Mike Gundy shares how Maealiuaki Smith could see time at QB for Oklahoma State

The Oklahoma State Cowboys are in the midst of a five-game losing streak where head coach Mike Gundy has had to deal with quarterback injuries. With that, there have been some questions about whether or not freshman Maealiuaki Smith could see action at quarterback.

Despite that, for the time being, Gundy says that Smith is not currently in a position to see the field for the Cowboys.

“Right now, no,” Mike Gundy said. “Just to put him in? No. We’re not in that position right now. If something happens to [Alan] Bowman, he’ll be in, but he’s not in a position now — I mean, he’s running and getting work and if he went in I think he would function fine, but there’s more to it than just throwing him out there.”

Maealiuaki Smith came to Oklahoma State as a three-star recruit in the Class of 2024, according to the On3 Industry Ranking. He was the 31st-ranked quarterback recruit in that cycle after playing his high school football at Junipero Serra High School in California. That’s the same high school that produced football legends like Tom Brady, Lynn Swann, and David Bakhtiari.

Coming out of high school, Smith had offers from Utah, BYU, and Michigan State among others. He ended up committing to Oklahoma State in November of 2023 and enrolled early for Spring practice in 2024.

This comes as Mike Gundy has been dealing with various quarterback issues. Alan Bowman came into the season as the starting quarterback. However, Gundy made the decision to bench him for the BYU game. He was replaced by Garret Rangel, but Rangel was injured in the game and Bowman returned to action. Oklahoma State would end up losing the BYU game before dropping the Baylor game a week later.

With only four games left in the season, there is some thought that Maealiuaki Smith could get in-game experience while retaining his redshirt. However, for the time being, Mike Gundy is going to stick with Alan Bowman as the Cowboys try to turn their season around.

Despite Oklahoma State’s struggles, the Cowboys could still make it to bowl eligibility this season. At 3-5 with four games remaining, they’ll need to win three of their final four games to get to that point, though. If the Cowboys don’t, it will be the first time since 2005 that Oklahoma State misses a bowl under Mike Gundy. That was his first season.