Sky’s the limit for Oklahoma State’s aerial connection
Rudolph to Washington has ’Boys thinking big
You know them as jump balls. At Oklahoma State these days, they call them “win balls” — and with good reason. You think it’s a 50-50 proposition, which makes for a decent risk?
Cowboys quarterback Mason Rudolph doesn’t see it as nearly so much a gamble.
“We call it a 70-30 ball,” Rudolph says, “because we complete so many of them.”
Most often, Rudolph seems to connect with James Washington, for good reason.
“With James’ body control and ball skills, it’s like stealing,” Rudolph says.
Washington, another in a growing line of standout Oklahoma State receivers, is fast and strong, with uncanny body control and extraordinarily soft hands. But it’s Rudolph, a 6-5, 230-pound senior, who brings a big arm and uncommon touch to make the connection.
When things are going well — which is often — “it’s pretty unstoppable, in my opinion,” says Washington, also a senior.
Others feel the same way. Oklahoma State has 14 returning starters, including eight on the offensive side. But the Cowboys, who wrapped up spring practice Saturday, are getting offseason buzz as a Big 12 title contender in large part because of the connection between their two biggest stars.
“I feel like if the hype doesn’t get to us … we can be pretty deadly this year,” Washington says.
Rudolph and Washington were enticed to Stillwater by what they’d seen their predecessors do in a fast-paced, wide-open offense in which passing frequently means doing exactly the stuff of every quarterback’s and every receiver’s dreams: going deep.
“That’s really who we are here,” Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy says. “We throw the ball deep a bunch. We just keep chunking it over your head, and we run the ball a little bit. And the threat of what we can do throwing the ball over your head is kind of who we are on offense.”
So, yeah, it’s natural. But’s also an acquired skill. There’s no way to prove the claim, but Gundy figures Oklahoma State practices throwing deep more than most other teams. This much also is true.
“He’s just playing to our strengths,” Rudolph says. “We’ve got dudes who can run by you.”
They have several of them — including Chris Lacy, Jalen McCleskey and Marcell Ateman, who returns after missing the 2016 season to injury — as well as several talented newcomers. But Washington, who will be aiming for his third consecutive 1,000-yard receiving season, is the undisputed star.
Meanwhile, Rudolph might be the best quarterback most college football fans haven’t paid attention to — at least, not yet. He threw for 4,091 yards and 28 touchdowns –— part of that while playing with a broken rib –— but was overshadowed in the Big 12 by Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield, a Heisman Trophy finalist.
Last week, Oklahoma State unveiled a low-key Heisman campaign for Rudolph on social media. It featured a cryptic message and a Davinci Code- like symbol along with the question: “Can you crack the code?”
Two minutes after the first tweet, someone had decoded it: “Mason for Heisman.” Which was fine. You might see a lot more of the hashtag #MA2ON over the next few months, just a way to create offseason buzz.
Meanwhile, Washington is a pretty good bet to start the season atop anybody’s list of candidates for the Biletnikoff Award, which goes to the nation’s best receiver. The 6-2, 205-pounder, who has averaged an astounding 19.3 yards per catch for his career, is extremely dangerous on any route. “He can take a screen or a hitch or an out route, anything, and turn it into a big gain,” Rudolph says.
But it’s his gift for going long that has captured attention — and causes nightmares for defensive coordinators. As one example, take the Cowboys’ win against Pittsburgh last year. A week earlier, they had played poorly and lost to Central Michigan — this is controversial in Stillwater –— on a last-second play.
On the first play against Pittsburgh, starting from inside his own 10, Rudolph looked long and found Washington for a 91-yard touchdown. When the day ended, he had added eight more catches and another touchdown and totaled 296 yards.
The last impression of the season was pretty good, too. He torched Colorado — which reached the Alamo Bowl in large part because of a very good defense — for nine catches and 171 yards. Afterward, one of Colorado’s coaches said to Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Glenn Spencer, “We should have double-covered (Washington).”
Would it have mattered, given the connection between quarterback and receiver?
Rudolph was a three-star prospect with size and obvious potential. But oddly, he didn’t draw much interest from schools close to his Rock Hill, S.C., home.
But when Oklahoma State came calling, he already knew the Cowboys and liked what he’d seen. Along with his high school team, he’d watched a behind-the-scenes look at then- Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden, and he was enthralled.
“They had all those explosive guys on offense,” Rudolph says.
In two-plus seasons, Rudolph has thrown for 8,714 yards and 55 touchdowns and trails only Washington State’s Luke Falk among returning players in career passing yards. More important, Oklahoma State is 22-6 in his starts.
Washington, who’s from tiny Stamford, Texas, was a genuine find.
Gundy said Washington’s football tape from the Class 1A school was “OK but not great.” But Oklahoma State receivers coach Kasey Dunn liked Washington’s versatility; he played basketball, ran track and played tennis.
Together, along with those other talented receivers and a suddenly potent running game, they could propel Oklahoma State even higher.
“We’re definitely setting ourselves up to win the Big 12 championship and hopefully go to the (College Football Playoff ),” Washington says. “It’s what we’ve been working toward. We’ve been so close. This year, we feel like it’s the year.”