A former football coach once said, “If you have two quarterbacks, you don’t have any quarterbacks.”

Without a returning starter, Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy has two quarterbacks who are so similar that he might play both of them.

And Gundy doesn’t have a problem with that.

“We might not,” Gundy said when asked when he would name a starting quarterback. “We might play two. If you were at practice today, you would say play two. They’re both pretty good. I know people say sometimes, ‘If you can’t name one, you don’t have any,’ and I don’t see that as the situation here.

”You guys can go back on my track record in naming quarterbacks. I don’t wait any longer than I have to because I don’t want to mess with it. I think it helps our team to know who our quarterback is. It certainly helps us as coaches from a reps standpoint. We’re through the first padded practice, and as of now we play two.”

One of the problems with not having a starter is that competition could provoke jealousy and division within the team.

“We’ve asked them to compete and prepare and be good leaders and develop a working relationship,” Gundy said.

Part of the reason Gundy is not concerned is the character of new offensive coordinator Sean Gleeson.

“Sean is an interesting person,” Gundy said. “He’s a really nice guy and all that, but he’s got a little bit of a dog fight in him. He wants those guys to really compete and I was unaware of that. I just listen to him when he’s coaching. It’s his job. It’s his position. He has to do whatever he thinks is best to get the most out of those two guys.

“I will say this. They’re both quality young men. They’re handling it the right way. They’re competing, they’re being supportive and the team is helping them. When you talk about quarterbacks, you’re essentially affecting everyone on the team. They’re doing very well and I’m not saying we’re going to play two. I’m saying as of today, that’s what would happen. We have however many days until we play a game, so it could change. They’re both working hard. It’s not disruptive to the team. That’s something I look for and the guys are handling it really well.”

A few years ago, Gundy had a great passing quarterback and a tough runner and he played them both in certain situations. That’s not the case with current quarterbacks Spencer Sanders and Dru Brown.

“This is not a (Mason) Rudolph or J.W. (Walsh) situation,” Gundy said. “Their skill sets are both very similar.”

Sanders has matured in his second year in Stillwater.

“His ability to function in our system is better than it was a year ago,” Gundy said. “We still haven’t done enough in pads, but just executing our offense and running a system at such a high speed like we do at our tempo, he’s already better. He’s got a long way to go in areas that we all know that quarterbacks need to adjust and, unfortunately, a lot of times at that position you really only learn from mistakes. He’s better at just the structure and organizing our system and getting everybody up there and if they’re lined up wrong, making sure that the clock isn’t going to expire on him for the delay of game and functioning in a really fast pace. That’s where he’s improved to this point.”

Sanders credits God for his success in football, particularly when he was dealing with an injury.

“I wouldn’t be able to do anything without Him,” Sanders said. “I’m grateful that He put that tragedy in my life. It showed me that I can overcome adversity. I am glad I went through it, and I moved on from it. You have to look at it like this is just another step up the hill in your life. You have to take it one step at a time.”

He watched fifth-year senior quarterback Taylor Cornelius last season and learned a lot.

“He has very good poise,” Sanders said. “You cannot make him mad. He has one heck of an arm. He could really throw it. He’s so smart, too. He always had an explanation for why he had done something. He was always watching film. He was always doing something to get better. I really enjoyed watching him because there was never a time he was clueless as to why he threw it here, or why he threw it at all.”

Brown didn’t play much last season.

“I think it was a blessing in disguise,” Brown said. “You come here and you want to play, but at the same time you have another year under your belt to improve, and not to just improve mentally and physically. You get more comfortable around the guys, and they see your brand, who you are as a person, so that is extremely important to me, and I am glad I had the opportunity for that last year.”

He had to learn a new offense at OSU.

“We had similar concepts at Hawaii,” Brown said. “The philosophy and base was extremely different. When you come here and try to learn a new system it always is going to seem really fast. Any time you can get experience in fall ball or the summer it all slows down.”

Wide receiver Dillon Stoner likes both of the top two quarterbacks.

“Both of them are very similar style quarterbacks,”  Stoner said. “They can extend plays…. I think they’re both really good friends and it’s been fun to see them go at it the past few days.”

Another player that Gundy praised is running back Chuba Hubbard.

“Chuba looks really good,” Gundy said. “For me, or personally as a coach, you’re always really careful to step out there, but he’s about as pretty as they get. He’s about 208-210 pounds, and I don’t know how fast he is, but he’s really fast. He’s very determined. He’s very intelligent. He understands.

“When we lost Justice (Hill) last year, it was difficult for us because we lost a great player. As I said earlier though, it benefitted us because (Chuba) had to play in some really key games. I’m also excited about watching him play. He’s really just kind of scratched the surface with his body and what he can do and what he can bring to the table. The area he has improved as much as any is just his leadership, his willingness to work extremely hard”

Gundy citied Hubbard’s hard work in practice.

“We’re really excited about him at this point,” Gundy said.

“Being one of the older guys, me and LD (Brown), I try to do my best to help the guys because I know what it was like to be in their shoes,” Hubbard said. “I’m looking forward to bouncing back from last season. Obviously last season didn’t go as planned. I’m really looking forward to being on the field with these guys.”

OSU might be loaded at running back.

“LD (Brown) has done really well,” Gundy said. “He has come a long way. He’s a really good example of years of maturity. If those guys stay healthy through camp, they’ll be a good package.

“Dez (Jackson) is behind LD. Deondrick (Glass) is further behind. (Jahmyl) Jeter looks really good. I don’t know if you all have seen him. He was a little bit heavy at this time last year, got up around 227 pounds. I think he’s closer to 215 now. He’s slim and starting to mature a little bit. I’m comfortable with all those guys carrying the ball. Behind Chuba, right now we don’t know, but those guys we have behind him, at this point I’m comfortable.

“Ball security is very important. That’s one thing we don’t know yet because they haven’t been out in the game and been hit when they’re tired. That’ll be important.

“If you want to carry the ball or touch the ball in this offense, you have to take care of the ball. They have a skill set.”

Tylan Wallace leads a talented group of OSU wide receivers.

“We have a young team, so I’m really just excited to see how this season goes and how good we’re going to be,” Wallace said.”There’s always a little pressure, but definitely going to try and repeat some of the things from last year, but I don’t think too much about it and just go out there and stay calm and play the game I know how to play.”

The Cowboys open the season at 9:30 p.m. August 30 at Oregon State. The first home game is at 6 p.m. September 7 against McNeese State.