Oklahoma State University Athletics
Photo by: OSU Athletics
Cowboy Football Completes Orange-White Spring Game
April 19, 2025 | Cowboy Football
STILLWATER – The Oklahoma State football team completed its Orange-White Spring Game Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium, with the Orange Team securing a tight 14-10 victory over the White Team.
The scoring started early thanks to special teams fireworks from Sam Jackson V, who returned the game's opening punt roughly 80 yards and provided the Orange Team with an early 7-0 lead. The White Team then quickly responded with a score of their own, as Maealiuaki Smith led his squad down the field and used his legs for a short touchdown run from just outside the goal line.
A short field goal by Gabe Panikowski gave the White Team a brief 10-7 advantage in the second period, however, it was Rodney Fields Jr.'s 74-yard touchdown run later in the period that proved to be the play of the day and gave the Orange Team a lead it would not relinquish. Zane Flores and the White Team made a charge in the game's final seconds, but the Orange Team's defense held strong to secure the victory.
After the game, head coach Mike Gundy and several players met with the media. Here are some of their comments:
Head Coach Mike Gundy
On his takeaways from the game:
"There's a lot of excitement. Guys are fired up. In the end, young people still love to play the game. I think today was a tremendous success for us. We had about 87 plays, so a little bit less than what it'll be in a game because we huddled up both sides, but I thought it was great. I really liked the excitement with the players when they started to get into the game, so great day for us."
On the team's progress this spring:
"I'm pleased with where we're at. The good news is we have another week of practice, so we'll have three more heavy practices where we'll compete against each other a lot like we did today. That's really where we find out where we are. Then, that'll give us a chance to lead into the offseason with the players and them running their own practices and such."
On the where the defense is:
"They're playing good sound defense. They're in the right gaps. They got out of the gap on Rodney's long run, and then the safety missed a tackle. They give up a big play. Other than that, they have done a good job this spring of not giving up big plays. I feel like we're a better tackling team."
On the wide receivers:
"We are pretty fast at wide receiver. That is an advantage for us. With the exception of the portal, we're inexperienced, but we're fast. We've continued to bring guys in to try to help bring the young guys along… Those guys are competing, they're playing well."
On the linebackers:
"They're physical, they're mature, they can run. They like to play football. They've had excitement. The one thing that's been interesting is the adjustment that some of these guys have made, even mature players, with their bodies and being here with (Rob Glass) for just three months."
Running Back Rodney Fields Jr.
On the new offense:
"It's a very different style of offense from last year. There's a lot of spread, and it gives us a lot of options and things to do. Coach Meacham puts us all around, and I like being spread around on the offense. I can be at running back or at receiver, and it feels great."
On his touchdown run:
"It felt great. It was just an explosive run. I saw the open hole. I was happy and just went for it. My speed is a very big ability I have, and I always use it. We've been in the weight room, and I feel like I've been getting strong."
On Ollie Gordon's influence on him:
"Ollie taught us a lot when he was here. He gave us a lot of details and things we should do to make us better, so from that, I took a lot. My speed and having better vision have been the things I've improved on the most this offseason."
Wide Receiver Sam Jackson V
On becoming a returner on special teams:
"I'm pretty much new to it, but we just have great coaches on the special teams side, and they've been teaching me a lot. My inside receiving coach is also the returners' coach, so I've been pretty much coached up on that. I'm not even perfect at it yet. Today was a game to get a feel for it and see how it goes because this was pretty much our first live reps."
On being split into different teams:
"It definitely felt different. Usually when we go and practice, it's one-on-one or two-on-two, so we interchange and get a breather. Today there were just two of us on each side, but the conditioning prepared us for that."
On adjusting to wide receiver:
"It was tough for me. I grew up as a quarterback my entire life. I never played a different position besides my sophomore year in high school, and my support system was telling me to stay at quarterback, but it was a change of heart for me."
Linebacker Trip White
On the spring as a whole:
"It has been a grind. From day one to now, there's been a major change for the defense. We are putting a lot of stuff in, and this is going to be a turnaround season this year. Just know it's been a grind every day, brick by brick."
On what stuck out about OSU:
"Coach Gundy always takes care of his players, and I know it's actually a family foundation here, so that's part of the reason I came here. We work together, learn the plays together because this playbook has a big range. We have to work together to get the plays down."
On defensive coordinator Todd Grantham:
"He has so many packages for so many different types of plays and players. His defense fits any type of caliber player. This defense is going to be exciting… The playbook is so long, but once you get certain coverages down like the back of your hand, you can really be good."
Outside Linebacker Malik Charles
On the team's performance today:
"I think we did really good, both sides honestly - the White and Orange teams. As a defense, we've grown together, and I'm just really excited for the fall. Just seeing us all out here flying around, it really got me excited."
On the friendly trash talk between the two teams:
"When we first found out we were splitting up teams, that's when it really started. It was mostly the defensive side. When all of us defensive guys got split up, we started talking a lot of smack to each other. That kind of started the tension and that's what really got me going. I love the juice. I love competitiveness, so that was really fun for me."
On the strength program:
"I love it. That's one of the main reasons I came here. My big thing while getting recruited was, 'How is the strength and conditioning program?' That's my biggest thing. I want to be developed and get my body ready for the next level."
The scoring started early thanks to special teams fireworks from Sam Jackson V, who returned the game's opening punt roughly 80 yards and provided the Orange Team with an early 7-0 lead. The White Team then quickly responded with a score of their own, as Maealiuaki Smith led his squad down the field and used his legs for a short touchdown run from just outside the goal line.
