OSU More than Equipped to Open up Passing Game

Fluffy non-conference scheduling and semi-vanilla play calling have warranted some cause for concern among the Cowboy faithful in recent weeks, fair or not. But with the sheer talent at receiver and quarterback alone, I believe that concern is unjust given the limited sample size.

Kyle posed an excellent question yesterday: If teams are selling out to stop the run game, why not pass more?

Despite the lack of success running the ball and opening holes in the run game, the offensive line has provided respectable pass blocking. 400 passing yards isn’t attainable without a lot of luck or some big men taking care of you up front, and I believe it was more of the latter. (See: Rudolph, last week.)

Gundy said that UCA was “in a defense that was focused on stopping the run.”

That stacked box the Bears showed last week lead to a much more loose, gun and gun offense in the second half.

So, back to the question: why don’t the Cowboys pass the ball more?

I think that’s exactly what they may be preparing themselves to do.

Football logic states that in order to create a successful running game, there must be a threat in the passing game or you must have some mammoths up front opening holes.

Mammoths, we do not have. Passing game, we might.

By having a threat through the air, this will force the safeties into coverage and out of the box – thus opening up holes in the running game, which would allow more plays to develop past the first level.

But can Rudolph, a young sophomore, handle the pressure?

Rudolph’s prep career may be in the past, but his past is what tells me he is more than adequately equipped to carry the load of an offense with the freaks on the outside. In three years at Northwestern, he flung it around for 132 passing touchdowns – and nearly half of those came in his senior year, where he threw for 64 (!). He also accumulated 4,377 yards through the air his senior year in a similar spread offense to OSU, and Rudolph cited that as one of his reasons to choose the Pokes.

In a 15-0 senior year that finished with an MVP state championship performance, Rudolph set a state record with 8 passing touchdowns in a 62-35 win. He has proven that in a pass-happy scheme, he is capable of carrying the weight through the air.

Coming off a 400-yard passing performance last week, I expect the offense to again run through Rudolph this week if the defense loads up the box. And that’s something that he has embraced well thorough two games.