Roundtable: Discussing OSU’s Biggest Big 12 Threat, and Wudtee’s Debut

Welcome to roundtable Wednesday, where the PFB team discusses the latest around Oklahoma State football. Today, the team roundtabled on Keondre Wudtee, OSU’s biggest threat moving forward, and more. Enjoy.

Boone: First question, because people overwhelmingly agreed with my assessment: Were you discouraged, encouraged or indifferent about Keondre Wudtee’s OSU debut Friday?

Cox: Probably closer to indifferent. Nothing really got me too excited. He had a nice run from the zone read but looked like a kid playing in his first game. I’m not going to write him off based on some garbage time. I don’t think we know a ton more about him than we did before last Friday.

Slavin: Indifferent. You tossed a guy in during the second half in a game that was already won for his first ever in-game action. I’m not sure how much we can really glean from that. I like his ability to run, but his accuracy didn’t look great. Both are things Gundy has said about him before. I’ll be more interested in what he can do when he’s fighting to be the number one next offseason.

Matt Harris: I would say indifferent, I thought he ran the ball well but honestly didn’t show me much. He needs some real game experience before I judge anything.

Ryan Harris: I liked his mobility but I have to say indifferent. He is still a year away from seeing any real game time, but I think he has potential. Not too excited, but certainly not disappointed. He looked about how I expected him to look in his first game.

Hayden: Somewhere between discouraged and indifferent. He will get better, and I get that, but to me, he was dismal. I don’t know why I was surprised though. That was coming from a guy who completed one pass in the spring game. Sorry, Boone!

Boone: Yeah, I’m actually more on the side with Cox. I guess my post was seen as a ringing endorsement (someone asked if I was Wudtee’s agent!), but I think the sample size is too small to make any sweeping declarations. I loved his action in zone read, but his passing was disappointing, to say the least. He only made one solid throw and it was late on a timing route. I think the jury is still out on him.

Porter: I was a little discouraged. His footwork looked like me while changing a diaper and his arm strength was not what I thought it would be. Dude can blaze, though.

Nick Welch: Honestly, I wasn’t super impressed with his arm. The offense is predicated on a strong passer with a vertical passing attack. We’ve seen how the offense stagnates with a mobile quarterback without a terrific arm (Walsh). Small sample I know, but I wasn’t impressed really in any fashion

Boone: Next question … In 2011, I felt like the season shifted and OSU really had something after escaping College Station with a win over a top-10 A&M team. When, if at any point this season, do you feel like we’ll really know if this team is the real deal or not?

Matt Harris: It could come in the Big 12 opener against TCU if OSU really comes out and dominates that game, but I think we should have a great feel for this team heading into Bedlam after road tests against Texas and West Virginia.

Cox: It could be this Saturday. I expect Oklahoma State to get a road win but if it can continue with these fast starts and dominates wire to wire, I’ll feel like a lot of the early season hype is warranted. Then the Big 12 opener will be big. TCU seems to be pretty good in spite of Kenny Hill. I don’t see anothe real test after that until West Virginia.

Ryan Harris: If you’re looking at it from a playoff or bust perspective, the only measuring stick is OU. With a relatively weak Big 12 this year, OSU will probably have to beat the Sooners twice to get in. If the Pokes can take just one of the assumed two meetings we have this year, I’ll be happy.

Hayden: I feel like “the real deal” is relative to who you compare OSU with. If we are talking about the real deal in the Big 12, we know that now I think. If we’re talking about as a top 15 team, I would say after the Texas game. And if you’re looking at a national championship lens, I don’t think anyone can really consider OSU in that realm until after Bedlam.

Slavin: It really depends on the first time they’re tested. Not because OSU plays poorly, but because they meet a team talented enough to beat them. This weekend is the team’s first real “test,” but as far as a game that could make us all chug the orange Kool-aide, that might not be until West Virginia. I know they lost to Virginia Tech, but I think they’re better top to bottom than any other team OSU will face before heading to Morgantown.

