Cornelius’ story has succeeded elsewhere
Grew up in small-town west Texas, a multisport star but primarily a quarterback.
Only small colleges offered a scholarship. Decided to enroll at the Big 12 Air Raid factory and take his chances. Scout-team QB that first year, then third-team the next and worked his way to backup his next two seasons, by which time his eccentric coach had placed him on scholarship.
In his fifth and final year of college, with only mopup duty on his résumé, he won the starting job over more ballyhooed competitors.
And in his first college start, Sonny Cumbie threw for 470 yards and four touchdowns against SMU. In his last college start, Cumbie threw for 520 yards and three touchdowns, outdueling Aaron Rodgers as Texas Tech beat California in the Holiday Bowl.
Taylor Cornelius tries to repeat the Cumbie 2004 story, starting Thursday night at Boone Pickens Stadium, when OSU hosts Missouri State.
The journeys were similar. Corndog is from Bushland, Texas, and received scant recruiting attention, other than an OSU invitation, sans
scholarship. He waited behind Cowboy icons Mason Rudolph and J.W. Walsh, just as Cumbie waited behind Tech quarterbacks Kliff Kingsbury and B.J. Symons. And when opportunity presented itself, same as Cumbie, Cornelius pounced.
These Cowboys are Corndog’s team.
“He’s been the backup pretty much since he got here,” said OSU flanker Dillon Stoner. “When Mason took over, Corn was always under him and he was ready to go whenever. He’s been on scholarship for about two years now and he’s more than capable of running the show.”
Not that Corndog engenders a bunch of confidence elsewhere, from talking heads or ticket-buyers. Recruiting hype, or lack thereof, rarely leaves a player. Walkons have a stigma. Years ago, no one thought Cornelius was good enough to play at this level, so it still must be true. That’s the thinking, until Cornelius proves otherwise.
But the two best Bedlam quarterbacks of the last decade showed up virtually announced, without scholarships. Baker Mayfield came to OU via Tech, where he also walked on, and Brandon Weeden came to OSU after a tryst with baseball. Sometimes, quarterbacks fall out of trees and into a good season.
“It’s changing somewhat,”
Mike Gundy said of the walkon stigma. “Years ago, 2007 and backwards, you didn’t hear of a lot of walkons that were playing in Power 5 schools, because I think they all ended up going to Central Oklahoma or Northeastern (State). Now you have the Mayfields and Corndogs and different guys who said, ‘I’m as good as them, they just don’t know it.’ Then they can go and put their time in.”
Fifth-year seniors who survived walkon status earn uncommon respect from teammates. Such quarterbacks can own a locker room.
Quarterbacks staying in a program for three or four years without playing has become a rarity, but “when they do, their teammates and coaches have a great appreciation
for that,” said Kingsbury, now the head coach at Tech and the first of four straight Red Raider starting QBs, 2002-05, who were fifth-year seniors, a remarkable run of perseverance.
“The persistence that takes, it gives them a voice in the locker room,” Kingsbury said. “Guys gravitate to that type of leadership.”
The OSU coaching staff has shown extreme confidence in Cornelius. He was anointed the starter in July, without so much as August competition from heralded newcomers Dru Brown (Hawaii transfer) and Spence Sanders (true freshman).
Still, there’s a slight unknown about what Corndog will bring.
“I don’t have any doubt that he can be a really good college quarterback,” Gundy said.
“We just don’t know what he’s going to do in front of a crowd because he’s never done it. That’s the only thing we don’t know about him. We’ve watched him function in practice. He understands our offense. He can run. He can throw. He’s intelligent. He’s tough. He’s just never played in front of a crowd to start the games.”
But the Corndog story has been produced before. No reason it can’t be produced again.
Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at (405) 760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. You can also view his personality page at newsok.com/ berrytramel.