Gundy Revisits Taylor Cornelius’ First Start, Preaches Patience

STILLWATER — After reviewing the tape, Taylor Cornelius wasn’t as “averuj” as Mike Gundy initially thought.

In his postgame presser Thursday, Gundy said he thought Cornelius “missed six throws that he normally hits.” During his media luncheon Monday, Gundy said that number dropped to four after watching film.

“A couple of the others, there were some other issues involved,” Gundy said. “I have a strong tendency to always blame the quarterback.”

Cornelius’ first collegiate start came with a lot of critics. Despite having 300 yards and five touchdowns, Cornelius missed a few throws and threw and interception in the second quarter.

Monday, Gundy shared a gem of a conversation he had with Cornelius after his pick.

“He had, essentially, two guys that he coulda thrown to if he had thrown the ball good, for a touchdown,” Gundy said. “He chose to throw it to the other team. I had asked him when he came off if he knew that we were wearing orange and the other team was not. He clearly stated he knew we were wearing orange, but I wasn’t sure on that particular play.”

This will be Cornelius’ first time to watch film of himself a collegiate game he where he got a significant amount of snaps.

Gundy said he liked where Cornelius’ vision was and what he meant to do with the ball for the most part, but he simply missed some throws. Monday was the second time Gundy used the analogy of a young pitcher aiming too much to try to throw strikes rather than just going out and throwing it.

“Mentally, he was good,” Gundy said. “He missed two corner routes, he underthrew a deep ball, he missed a throw across the middle, but that didn’t have anything to do with his approach mentally. That’s why I’m encouraged because he’s in the right spot. We just gotta get him to where he’ll cut it loose and go play.

“There’s times we’re gonna throw interceptions. I don’t know [what] to tell ya. We throw the ball a bunch. We throw it downfield. We take a lot of chances. It is what it is.”

Monday, Gundy gave a breakdown of reps in practice for the quarterbacks. He said Cornelius takes about 60 percent with graduate transfer Dru Brown and freshman Spencer Sanders getting about 15 percent each, leaving the remaining 10 percent to redshirt sophomore Keondre Wudtee.

Gundy has preached that patience is needed for his new starting quarterback for a while now. Before Thursday, Cornelius, a fifth-year senior, hadn’t started a game since he was in high school.

“It’s new to him,” Gundy said. “I guess it’s the first game he started in what four years? Five years? It’s a little different for him. I’m gonna guess that he’ll feel a lot better. We’re gonna let him go. He’s gonna go, and he’s gonna play, and he’s gonna make some mistakes, and we’re gonna keep him in there and let him play. We think that he gives us the best chance to be successful.”