Slavin: Now, if OSU beats Pitt by 40, I’m going to put all my chips on the table.

Porter: I thought it was in the first game, actually. Oklahoma State looked far, far better than I thought they would, even against Tulsa. That’s when the A&M-in-2011 shift happened in my mind. Right when Bag Year crossed the goal line.

Welch: Before the season started, I would’ve said at Texas. I think OSU can hang points on Texas after seeing what Maryland did. After witnessing what TCU did defensively to Arkansas, I really think that game will tell me something. This game will probably be the first game OSU will might trail in all year. I’m not extremely worried about TCU’s offense, It’s their defense, which looks like a vintage TCU defense, that worries me.

Boone: Now that the cupcakes are over (no offense, TU), and now that we’ve seen what OSU (and other B12 teams are), which upcoming game on the schedule (not named OU) now concerns you the most?

Hayden: Dana.

Porter: Still at West Virginia. OSU will be ranked No. 2 in the country by then. It’s going to be so lit in Morgantown.

Cox: West Virginia, for sure. It’s always a tough out in Morgantown and Dana finally has an arm to stretch your defense. It will be Halloween Saturday which should be a night game with probably two ranked teams. Madness.

Matt Harris: West Virginia. I thought they had a fairly impressive showing against a really good Virginia Tech defense in week one. Will Grier had a rusty first half but he torched one of the top defensive back groups in the nation in the second half of that game and I think they have a very solid run game.

They may be the team most similar to OSU in the Big 12 so I’ll expect a close but high scoring game in that one. Also, Morgantown is not a fun environment for an opposing team to play in.

Boone: See, WVU gives me the nervies. But TCU terrifies me. I realize nearly pitching a shutout against an SEC team in Arkansas doesn’t make them a B12 contender, but I think that defense, and the wild card of Kenny Hill, makes the Frogs a dangerous matchup for OSU.

Slavin: I hate to echo everyone else here, but it has to be West Virginia. They were close to beating Virginia Tech. They got back a talented wide receiver after that game which made them better. They’re likely to be undefeated when OSU faces them. More than anything, the game is in Morgantown which is one of the toughest places in the Big 12 to play. That game legitimately scares me.

Ryan Harris: West Virginia. Will Grier should be the best QB that OSU sees this season, aside from Baker Mayfield. An undefeated Pokes team playing on the road in one of the most hostile environments in college football will test the mental strength of this team. Fans will be going crazy and the Mountaineer defense will feed off of it. I think WVU will throw the kitchen sink at OSU and the defense will play more aggressive than usual.

Welch: I agree with the guys here, West Virginia has a legitimate possibility to be undefeated in Big 12 play when OSU arrives in Morgantown. OSU is 3-2 against them since they joined the conference. Last time OSU went there, I was watching the game on my phone during a wedding and was scared out of my mind.

Boone: Final question: What would your reaction be if Mason Rudolph planted Burns Hargis at the 50 if OSU obliterated OU in Bedlam last year?

Cox: Mason is a good Christian boy and would never do anything but be kind and politely wave the wheat. He’d probably go back to the home locker room to personally thank each Sooner for their hospitality and encourage them for the next game.

Porter:

Welch: I would absolutely love it…..until i looked at the schedule and realize OSU has Iowa State in Ames the following week. I’m sorry I’m a realistic pessimist after years of being an OSU fan.

Matt Harris: I might spontaneously grown a mullet if that happened.

Ryan Harris: I’m all for it. Usually I’d want Mason to act like he’s been there before. Not for OU though. Last year I tweeted after bedlam, pleading Mason and James to take in the fans who were taunting them as they walked off the field. I urged them to savor every OU fan or Oklahoma citizen who told them they can’t beat OU. Then come back to school and stick it to OU this year. When it comes to OU, I hope OSU runs up the score and waves all of the flags at midfield after the game.