Oklahoma State University Athletics
2022 Football Roster
Roster
Spencer Sanders
- Height:
- 6-1
- Class:
- Redshirt Senior
- Hometown:
- Denton, TX
- High School:
- Ryan
2019 Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year
2019 OSU Russell Okung Award (outstanding newcomer)
2019 Second Team Academic All-Big 12
2020 Honorable Mention All-Big 12 (Coaches)
2020 Cheez-It Bowl MVP
2021 First Team All-Big 12 (Coaches)
2021 PlayStation Fiesta Bowl Offensive MVP
The returning first team All-Big 12 quarterback after leading the conference in total offense and total offense per game in 2021 ... With 24 wins as OSU’s starting quarterback, he needs eight more to tie Mason Rudolph for the most wins as a starting quarterback in school history ... His 6,911 career passing yards total ranks among the top 10 of all returning Power Five players from 2021 ... Ranks among the top five Cowboys in school history in passing yards per game, completion percentage and more ... Finished 2021 as the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl Offensive MVP and 2020 as the Cheez-It Bowl MVP ... Also enjoyed a record-setting freshman campaign in 2019 ... His career passing yards total ranks as the second-most in school history for any OSU player entering his senior season and trails only OSU’s all-time passing leader, Mason Rudolph ... One of two players in OSU history with more than 5,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards in his career ... Has progressively increased his total offense average and thrown a lower percentage of interceptions in every year of his career ... His touchdowns-responsible-for to turnovers-responsible-for ratio has also improved each season ... His 32 career starts are 10 more than any other OSU offensive player entering 2022 and are second on the team only to Tyler Lacy’s 35 starts.
2021 (Junior): The first team All-Big 12 quarterback selection by the conference’s head coaches as his 3,507 total yards of offense and his total offense per game average of 269.8 both ranked No. 1 among all players in the Big 12 ... He and Brandon Weeden (2010) are the only first team all-conference quarterbacks in school history ... Passed for 2,839 yards and ran for 668 yards on the season, both of which marked single-season highs for his career thus far ... One of just six FBS players who totaled more than 2,800 passing yards and 650 rushing yards on the year ... His rushing total ranked first among all Big 12 quarterbacks, No. 6 among Power Five quarterbacks and No. 9 among all FBS quarterbacks, as well as the most for an OSU quarterback since Zac Robinson rushed for 847 yards in 2007 ... Also ranked among the top three players in the conference in passing touchdown (20), completions per game (18.69), passing yards (2,839) and passing yards per game (218.4) and was fourth in points responsible for (156) ... Capped his season with PlayStation Fiesta Bowl Offensive MVP honors after helping lead the team from down 21-points to its largest comeback win in school and Fiesta Bowl history ... Had 496 yards of total offense in that bowl win over No. 5 Notre Dame, including a season-high 371 passing with no interceptions and a career-high 125 rushing ... His performance against the Fighting Irish marked just the second time in OSU history that a player passed for more than 300 yards and rushed for more than 100 yards in a game ... With that performance he also became just the second player in FBS history with 350 passing yards, 100 rushing yards and four passing touchdowns in a bowl game, joining Clemson’s Tahj Boyd in the 2014 Orange Bowl ... His next most notable performances came against Kansas State and Oklahoma ... In the win over No. 25 Kansas State, he received the Manning Award Quarterback of the Week national honor after passing for 344 yards and two touchdowns on 22-of-34 passing with no interceptions, while adding 18 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown ... Also received Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Honorable Mention Player of the Week honors for that performance, as well as OSU’s Offensive Player of the Week honor ... In the Bedlam win over No. 10 Oklahoma, he passed for 214 yards and a touchdown while adding 93 on the ground, including a fourth quarter highlight-reel option keeper down the sideline that swung the momentum to help secure the win ... Named OSU’s Offensive Player of the Week for that game as well ... Also named Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Honorable Mention Player of the Week after totaling three touchdowns and more than 200 yards of offense in about one half of play against Kansas ... Passed for at least one touchdown in 11 of his 13 games, with multiple passing scores in six games, and passed for at least 200 yards in seven games, including each of the last five to marks the longest such streak of his career thus far ... Rushed for six touchdowns to mark the second most on the team, while his rushing yardage total was also second ... In addition to the Notre Dame and Oklahoma wins, he also rushed for more than 50 yards in wins over TCU, Kansas, Baylor and Tulsa ... Started every game except the season opener, when he held out due to COVID protocols ... Served as a game captain against Baylor, TCU, Oklahoma and in the Big 12 Championship game.
