Oklahoma State football: Wes Lunt returns, leads OSU past TCU

Added Moore: “He stayed composed throughout the whole game and kept progressing. That’s awesome to see from a young quarterback, especially his first game back. It showed a lot. I’m proud of him. I thought he played a great game.”

Coaches and players constantly talk about Lunt’s level-headed demeanor being one of his best attributes as a quarterback. They joke about the fact that he rarely talks.

It was more of the same Saturday. Monken said Lunt was calm while talking with him on the phone, even when things weren’t going well in the first half. Stewart said he only heard Lunt speak when he was calling the plays, but described his look during the early part of the game as one that signaled that the Cowboys “had to get this going.”

But when the offense started to score, and Lunt settled in, Stewart noticed his quarterback constantly smiling.

“Once you see him with a smile, you know something’s going on right,” Stewart said.

At this point of the season, Lunt should have had six meaningful collegiate starts to prepare him for OSU’s toughest stretch, starting with next week’s contest at undefeated Kansas State. Instead, he’s got two, with a six-week break in between.

The reality is Lunt isn’t as far along in his development as he would have been had he not gotten injured. But Monken trusts Lunt will learn from his mistakes in the first quarter that will show up in the game film as much as his correct throws in the second half.

And Lunt’s teammates are confident in their quarterback going forward.

“We knew that once he started to get clicking, then we’re fine,” Stewart said. “Wes is going to be good from here on out, so we’re excited for him and this offense and what we’ve got ahead of us.”