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2011 and 2017 Cowboys football teams have similar looks

Atall drink of quarterback with a big arm. A bigtime receiver. A veteran offensive line. Some promising defenders. Picked high in Big 12 football but still behind the hated Sooners.

2017 in Stillwater? Yes. But also 2011. OSU football’s greatest season, the Big 12 title team that beat Andrew Luck and Stanford in a rousing Fiesta Bowl, came six years ago, and in the offseason, those Cowboys quite closely mirror what we see from the 2017 Cowboys.

Brandon Weeden then, Mason Rudolph now.

Justin Blackmon leading a receiving corps of Josh Cooper, Tracy Moore, Isaiah Anderson and Josh Stewart then; James Washington leading a receiver corps of Marcel Ateman, Jalen McClesky, Chris Lacy and Tyron Johnson now.

Levy Adcock, Lane Taylor and Grant Garner blocking then; Zach Crabtree, Brad Lundblade and Marcus Keyes now.

Markelle Martin, Jamie Blatnick and Justin Gilbert defending then; Chad Whitener, Tre Flowers and Jordan Brailford defending now.

“There are a lot of similarities,” coach Mike Gundy said. “I hope it turns out that way.”

How it turned out was a 12-1 season, a No. 3 finish in all the polls and the conference championship, marred only by an overtime loss at Iowa State.

Those 2011 Cowboys, coming off an 11-2 season in which they routed Arizona in the Alamo

[PHOTO BY NATE BILLINGS, THE OKLAHOMAN] Oklahoma State quarterback Mason Rudolph will lead a football team this season that’s similar to a 2011 squad that might have challenged for a national championship bid if not for an overtime loss to Iowa State.

[AP PHOTO] Former Oklahoma State star wide receiver Justin Blackmon holds up the Fiesta Bowl trophy after helping the Cowboys to a win over Stanford. OSU had a talented team that mirrors the 2017 Cowboys.