A friendly competition
Oklahoma State quarterback Mason Rudolph is paying attention to some of the other Heisman hopefuls this season, especially the college quarterbacks he has roomed with at football camps.
STILLWATER — They’re all Heisman hopefuls for now, the cast of quarterbacks prominently mentioned in play for college football’s most coveted individual award.
OSU’s Mason Rudolph is among them, and with some friends, including Louisville’s Lamar Jackson and USC’s Sam Darnold, and surely others.
They’re watching each other, too, not so much for comparison’s sake, but for fun.
“I had roomed with Lamar and Darnold at camp, and then with Darnold at Elite 11,” Rudolph said. “We keep up with each other. We send each other Snapchats, talk crap to each other when somebody throws an incompletion or you’re not blowing the top off a defense.
“It’s a tight-knit little group and we stay in contact.”
Rudolph didn’t say whether Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield is in the group, but they’re known to be friendly.
And, yes, Rudolph caught Mayfield’s attempt at planting the OU flag midfield at Ohio State.
“Yeah, I think anybody with a device saw that,” Rudolph said.
His take?
“You know, hey, big game, you’re emotional,” Rudolph said, quickly pivoting from a judgment call. “I think we’re all emotional, so those situations, it’s what you make it.
“I really couldn’t care less. I’m focused on our guys and making sure we’re getting after it and utilizing our off days and our time to prepare and put ourselves in the best situation.”
Could Rudolph see himself ever becoming so “emotional” that he’d take a stab at flag-planting?
“No, I think there’s plenty of ways to show excitement,” Rudolph said. “I’m obviously not gonna imitate anybody. I do my thing and I celebrate with my team. There’s a lot of things we do behind closed doors that are a lot of fun, so I’m gonna continue living in my world, control what I can control and have a good time.”
Pitt’s Narduzzi seeing orange
Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi likes to have fun, even with the media.
So when he was asked at his weekly press conference to compare Oklahoma State to Clemson, he obliged with some humor. As a reminder, Clemson’s only loss in their 2016 national championship run came against Pitt.
“To compare Oklahoma State to Clemson, it’s hard,” Narduzzi said. “The one comparison I can make is it’ll be orange, so they’re going to bring orange in, OK?
“That’s my only comparison. And they’re fast. They’re big and they’re fast and they wear orange, so pretty good comparison.”
Would a win Saturday compare to last year’s win over Clemson?
“You know what, every win is a victory,” Narduzzi said. “Beating a top-10 team here at home at Heinz Field would be another statement win. Will they be the national champion? Maybe, who knows? They’ll be in the conversation with the talent they have. But they’re very talented.”
Cowboys have grown on the road
OSU has won 10 of its last 12 true road games, prevailing in rough Big 12 environments like Norman and Morgantown and Manhattan and Fort Worth and Austin.
Heck, the Cowboys used to never win in Austin. Now they’ve done what no other team has done: win four straight at Texas.
OSU’s road results have come a long way since the early days of Mike Gundy’s run as coach. Gundy’s team’s started 3-11 on the road. They’re 33-16 since.
“Our first year, we just weren’t very good,” Gundy said. “We had poor quarterback play. We were learning a new system, went through a lot of changes, on and off the field. We just weren’t very good.
“But since then, we’ve developed a lot of continuity and have learned how to play better in some of those games on the road.”
Another key factor: the Cowboys have won with premium quarterbacks. Josh Fields. Zac Robinson. Brandon Weeden. Rudolph. And others.
“Having a mature quarterback makes a difference,” Gundy said.