Notes on the Washington and Rudolph Post-Camping World Bowl Press Conference

James Washington and Mason Rudolph put a press conference bow on this season after the Pokes’ 30-21 win in the Camping World Bowl on Thursday. It was fun, it was interesting, it was sad. I took notes on it all. Let’s go.

Of note: There’s a separate post breaking down the second half of this press conference when Mike Gundy takes the dais.

• Rudolph on Justice: “I thought the offensive line and Justice Hill did a great job to ice the game. Justice did an unbelievable job making sure he was patient and finding the hole.”

• Rudolph on Washington: “He made a lot of plays today. He made a lot of plays the last four years. I’ve been blessed to have such an athlete, such a playmaker to throw the ball to.” Also mentioned several other receivers he enjoys throwing the ball to.

• Washington: “Blessed with an opportunity. I give a big shout out to the O-line. They don’t get a lot of credit for the stuff they do, but they do a good job. I’m glad to have been a part of this team over the last four years. Blessed to be an Oklahoma State Cowboy.” Lost a cousin named Rich Johnson recently, wouldn’t have been in this position without him.

• Rudolph talked to Gundy briefly. “I thanked him for the opportunity to come here and play in his system, play in such an explosive offense with guys like James and being able to spread the ball around. Just being part of a team and a community in Stillwater that’s been home for me and James for four years. Just a fun college experience.”

• Wanted to hit Washington when he was scrambling to the left. Stoner “made a great catch” on the one at the pylon. On the Washington post: “It’s pretty easy when you have a guy who’s a gazelle out there. He eats up all the space between the corner, breaks him off, guy turns his back, it’s over. I’ve seen that a few times throughout my career. It’s always a good sight.”

• Kasey Dunn told Washington, “Thanks for the ride.” Washington mentioned how much Dunn has helped him over the last four years. “Without him it wouldn’t be possible.” Washington and Stoner are close. Have a lot of things that they do. Handshakes, celebrations, “weird stuff.”

• Rudolph mentioned getting a score and a stop going into halftime as the turning point in the game.

• Rudolph said they sputtered a little bit in the first half. “It was all of our fault. We made some adjustments, came back and turned it around. It’s what we do. We’ve been a second half team all season.”

• Washington said VT was running a bunch of invert in the first half. Said Yurcich is a great coach. “His schemes and adjustments at halftime are top of the line. We came out, executed and things were falling in place.”

• Rudolph said they had higher aspirations coming into the season. “We had a couple bumps throughout the season. The leadership was incredible. The way the guys flipped the switch … making sure the team was heading in the right direction … it’s cool, it speaks a lot about the senior class, the leadership on both sides of the ball. It’s a great achievement for us.”

• Rudolph told the story of how they met at the TCU game in 2013. Called him a “quiet, little bit awkward country dude.” Said he’s still quiet but that he’s become a great leader over the last four years.

“Very seldom that you get a player of his ability to come to practice every single day and approach it like it’s a game rep and set the culture for the younger guys. They come in and say, “Hey, this is the Biletnikoff receiver, and he’s not taking too many plays off in practice. It’s a tribute to coach Dunn, too.”

• Washington on Gundy’s best advice: “The Cowboy Culture.” Talk about focus, effort, toughness and leadership. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from here it’s that you’re not always going to have good days, but out of those bad days you have to make something good happen.”

• Rudolph: “Both of us have our best ball ahead of us. I’m excited about the future. Start playing on Sundays will be fun.”

• Rudolph on Justice: “Sky’s the limit for him. He’ll be the guy coming back to kind of build the team around.” Have to figure out the QB situation but he’s excited about the future of Hill and OSU.

• Washington: “I wouldn’t ask for another quarterback. Without a quarterback as good as him, a lot of that wouldn’t be possible.”

• Rudolph found Yurcich after the game and thanked him for all the hard work and all the hours he spent game-planning and also putting up with Gundy. “He’s unbelievable schematically. He’s going to be a head coach one day, I have no doubt.”