Sam Jackson will be the seventh different quarterback to start for Oklahoma State since 2022 against Houston on Saturday. Except he’s a wide receiver.
Kind of.
Jackson began his college football career at quarterback but he has not played the position on a full-time basis in more than 18 months. Mike Gundy’s recruiting failures put the Cowboys in an awkward spot.
Who is the quarterback at Oklahoma State?
The Pokes started the season with Hauss Hejny as QB1. The former four-star recruit came out of the gates firing as a redshirt freshman and showed some juice in a season-opening win over UT Martin.
However, he still only completed five of his 10 pass attempts. Oklahoma State did not look like a team that could compete for a national championship.
And to make matters worse, Hejny got knocked out of the game with a Jones fracture in his left foot. The broken metatarsal bone required surgery that will keep him on the sideline for at least a few more weeks.
At that point, it was time for Zane Flores. Flores completed only 55% of his passes in four and a half games, threw for less than 100 yards in losses to Oregon and Arizona, and threw three interceptions without a touchdown. He was benched against the Wildcats after starting 9-of-20.
The only other option at quarterback is Tulsa transfer Banks Bowen. The former three-star recruit completed just one of two pass attempts for negative five yards last weekend. He’s not the guy.
Welcome back, Sam Jackson.
With Hejny still out, Flores stinking it up and Bowen lacking a spark, Cowboys interim head coach Doug Meacham decided to take a deeper look at his roster. It is time to try something new.
Jackson actually had a seven-play package at quarterback against Arizona and ran the ball four times for 13 yards. He also completed three of his six pass attempts. Meacham liked what he saw.
Doug Meacham discusses Sam Jackson’s future as #OkState quarterback.
— Eric Bailey (@EricBaileyTW) October 5, 2025
Jackson had a 7-play package against Arizona and that could/should expand. pic.twitter.com/YhwFl9D5hy
In fact, Meacham liked Jackson so much more than Flores and Bowen that he moved him back to quarterback for Saturday’s game. He is going to start for Oklahoma State against Houston.
Sam Jackson was considered a three-star recruit in the Class of 2021 out of Naperville Central High School in Illinois. The 5-foot-10, 195-pound dual-threat signal-caller committed to TCU.
He enrolled in Fort Worth during the fall of 2021. Jackson played minimally in garbage time as a freshman and sophomore with the Horned Frogs but completed all six of his six pass attempts. And then it was off to the transfer portal, which led him to the University of California, Berkeley.
Jackson started three games for the Golden Bears in 2023. Although he completed just 53% of his passes, there were some flashes of greatness and he won all three games!
DIME 🎯
— Cal Football (@CalFootball) September 16, 2023
Jackson V ➡️ Hunter
📺 Pac-12 Bay Area#GoBears pic.twitter.com/IMal5o0sZV
That was the end of his time at Cal. Jackson didn’t play again so he went back into the portal to transfer for the third time in three years and committed to Auburn as a wide receiver but never caught a pass for the Tigers. Back into the portal he went. Oklahoma State gave him an opportunity as a fifth-year senior.
Sam Jackson caught five passes for 30 yards with the Cowboys this season. Now he is the starting quarterback!