What Dru Brown and Spencer Sanders Learned from Taylor Cornelius

STILLWATER — Taylor Cornelius was quite a polarizing figure in his one season as Oklahoma State’s quarterback.

A 7-6 season led many to believe the grass would’ve been greener with either freshman Spencer Sanders or graduate transfer Dru Brown at the helm, but those two newcomers combined for one snap and no passes thrown in 2018. But Brown and Sanders were able to learn some things in their season with the clipboard.

Say what you will about Cornelius, but his 2018 season sits among the best in program history, statistically. His 288 completions last year were the fourth most in a season in school history. His 3,978 passing yards ranked fifth and his 32 passing touchdowns ranked fourth. The only people above him on those lists are Brandon Weeden and Mason Rudolph.

In 2017, it seemed to make a lot of sense that Sanders would be the Cowboys’ quarterback the next season. The timing just worked out too well with Rudolph heading out and a highly touted quarterback prospect coming in. But it didn’t work out that way, as Cornelius started every game and Sanders didn’t take a snap.

“I’m a competitive person,” Sanders said Saturday. “I like to play. I’ve always had that competitive drive in me, so I always want to play. But circumstances last year, I came up short, and that’s fine. Go about it how it is. Corn did a hell of a job. Honestly, I don’t know if I could’ve done better, so honestly, congrats to Corn.”

The former walk-on from the small town of Bushland, Texas, was able to teach the All-Texas everything freshman from Denton, though. Regardless of how Cornelius came to OSU, five years in a program gives a lot of experiences.

“Poise, he has very good poise,” Sanders said. “You cannot make him mad. He’s got a strong, I mean, he’s got one heck of an arm. He can really throw it. And his feet. He’s just so smart, too.

“He’s always got an explanation for why he did something or why he threw it somewhere. He was always watching film. He was always doing something to get better. I really enjoyed watching him. There was never a time where he was clueless on why he threw it here or why he didn’t throw it at all. He always had an explanation for it.”

Brown wasn’t asked what he specifically learned from Cornelius, but rather what he learned from his year on the sideline. Already well experienced in the college game, Brown said gaining a new perspective on the game helped him, especially in a system and in a conference that he hasn’t played in before.

“You learn so much,” Brown said. “You learn just being able to sit back and learn from the guys that’s playing. You kind of go through mental reps in games and practices because you have to stay locked in because you never know when your number’s called. Just accepting your role. That was something that I never really had to do before. Corn was our guy last year, so I would support him with everything I had and try to help him.”