Rudolph all about winning
STILLWATER — Mason Rudolph fired deep to his hot new receiver, Tyron Johnson, who made a leaping grab before finishing Oklahoma State’s first touchdown of the season barely two minutes in against Tulsa.
The rest of the game, Johnson was targeted only once.
Jalen McCleskey, the Cowboys’ 2016 reception leader, finished the 59-24 rout of TU with one catch for minus-2 yards. Chris Lacy? One reception for 13 yards.
Go-to guy James Washington got his, totaling a team-high six catches for 145 yards and two touchdowns. And Marcell Ateman and Dillon Stoner collected four catches each.
“We’re going to have a lot of good players that don’t get to touch the ball a lot, because we don’t have enough footballs to go around,” said Cowboys coach Mike Gundy.
So how can the quarterback keep all his weapons pleased and in play?
Rudolph, almost with a scoff, offers the simplest of explanations.
He’ll throw to whoever’s open.
“It’s not about keeping people happy,” Rudolph said. “I don’t care. I’m going to do the same reads, the same progressions I’ve done from Day 1. You’re not thinking about how you’re going to keep some guy happy. ‘He doesn’t have a catch, yet, I’m going to throw him the ball even though he’s double-covered.’
“That’s not how it works. I’m going to go through business as usual. Those guys are going to get open because they’re great players. I’m not going to try and force anything.”
Most times, defenses will dictate where Rudolph goes with the ball. Double-team Washington, like most foes did a year ago, and Rudolph can – and will – turn to other receivers. A year ago, when the options were strong, yet not as plentiful, the Cowboys still had four different receivers post 100-yard games.
Expect more of the same this season, as Rudolph’s devoted attention to studying video enhances one of his already noted strengths of recognizing and exploiting defenses.
Along with that, Rudolph’s status as a strong-voiced and accomplished leader, a winning quarterback who commands respect throughout the team and particularly within the offense brings a special dimension to the position. As Rudolph raises the bar on himself, he’s raising it on everyone.
“He holds us to a standard,” Ateman said. “If he’s carrying himself that way, putting time in and watching film, things like that, it lets us know we’ve got to do the same thing. It can’t just be him. It can’t just be one person. He brings the best out of us.”
Much like last season, OSU’s collection of skill players may just have to learn patience and follow the diva-free attitude exhibited by the biggest star, Washington.
For all his big-play explosiveness, Washington didn’t crack the 70-yard receiving mark in 2016 until the third game. And there were other times, when teams blanketed him with extra attention, where he was limited – one reception at Kansas, four at TCU, two at Oklahoma. That’s when other receivers thrived. There’s also a growing optimism for the running game, which actually produced more yards (332) than the passing attack (308) in the opener, when Rudolph put but 24 passes in the air.
That’s not going to always be the case, yet it’s a reminder to the receivers to wait their turn.
“You never know how it’s going to shake out,” Rudolph said. “I go through my progressions and normal reads like I have since I was a freshman. Nothing’s going to change. We’re going to throw to the guy who’s open and the guy you’ve been throwing to in that same progression and that same read for four years.
“It just so happens that we have a lot more athletes and a lot more receivers out there who are playmakers. That’s going to make my job easier.”