2020 (Sophomore): An honorable mention All-Big 12 selection by the league’s head coaches ... Finished the season ranked second in the Big 12 with 8.13 yards per pass attempt and third in the conference with a passing efficiency of 143.2 ... Also finished among the top five in the Big 12 in several other categories, including passing touchdowns (14), total offense per game (252.9), completion percentage (62.8), passing yards (2,007), passing yards per game (223) and yards per completion (12.95) ... Included on the preseason watch list for the Davey O’Brien Award ... Finished the year 155-of-247 passing, throwing for 2,007 yards and 14 touchdowns versus eight interceptions ... Added 269 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 101 carries with an average of 29.9 yards per game ... With sacks removed, Sanders rushed for 387 yards on 83 carries (4.7 yards per carry) ... Finished the season with 2,276 yards of total offense to lead the team ... Started nine of OSU’s 11 games ... Missed nearly all the season opener vs. Tulsa after getting injured early in the first quarter ... Also missed each of the next two games vs. West Virginia and Kansas, as well as half of the game at OU ... Turned in three 300-yard passing games, throwing for 400 yards and four touchdowns vs. Texas, 347 yards and three touchdowns at Baylor and 305 yards and four touchdowns vs. Miami in the Cheez-It Bowl ... Named the Cheez-It Bowl MVP for his performance in the game ... He was also OSU’s leading rusher in the game, rushing for 45 yards on 13 carries ... His best rushing performances of the year came against Texas Tech (15 carries for 78 yards and a touchdown) and Iowa State (15 carries for 71 yards and a touchdown).
2019 (Freshman): Voted as Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year by the league’s coaches ... A second-team Academic All-Big 12 honoree, as well ... Honored by the OSU coaching staff with the Russell Okung Award presented to the team’s outstanding newcomer ... Set an Oklahoma State freshman record by passing for 2,065 yards ... That mark shattered the existing school record of 1,628 yards, set in 2004 by Donovan Woods even though Sanders missed the final two games of the season to injury ... At the time of Sanders’ injury, Oklahoma State had a 7-3 record ... Among the 15 teams from Power Five conferences led by a freshman quarterback, only Ohio State had a better record ... Ranked sixth among freshmen nationally with 244.8 yards of total offense per game ... One of only 12 freshmen nationally to pass for more than 2,000 yards ... Averaged 57.1 rushing yards per game, a mark that ranked third in the nation among all freshman quarterbacks ... His 13.32 yards per pass completion ranked second in the Big 12 and 27th nationally ... A two-time selection as Big 12 Newcomer of the Week, earning that distinction following wins over McNeese and TCU ... Against McNeese, he completed 12-of-18 passes for 250 yards and three touchdowns and carried 12 times for 51 yards ... Against TCU, he completed 9-of-15 passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns and rushed 19 times for 88 yards ... Rushed for more than 100 yards twice - against Oregon State and Texas ... Honored as a Manning Award Star of the Week for his efforts against Oregon State ... Helped Oklahoma State rank in the top 25 nationally in rushing offense, total offense and red zone offense.
2018: Redshirt who did not see any game action.
High School: Played for coach Dave Henigan at Ryan ... The Texas 2017-18 Gatorade State Player of the Year and also named Mr. Texas Football by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine ... Compiled a 46-6 record in 52 career starts over four seasons, passing for 8,747 yards despite suffering two season-ending injuries ... Led the Raiders deep in the UIL State Playoffs throughout his career, finishing as a Class 6A D1 quarterfinalist in 2015 and a Class 5A D1 semifinalist in 2016 and 2017 ... Finished his high school career by winning 30 consecutive regular season contests over his final three seasons as the program’s starting quarterback ... Threw for 3,845 yards and 54 touchdowns during his senior season ... Showed his ability to run the football as well with 1,380 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns on the ground in 2017 ... Had his eighth 100-yard rushing game of his senior season in the state semifinals, rushing 16 times for 160 yards and two touchdowns while passing for 256 yards and three touchdowns ... A 2017 finalist for the Landry Award, which recognizes the top high school football player in North Texas who demonstrates positive character and leadership attributes ... Passed for 3,288 yards and 35 touchdowns to just five interceptions as a junior in 2016 ... Also rushed for 1,099 yards, averaging 5.9 yards per carry and scored 18 rushing touchdowns during his junior campaign ... Concluded his Ryan career with 146 total touchdowns (106 passing, 40 rushing) ... Suffered a season-ending knee injury late in his freshman season, but returned to the field within four months and started all of Ryan’s games in 2015, leading the Raiders to a 13-1 record and an appearance in the Class 6A D1 quarterfinals ... Nominated to compete in the 2018 U.S. Army All-American Bowl ... Also collected 2016 Texas APSE Class 5A first-team All-State Quarterback honors, as well as being named to the 2016 Texas Sports Writers Association Class 5A All-State Honorable Mention squad ... Played basketball and competed in track and field events such as the 300 meter hurdles, high jump, long jump and 4x400 meter relay at Ryan ... Rated as a four-star prospect by ESPN and 247Sports, while Rivals had him as a three-star prospect ... ESPN ranked him as the No. 7 dual threat quarterback in the 2018 national class and as the top quarterback prospect from the state of Texas ... 247Sports’ composite rating listed him as the No. 9 dual threat quarterback and the 27th-best player coming out of Texas in 2018 ... Ranked in the ESPN300 as the No. 115 overall recruit in the nation ... Nominated to compete in the 2018 U.S. Army All-American Bowl ... Chose Oklahoma State over other offers from Baylor, Colorado, Kansas State, Missouri, North Carolina, Ole Miss, Penn State, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and others.
Personal: Born Dec. 15, 1999 ... Son of David and Carrie Sanders ... Sister, Carissa Sanders, played soccer at North Texas ... University Studies major.