A short field goal by Gabe Panikowski gave the White Team a brief 10-7 advantage in the second period, however, it was Rodney Fields Jr.'s 74-yard touchdown run later in the period that proved to be the play of the day and gave the Orange Team a lead it would not relinquish. Zane Flores and the White Team made a charge in the game's final seconds, but the Orange Team's defense held strong to secure the victory.
After the game, head coach Mike Gundy and several players met with the media. Here are some of their comments:
Head Coach Mike Gundy
On his takeaways from the game:
"There's a lot of excitement. Guys are fired up. In the end, young people still love to play the game. I think today was a tremendous success for us. We had about 87 plays, so a little bit less than what it'll be in a game because we huddled up both sides, but I thought it was great. I really liked the excitement with the players when they started to get into the game, so great day for us."
On the team's progress this spring:
"I'm pleased with where we're at. The good news is we have another week of practice, so we'll have three more heavy practices where we'll compete against each other a lot like we did today. That's really where we find out where we are. Then, that'll give us a chance to lead into the offseason with the players and them running their own practices and such."
On the where the defense is:
"They're playing good sound defense. They're in the right gaps. They got out of the gap on Rodney's long run, and then the safety missed a tackle. They give up a big play. Other than that, they have done a good job this spring of not giving up big plays. I feel like we're a better tackling team."
On the wide receivers:
"We are pretty fast at wide receiver. That is an advantage for us. With the exception of the portal, we're inexperienced, but we're fast. We've continued to bring guys in to try to help bring the young guys along… Those guys are competing, they're playing well."
On the linebackers:
"They're physical, they're mature, they can run. They like to play football. They've had excitement. The one thing that's been interesting is the adjustment that some of these guys have made, even mature players, with their bodies and being here with (Rob Glass) for just three months."
Running Back Rodney Fields Jr.
On the new offense:
"It's a very different style of offense from last year. There's a lot of spread, and it gives us a lot of options and things to do. Coach Meacham puts us all around, and I like being spread around on the offense. I can be at running back or at receiver, and it feels great."
On his touchdown run:
"It felt great. It was just an explosive run. I saw the open hole. I was happy and just went for it. My speed is a very big ability I have, and I always use it. We've been in the weight room, and I feel like I've been getting strong."
On Ollie Gordon's influence on him:
"Ollie taught us a lot when he was here. He gave us a lot of details and things we should do to make us better, so from that, I took a lot. My speed and having better vision have been the things I've improved on the most this offseason."
Wide Receiver Sam Jackson V
On becoming a returner on special teams:
"I'm pretty much new to it, but we just have great coaches on the special teams side, and they've been teaching me a lot. My inside receiving coach is also the returners' coach, so I've been pretty much coached up on that. I'm not even perfect at it yet. Today was a game to get a feel for it and see how it goes because this was pretty much our first live reps."
On being split into different teams:
"It definitely felt different. Usually when we go and practice, it's one-on-one or two-on-two, so we interchange and get a breather. Today there were just two of us on each side, but the conditioning prepared us for that."
On adjusting to wide receiver:
"It was tough for me. I grew up as a quarterback my entire life. I never played a different position besides my sophomore year in high school, and my support system was telling me to stay at quarterback, but it was a change of heart for me."
Linebacker Trip White
On the spring as a whole:
"It has been a grind. From day one to now, there's been a major change for the defense. We are putting a lot of stuff in, and this is going to be a turnaround season this year. Just know it's been a grind every day, brick by brick."
On what stuck out about OSU:
"Coach Gundy always takes care of his players, and I know it's actually a family foundation here, so that's part of the reason I came here. We work together, learn the plays together because this playbook has a big range. We have to work together to get the plays down."
On defensive coordinator Todd Grantham:
"He has so many packages for so many different types of plays and players. His defense fits any type of caliber player. This defense is going to be exciting… The playbook is so long, but once you get certain coverages down like the back of your hand, you can really be good."
Outside Linebacker Malik Charles
On the team's performance today:
"I think we did really good, both sides honestly - the White and Orange teams. As a defense, we've grown together, and I'm just really excited for the fall. Just seeing us all out here flying around, it really got me excited."
On the friendly trash talk between the two teams:
"When we first found out we were splitting up teams, that's when it really started. It was mostly the defensive side. When all of us defensive guys got split up, we started talking a lot of smack to each other. That kind of started the tension and that's what really got me going. I love the juice. I love competitiveness, so that was really fun for me."
On the strength program:
"I love it. That's one of the main reasons I came here. My big thing while getting recruited was, 'How is the strength and conditioning program?' That's my biggest thing. I want to be developed and get my body ready for the next level."
Players Mentioned
OLB
/ Cowboy Football
RB
/ Cowboy Football
QB
/ Cowboy Football
WR
/ Cowboy Football
K
/ Cowboy Football
QB
/ Cowboy Football
LB
/ Cowboy FootballInside Oklahoma State Athletics: Chad Weiberg on What's Next For Cowboy Football
Thursday, September 25
Doug Meacham Speaks After Being Named Interim Head Coach - 9-24-2025 Media Availability
Wednesday, September 24
Oklahoma State Athletics News Conference (9-23-2025)
Tuesday, September 23
Mike Gundy Previews Cowboys vs. Baylor - Oklahoma State News Conference (9-22-2025)
Tuesday, September 23
