'Brien Award Candidate
A first glance at Oklahoma State’s junior quarterback reveals a quiet humility. A second glance at Josh Fields reveals perhaps the Big 12’s best and most effective quarterback. What Fields accomplished in 2002 was simply astonishing. He rewrote the single-season passing records at Oklahoma State, and put himself in an orbit that could eventually make him OSU’s all-time leading passer. Statistically, he is the best returning passer in the Big 12 Conference in 2003.
Consider Josh Fields’ numbers for the 2002 season. He completed 226-of-408 passes for 3,145 yards. He threw 31 touchdown passes, the second-most in the Big 12, and only 10 interceptions. His efficiency rating of 140.3 was the 15th best in the NCAA, and his total offense of 3,073 yards was 36th best in the NCAA.
Fields finished 2002 third in the Big 12 in passing. Only Texas Tech’s Kliff Kingsbury and Texas’ Chris Simms had better efficiency ratings. Josh was one of just four Big 12 quarterbacks in 2002 to pass for 3,000 or more yards, and he became the first quarterback in Oklahoma State football history to eclipse the 3,000-yard mark for a single season.
He obliterated the previous single-season passing mark of 2,203 yards, held by Mike Gundy, by 942 yards. In addition, he established new single season records for completions (226), attempts (408) and touchdown passes (31). He also established a new single-game record for touchdown passes when he tossed six against Kansas at Lawrence. Fields began the season with three-consecutive 200-yard performances. He ended the season with six-straight 200-yard performances, including three 300-yard performances in the last four games. His career best came in the Cowboys’ 38-28 win over Oklahoma in the regular-season finale when he completed 18-of-27 attempts for 357 yards and four touchdowns.
The last four games of the season represented one of the best four-game spans by any quarterback in OSU history. Against those four opponents, Fields completed a combined 55-of-89 passes for 1,264 yards and 16 touchdowns. That’s a four-game average of 316 yards and four touchdowns per game. He will go into his junior season with 3,596 career yards, ranking fifth on the all-time OSU list. He trails career leader Mike Gundy (7,997 yards) by 4,407 yards, meaning he would need to average just over 2,200 yards in his final two OSU seasons to climb past the career passing record.
2002: Fields finished the season with a stellar performance in the Cowboys win over third-ranked Oklahoma. He connected on 18-of-27 passes for a career-best 357 yards and four touchdowns. He has thrown a touchdown pass in 15 consecutive games, and threw 20 touchdowns against just two interceptions in his last seven games. Completed 10-of-14 passes for 243 yards and four touchdowns against Baylor. Had a career day against Kansas, completing 17-of-27 attempts with a school-record six touchdown passes and 354 yards (fourth-best in OSU history). Connected on 19-of-39 passes for 257 yards and a touchdown with one interception against Texas Tech. Was 17-of-32 passing for 216 yards and a touchdown against Texas A&M. Was 17-of-27 passing for 192 yards and two touchdowns against Nebraska. Completed 15-of-38 passes for 133 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions against Kansas State. Was 14-of-29 passing for 134 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions against Texas. Threw three touchdown passes against SMU. Finished 13-of-23 for 193 yards in one half of action against the Mustangs. Threw for 291 yards (20-of-40 passing) in the loss to UCLA. Was picked off a career high three times against the Bruins while also tossing a touchdown. Threw for 261 yards against Northern Iowa in three quarters of action. Was 23-of-33 passing with two touchdown passes, a one-yard touchdown run, and one interception against Northern Iowa. In his first career start against Louisiana Tech, Josh threw three touchdown passes. He was 22-of-41 passing for 204 yards against the Bulldogs. Fields was named honorable mention All-Big 12 by the Associated Press, and was also named first-team All-Big 12 at third base for his efforts on the baseball field for the Pokes.
2001: Josh saw his first collegiate action against Texas A&M in College Station. He finished that game completing just 2-of-3 passes for 25 yards, but gave Cowboy fans a glimpse of what was to come and, more importantly, gave coaches a feeling that they had two quality quarterbacks on the roster. For the 2001 season, Fields saw action in six games, but had his most impressive performances in OSU’s final two games of the season, two games the Pokes won on the road. Against Baylor in Waco, Fields completed 10-of-18 passes and tossed a pair of touchdown passes as OSU recorded its first league win of the season. The following week, Oklahoma State took a 16-13 win over fourth-ranked Oklahoma in Norman, and Fields was the primary engineer. Again subbing for a hurting Aso Pogi, Fields entered the game in OSU’s fourth offensive series. He would finish the night with 231 passing yards and the game-winning touchdown pass to Rashaun Woods. He was subsequently named to the Sporting News’ All-Big 12 Freshman team. Fields also earned Big 12 All-Freshman honors on the baseball diamond for the Cowboys.
High School: Fields was arguably the top quarterback in the state as a senior at Stillwater High School. He was the District 6A-4 co-MVP as he threw for 2,019 yards on 119-of-208 passing with 19 touchdowns his senior year. His career numbers included 5,447 yards passing and 50 touchdowns. He was multi-talented as he also was 4-of-4 on field goals, 45-of-50 on extra points, and punted for a 39.7-yard average. He was first-team All-State pick by both the Daily Oklahoman and the Tulsa World. First Down Sports had him as a top-10 Oklahoma prospect. Fields was also an outstanding baseball player, having lettered four times for the Pioneers. He was all-conference three years in baseball and played in the Sunbelt Tournament the summer following his senior season.
Personal: Born Dec. 14, 1982, Josh is the son of Wendall and Rhonda Fields. He has a younger brother, Jace. His mother was the first female athlete to earn a full scholarship at Oklahoma State. She played basketball from 1978-80 for the Cowgirls. Josh lists swimming and attending FCA and church youth groups as hobbies, and is majoring in general business at Oklahoma State.
PASSING G Att Cmp Int Yds TD Lg Pct Avg/G Effic 2001 6 69 35 3 451 3 39 50.7 75.2 111.3 2002 13 408 226 10 3145 31 69 55.4 241.9 140.3 TOTAL 19 477 261 13 3596 34 69 54.7 189.3 136.2
RUSHING G Att Yds TD Lg Avg/C Avg/G 2001 6 16 22 0 12 1.4 3.7 2002 13 50 -72 3 26 -1.4 -5.5 TOTAL 19 66 -50 3 26 -0.8 -2.6
TOTAL OFFENSE G Plays Rush Pass Total Avg/G 2001 6 85 22 451 473 78.8 2002 13 458 -72 3145 3073 236.4 TOTAL 19 543 -50 3596 3546 186.6
