Oklahoma State University Athletics
What the Media Are Saying After OSU vs. Virginia Tech
December 29, 2017 | Cowboy Football
OSU's victory pushed the No. 19 Cowboys to 10-3 on the year and marked Oklahoma State's team-record third straight season with 10 wins. After the game, state, local and national media covered the Cowboys from all angles one final time in 2017.
The Oklahoman's John Helsley discussed Mason Rudolph's final record-breaking performance, as the Rock Hill, South Carolina, native went 21-of-32 through the air for 351 yards and two scores. Rudolph's Cowboy curtain call saw him surpass Brandon Weeden in two single season categories - passing yards (4,904 to 4,727) and yards per game (377.2 to 363.6). He also tied Weeden's single-season passing touchdown record with 37 scores through the air.
"Couldn't have done it without the guys around me," Rudolph said. "The wide receivers. Justice Hill. Offensive line made it happen. It was cool, man. Great way to go out, three straight 10-win seasons for Oklahoma State. That's the way the seniors wanted it."
Helsley's colleague, Scott Wright, took a look at the Oklahoma State defense, which came up with key stops at critical moments throughout the contest.Â
Virginia Tech was able to rack up 518 total yard and 33 first downs, but Wright noted that there were key plays - a sack after a fumbled snap on fourth down when Virginia Tech was in the endzone, Darius Curry's on-handed interception and so on -Â that the Cowboys made to help them pick up the win. Wright wrote that "(defensive coordinator) Glenn Spencer's OSU defense bent, but didn't break."
On the other side of the state, the Tulsa World's Mark Cooper recapped James Washington's own record-setting performance.
He painted a picture of the final Rudolph-to-Washington connection, as the duo put together one last 65-yard touchdown score that gave the Cowboys momentum and a two-score lead. That 65-yard score pushed Washington past OSU great Rashaun Woods and into first place on the program's all-time receiving yards list. His 126 receiving yards at the game's end leave him with 4,472 career receiving yards - the second-best total in Big 12 history.Â
"This night was about the final chapter in an iconic era of OSU football," Cooper wrote. "Led by two players - Rudolph and Washington - who have become synonymous with Oklahoma State football."
Rudolph, Washington, and a host of other seniors were able to end their Cowboy careers with a victory. Now, the program's attention shifts to 2018, where a new crop of Cowboys will lead the team onto the field against Missouri State on Sept. 1.
