By Michael Doutey
There hasn’t been a quarterback competition in Stillwater in several years. Mason Rudolph took over in November of 2014, only relinquishing some of the duties to JW Walsh in some short yardage situations in 2015. Rudolph leaves Stillwater as OSU’s all-time leading passer with 13,618 yards and threw the most touchdowns in school history with 92.
Those are some massive shoes to fill. For months fans have debated who will replace the graduated Rudolph. The most popular option for fans has been Spencer Sanders, the highly touted freshmen from Denton, Texas. Some have been intrigued by Dru Brown, the senior graduate transfer from Hawaii, who has thrown for 5,273 yards, 37 touchdowns and 15 interceptions in his 22 starts (played in 25 total games).
To most fans, the competition was a two man race. But Mike Gundy and his coaching staff never viewed it that way, mostly because they couldn’t. During spring practices, there were only two quarterbacks on campus with, Taylor Cornelius, and redshirt-sophomore, Keondre Wudtee. From what Gundy had seen in the spring and over the summer, it was enough for him to be comfortable to name Cornelius as the teams starter at Big 12 Media Days in mid-July.
However, Gundy was asked last week if he is now trying to find his backup quarterback since they were so positive on Cornelius.
“Not really. I am watching to see if any of those guys behind him will ready to play this year, with the exception of Wudtee. I know what his situation is,” Gundy said. “But with the other guys, we are watching to see if they pick up enough and if they will be ready to play.”
That is interesting. It looks like he is waiting to see if Sanders or Brown can be ready to go this year. So, maybe the door is slightly cracked for those two as the season moves on? Who knows what Gundy has planned, but I am still comfortable thinking that OSU will have multiple starting quarterbacks this season.
Taylor Cornelius: Six-foot-six and 232 pounds
Cornelius is a redshirt-senior and former walk-on from Bushland, Texas. He has appeared in eight games in his OSU career and has thrown for 220 yards on 15-24 passing. He has also rushed for 108 yards and one touchdown.
Gundy and Mike Yurcich are confident in Cornelius’ abilities. Gundy just doesn’t know how he will play in front of a crowd. OSU has a perfect schedule to break in a new quarterback with six of the first eight games being inside Boone Pickens Stadium. OSU’s two road games in that time are at Kansas and Kansas State. That is a great way for Cornelius to get his feet wet and get his confidence to rise before the meat of the season which comes in the second half of the schedule.
Cornelius is a smooth athlete. That is the word that comes to mind from watching him in practice and in the past. He has a smooth throwing motion and he delivers a good ball.
“Corn has probably one of the biggest arms I’ve ever seen. I’ve seen him take a knee on the goal line throw the ball over 50 yards,” Dillon Stoner said of Cornelius. Here are some examples of what we’ve seen of Cornelius in the past in games or spring games.
Pistols firing! Taylor Cornelius finds Landon Wolf for the first points of the afternoon! #okstate pic.twitter.com/0U5yj3OUpH
— Cowboy Football (@CowboyFB) April 28, 2018
Congratulations to our family member Tylan Wallace #number80 on his Football game TODAY. pic.twitter.com/f0vBkfJ1Yk
— Wallacefamily Tree (@wallacefamilytr) September 17, 2017
Taylor Cornelius had the best offensive day. He was 9/14 through the air for 192 yards & 2 TD’s. #OKState pic.twitter.com/AIN91fKGFZ
— Nate Feken (@TheGreat_Nate) April 17, 2016
“He is also more elusive than people give him credit for,” Stoner continued to say. “He’s a long, lengthy guy so he obviously has deceiving speed.”
WATCH: “There goes Corndog!” Taylor Cornelius makes it a 59-16 #OKState lead! pic.twitter.com/FZJLPUAeK6
— Cowboy Football (@CowboyFB) October 14, 2017
That is one thing that will surprise you. Cornelius has a good set of wheels.
Honestly, he reminds me of Clint Chelf. He is a guy who has hung around for a long time and he understands the offense. Like Chelf, he is a smooth athlete who throws a nice ball and is deceptively fast. Mike Yurcich did an excellent job with Chelf and nearly won a Big 12 Championship with him back in 2013. If Cornelius can play well and win the Boise State game in week three, he will keep the job all season long
Dru Brown: Five-Foot-Eleven and 200 pounds
Brown got to Stillwater four days before OSU began fall camp, which really hurts his chances to win the starting job before the start of the season. Not only is he way behind Cornelius, but now he is a full summer behind freshmen, Spencer Sanders. However, he does have the most in-game experience of the group and by quite a bit. Brown has played in 25 games and started 22 games at Hawaii. In 2017, Brown threw for 2,785 yards, 18 touchdowns and eight interceptions. In 2016, Brown took over the starting job and threw for 2,488 yards, 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Honestly, those numbers don’t just jump out at you. Not in today’s college football and especially not in the Big 12. For an idea of how Brown plays, here are some highlights from him at Hawaii.
