Mason’s all-business attitude leads OSU to big-time win
Ala. — Mason Rudolph strode off the Oklahoma State team bus wearing dark sunglasses and black headphones.
He added a serious expression for good measure.
All business, this one. That didn’t change once the game started Friday night. The Oklahoma State quarterback was a technician. Precise. Poised. Patient. He was downright spectacular, too.
As a result, so were the Cowboys.
OSU 44, South Alabama 7.
“He’s just become such a professional,” elder statesman in the receiver corps Marcell Ateman
said. “It’s just his will to want to be great. To do better. To be the best.”
On a night Rudolph accounted for all of the Cowboys’ offensive touchdowns and became the school’s all-time leading passer, we were reminded of just how great Rudolph is. His misfires were few. His highlights were many.
His numbers: 25 of 38 for 335 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.
And this was against an opponent that decided to try and stop the run. South Alabama dared OSU to pass and pass deep. When that happens, completions tend to go down, mistakes up. Not with Rudolph. “You have to be accurate with the ball, you have to make smart decisions, and you can’t force the ball,” Cowboy offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich said. “He was able to take his shots, go through his progressions and trust the system.
“Really, great vision, right?”
No doubt about that. Rudolph’s poise and patience in the pocket was superb. He worked through his reads, took his time and didn’t let fly until he found a great option.
Cowboy coach Mike Gundy said that when he met with Rudolph on Thursday after the team arrived in Mobile, the quarterback knew every read and every progression. He knew the script backward and forward.
And that leads to the confidence and the poise that we’re seeing.
Frankly, Rudolph’s most impressive read Friday ended up being an incompletion. Chris Lacy hauled in a pass, pinned it to his gut, but when the receiver’s other arm came off the ball, it looked like he didn’t have control of the ball. It was ruled an incompletion on the field, and video replay didn’t have enough to confirm it but also didn’t have enough to overturn the original ruling.
Still, a great ball from Rudolph.
OSU, of course, has yet to play a great team this season, and yet, what Rudolph has done thus far would be difficult in summer seven-on-seven drills. He’s completed 72.6 percent of his passes. He’s thrown for six touchdowns and run for two more. And he’s accounted for only one turnover, a fumble in the season opener.
That’s nearly spotless quarterback play.
He credits the offense, the scheme, the guys around him, and there’s no doubt there were tons of nifty plays by teammates Friday. But Rudolph also believes being a senior who’s oh-so-close to graduation has helped him. He doesn’t have a ton of classes this fall.
“I’ve got more time to watch film,” Rudolph said. “I’ve got more time to meet with Yurcich and Gundy to make sure we’re on the same page.”
And when things didn’t go great right away Friday, Rudolph didn’t panic. The offense had a less-than-inspiring drive to start the game, having two incompletions and going three-and-out.
But the very next possession, Rudolph settled in and so did OSU. Even though the drive ended with a field goal instead of a touchdown, a rhythm was established, and South Alabama didn’t know what hit it.
Now, Rudolph wasn’t perfect. Late in the first half, Jalen McCleskey broke wide open down the seam, and Rudolph sailed the ball over his head. Betting Rudolph saw how unmolested McCleskey was, got a surge of adrenaline and misfired.
You’d have to look hard to find many other bad moments for Rudolph.
“He’s just so professional,” Ateman said. “He knows when we need to lock in. We see it in his eyes. We see it behind (those) shades.”
Mason Rudolph has been all business this season – and business has been good.