Taylor Cornelius Stood Tall in the Face of Adversity

A better end-game script could not have been written for Taylor Cornelius than the one that played out on Saturday night. Not even one written by Stephen King with a foreword from Ernest Hemingway.

After a dud of a first half from OSU’s gunslinger — 119 yards passing, two touchdowns and two awful interceptions — the fifth-year senior quarterback responded admirably in the final 30 minutes. Cornelius, as timid as most any quarterback from the outside, took on a new personality Saturday. He was in the face of West Virginia defenders on several occasions, visibly fired up and vocal, and refused to kowtow to the team that led for all but 42 seconds.

He was, as Dillon Stoner put it, a “dog.” And for the first time all season, he was a combination of both bark and bite, and he backed it all up with his stellar second half play.

Cornelius in the first half vs. Cornelius in the second half was like the glow-up challenge personified and expedited into two separate 30-minute increments. He was Nathan Peterman in the first half, then Baker Mayfield in the second. His second half stat line? 19-for-28, 219 yards, four touchdowns, zero picks.

“We’ve got to try to get Corndog settled down,” said Gundy on the Cowboy Radio Network at halftime.

They tried and succeeded. Only a week removed from a monstrous 34-of-53 showing that saw Cornelius throw for 501 yards against Oklahoma but come up short of completing a major upset, he stood taller than his 6-6 frame again when the game was on the line.

The Cowboys found themselves down 41-38 with under a minute left against the ‘Eers, and on first-and-10 from the OSU 11-yard line, Corndaddy delivered a strike to his favorite target, Tylan Wallace, who marched his Biletnikoff-contending legs right into pay dirt with 42 seconds remaining. It was the first time OSU would lead on the evening — and it would not surrender it after the defense stood tough on a final stand.

No matter where you stand on Cornelius, or Gundy’s decision to ride with him through thick and thin this season, Saturday was refreshing. For the first time all season, the perpetual underdog — the guy who walked on at Oklahoma State, paid his dues behind Mason Rudolph for four years, and finally got his shot — got his shining moment he deserved. Beating sixth-ranked Texas earned him some praise earlier this season, sure, but doing what he did to keep OSU’s bowl streak alive and well may be his legacy.

The most epic part of it all is that he was one of the big reasons why OSU fell behind the way it did, and then became one of the big reasons why OSU was able to overcome it.

So here’s to you, Cornelius. To the glowed-up version we saw Saturday, may you shine as bright as you were in the spotlight on Saturday for not one, but two more games.