I watched Brown closely the two times I was able to watch OSU’s practices. When I say I watched practice, all I saw was the team stretching and doing some warm up drills. So, there wasn’t much to take away. But when I watched Brown, I wasn’t impressed with his arm. It didn’t have much pop to it. He is also really small. He is closer to five-foot-ten rather than five-foot-eleven.
Dru Brown on his first day getting reps for #okstate pic.twitter.com/XIo3DEnP3U
— Michael Doutey (@mike_doutey) August 2, 2018
However, I noticed more from him when he started to move around and was throwing on the run. He looked more comfortable and the ball had a little more zip on it. Still, it’s not a huge arm but it does the job. From watching some of Brown’s games at Hawaii and it showed that he was more comfortable throwing on the run.
Dru Brown from yesterday. #okstate pic.twitter.com/URHqNT1IXN
— Michael Doutey (@mike_doutey) August 3, 2018
Dru Brown. A way too early thought on Brown from watching him twice in drills: He looks more natural throwing the ball while on the move. pic.twitter.com/L9MXpVtIqz
— Michael Doutey (@mike_doutey) August 7, 2018
The last practice the media was allowed to attend, I got to see the last couple minutes of the two- minute drill. Cornelius and the first team were coming off the field and Brown and the second team went in. The first pass Brown threw was a dart to Landon Wolf on a skinny post for about twenty yards and Wolf made a nice catch while taking a hit.
A few plays later, Brown threw a nice fade pass into the end zone and LC Greenwood couldn’t make the catch or it was broken up at the last second. From where I stood, which was about 130 yards from the play, it looked like the pass was dropped. Those two throws opened my eyes a little bit on Brown’s ability.
I think Brown might be able to win the backup job. He does have a redshirt year available, so he could be used in just four games this season as the backup so that he could be available for the 2019 season.
Spencer Sanders: Six-foot-two and 195 pounds
Sanders is a true freshman from Denton-Ryan High School where he was named Mr. Texas Football in 2017. Sanders has all the hype surrounding him. He has been the fan favorite to replace Rudolph this season ever since he committed back in October of 2016. And it is easy to see why.
I watched him throw one pass in drill work and I could see the talent ooze out of him. He has the most talent in the quarterback room. Now, talent only goes so far. He needs to understand the playbook and has to have the game slow down for him. It is really hard to tell when that will be. For Mason, that was in November of his freshman year. Even then, he had a couple interceptions that could have been costly. But unlike Mason, Sanders didn’t come in a semester early. Sanders came to Stillwater in June and didn’t have a true practice until August. Sure, there are summer workouts, but they aren’t like spring or fall practices.
If Sanders came in the spring semester then maybe he could have won the job. I think Sanders is going to be a stud at Oklahoma State. He is a raw talent who has a strong arm and incredible athleticism. It is not a question of if Sanders will be the starter at OSU. The question is when will Sanders take over? Will it be sometime this season or will it be next year? Only time will tell.
Keondre Wudtee: Six-foot-four and 216 pounds
Wudtee is a good looking athlete. He physically looks the part of a power-five quarterback. He he throws a good ball. He has quick release. He looks like he can play, but I am not sure everything has clicked for him yet. The only times we’ve seen him, he hasn’t been overly impressive. We truly haven’t seen enough to have an educated guess on Wudtee.
Keondre Wudtee from this morning. pic.twitter.com/DOoxOnZtC6
— Michael Doutey (@mike_doutey) August 7, 2018
To be honest, part of me is rooting for Cornelius. He has been around for a long time and has been preparing for years for this moment. I think OSU can have success with him at quarterback. But Gundy has left the door open for Sanders and Brown to sneak in and compete. Sanders has the talent to take over the staring spot. It all depends on how quickly he learns the offense and on how Cornelius performs. If Cornelius starts the season and goes 7-0 or 6-1, it will be hard to take the job away from him. But if he struggles, I can see Sanders adjusting well as the season moves along and he takes the job midway through the season.
Now, I have no idea how Dru Brown factors in. He could be the one to give Cornelius a run for his money because he is an older guy who has two seasons worth of experience, which Gundy has said he likes and values in a quarterback. If Cornelius struggles in the Boise State game, maybe Brown is the guy Gundy turns to early in the season.
It will be a fascinating season as we watch what Gundy and his coaching staff will do at the quarterback spot this season.
