Mike Gundy breaks down defending Quinn Ewers

No. 11 Oklahoma State will take on No. 20 Texas this weekend, knowing they’ll face yet another of the league’s top quarterbacks. And defending Quinn Ewers won’t be easy, though it’ll be a bit of a different challenge from the one the Cowboys just faced.

In a loss to TCU, Oklahoma State had to be well aware of quarterback Max Duggan as a runner. Not so much this Saturday.

“It makes it a little easier for us from that standpoint. Obviously you’ve got to be aware. Most of the quarterbacks in this league take off and run on you,” coach Mike Gundy said. “He doesn’t want to take off and run much, in my opinion, and they don’t try to design runs for him.”

Oklahoma State did a decent job of containing Duggan on the ground on Saturday, limiting him to 57 yards and one rushing touchdown on 11 carries.

Still, he was a threat enough that the Horned Frogs were able to pull through with a 43-40 victory in double-overtime. That handed Oklahoma State its first loss and put TCU atop the Big 12 standings, tied with Kansas State with a 3-0 league mark.

“We did a good job with this quarterback Saturday,” Gundy said. “I thought we did a really good job. Hard to do, because you’re a half a man short.”

Ewers will provide a different type of challenge.

Defending Quinn Ewers will put onus on secondary

One thing Texas has done since Ewers returned from an injury that sidelined him for a few games is make sure he doesn’t take unnecessary hits.

He’s gotten time to operate in the pocket and find his receivers.

“They’re protecting him. They’re using a lot of slide protection and they use backs and tight ends on the edge and they’re max-protecting him, what I would call,” Gundy explained. “They have fast guys, so they can run all over the place, and they’re protecting him on purpose, in my opinion. He knows he’s a freshman. The coach knows that he’s a freshman and he’s smart, he’s going to protect him, and that’s what they’re doing.”

Ewers has taken only one sack all year, and he hasn’t taken one since he took the reins again as the starting quarterback two weeks ago.

So Oklahoma State’s secondary will have to show up ready to play.

The two teams are scheduled to kick off in Stillwater, Okla., at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday with a broadcast on ABC.