Rudolph-Led Orange Team Swamps Black

STILLWATER, Okla. — The black team was dealt a losing hand.

The orange beat the black 24-0 for the Oklahoma State football team’s spring game Saturday. Heisman Trophy candidate Mason Rudolph trotted out to start at quarterback for the orange. Redshirt freshman Keondre Wudtee was his counterpart for the black. Wudtee and the other quarterbacks for the black team were not as good. They completed two passes.

On Rudolph’s first possession, he sliced through the black defense. His first pass was a 39-yard seed to Tyrell Alexander. Right between the 1 and 0 on Alexander’s chest. A few plays after, Rudolph threw a fade to Chris Lacy, who had to swim back toward midfield to make a leaping 38-yard snag. Jeff Carr carried it in a play later.

On Wudtee’s first possession, he handed it off twice and threw incomplete. Things never improved. He was 1-of-6 for six yards.

Postgame, coach Mike Gundy said he didn’t learn too much from the spring game other than that last year’s backup quarterback Taylor Cornelius played well. Cornelius was 5-of-9 for 77 yards and threw a 22-yard arching touchdown to Obi Obialo. He also showed speed that hadn’t even been close to being there in years past.

“I thought Taylor did a good job, and the other guys that were inexperienced, looked inexperienced to me,” Gundy said.

Gundy did not name a backup quarterback after the spring game. He said if he had to Saturday, he would go with Cornelius, but the decision likely won’t be made official until August. The Cowboys open Sept. 2 against Tulsa.

None of the other quarterbacks for the black team were any good. Redshirt sophomore John Kolar only threw five passes. Two of them, including his first and final, were interceptions coming on horribly wobbly balls.

Before spring practice started, Gundy said he would like to implement a package for a more athletic, playmaking quarterback to head. Whether such a package remains an interest after his young quarterbacks’ woeful performances is unclear, but Gundy said if a package were designed after the spring game, it would be for Wudtee depending on how Jelani Woods progresses. He also said whoever is the quarterback for that package does not necessarily have to be the backup.

“But we’re gonna have a package where we have a guy that can give us more on short-yardage, goal line situations,” Gundy said. “Really wouldn’t want to burn a year on a guy for that package, so 11 would be the leading candidate right now.”

But the discrepancy remains between Rudolph and the pack remains. Rudolph worked three series to start and led scoring drives on two of them. He went 13-of-17 for 204 yards and a passing touchdown. He said it was just good to be back out at Boone Pickens Stadium.

“I think we’re all excited about our senior season as a whole, not just me,” Rudolph said. “We’ve got so many playmakers that you can point to on this offense, and the defensive side, they’re huge components of this team, so I’m excited.”

Gundy said the orange defense was stacked against the black team’s offense. Last year’s starters Jarrell Owens, Cole Walterscheid, Chad Whitener and Ramon Richards were all on the orange defense, which made it clearly near impossible for a group of quarterbacks who had played in two games combined.

The offensive lines were split as well. The orange had a couple of experienced guys, and the black the others. Because of that, both teams struggled in protection and particularly had challenges running the ball. Between both squads’ backs, there were only 129 yards on the ground, and the leading rusher was La’Darren Brown who had 49.

There were several inactive offensive linemen. Gundy said Zach Crabtree, Larry Williams and Deionte Noel were all injured in the past couple of days and will be out for a couple of weeks. The Cowboys were two deep at a lot of positions, which almost changed the dynamic of the game, Gundy said.

“Almost just went to an offensive/defensive scrimmage,” Gundy said. “But we decided to go ahead and split ’em up.”

It didn’t make for good football all too often.