Connect with us

Football

Why in the World Did Mason Rudolph Play in Bedlam?

Published

on

One of the first things I noticed on Saturday at the game is the shoes Mason Rudolph was wearing. I got made fun of by my buddies I was sitting with but apparently the kicks were specially made for No. 2 to help take the pressure off the broken bone in his foot. They clearly didn’t work as Rudolph came in for one series and threw a pick six.

And Rudolph clearly wasn’t working. So why did Mike & Mike even roll him out there?

“We didn’t really feel that Mason [Rudolph] was healthy enough to play the game at full speed and protect himself,” said Mike Gundy after the game. No kidding.

“We gave J.W. most of the reps, and we felt like that was the best way to go. Then we tried to make a little change there, and in my opinion, Mason wasn’t really that comfortable with throwing the football. It didn’t work out for us.”

No, no it did not. I agree with John Helsley too.

“Obviously Mason (Rudolph) wasn’t 100 percent so we had to do what is best for the team, and J.W. (Walsh) being 100 percent was our best shot today and that’s what we decided to do,” added Mike Yurcich. As for why he switched back to No. 2 in the second quarter.

“At that part of the game we needed a spark, and we felt like he could do that,” said Yurcich. “We talked with Mason (Rudolph), and he said he felt good and he’s an ultra-competitive guy. He gave it his go and obviously we had to evaluate that situation and did what was best for the team after that.”

So a wounded Rudolph was there to be the spark. To do Walsh’s job for Walsh. My question is actually, why was he even suited up? And if he was suited up, why didn’t he start? Oh, because you thought he couldn’t protect himself.

Look, either he can go or he can’t. And if you’re going to roll him out there (and you almost literally had to roll him out there), why are you having him throw long four-yard outs to the other side of the field coming in cold? That series was a complete disaster and essentially ended the game.

I don’t want to be Mr. “I’m going to question every move that doesn’t work retrospectively” guy, but that one deserved questioning at the time. Especially if you’re the people who have been around Rudolph all week watching him try to move around. Especially when you thought he couldn’t protect himself!

And Walsh wasn’t necessarily the issue a gimpy Rudolph could have solved. It was more the run defense and special teams up to that point. The worst part was that OU didn’t even have to deliver the dagger to OSU’s season. Rudolph, by no fault of his own, did it for them.

Most Read

Copyright © 2011- 2023 White Maple Media