Taylor Cornelius and Britton Abbott Awarded Scholarships

During Mike Gundy’s first press conference of the 2017 season, the 13th-year head coach announced that Cowboy Back Britton Abbott and backup quarterback Taylor Cornelius have been awarded scholarships.

“We were able to award Abbott and Corndog each a scholarship which is a great thrill for us,” Gundy said. “Guys have been tremendous and been great workers and been great representatives of our program. We’re excited about what they bring, and it’s always good to be able to give those guys some aid.”

Coach, I love that you used his nickname instead of calling him “14” but his mother is watching. I don’t think he wants to mess up “Corneilson” again.

Cornelius walked on in 2014 and has been mostly in charge of mop-up duty in the shadow of Mason Rudolph’s rising star. But it looks like he’s all but won the backup QB spot for 2017, essentially making him of the most important players on the roster. And he’ll have a shot a the starting job as a senior in 2018.

Abbott has seen most of his reps come on special teams but looks ready to take on the starting Cowboy Back role in lieu of departed Blake Jarwin, another former walk-on who earned his own scholarship. He’s probably the most complete Cowboy Back on the roster and can fill both the Jarwin tight end role and the Zac Veatch H-back role.

Gundy sort of explained the particulars on scholarships and how this whole thing works.

“The new rules that are in effect that will start as we speak are very complicated. It’s going to change the landscape of college football in my opinion. When we have some aid, we will be in a more lucrative position to pass that down to current members on our team. We were able to do that just a few days ago. It’s too confusing to explain.”

Well, thanks for trying. These are always fun stories and you can’t help but root for the Blake Jarwins and Chad Whiteners of the world. Or the Britton Abbotts and Taylor Corneliuses.