OSU Football: High Expectations Set For QB Mason Rudolph

It took him three games to win over the OSU faithful, and that has sent expectations for quarterback Mason Rudolph's sophomore season through the roof. 

Start number four for Rudolph will come in Mount Pleasant Michigan Thursday night, so Mike Gundy continues to preach patience to his star in the making. “I played in eight games as a freshman,” said Gundy. “When I got into game seven or eight of my sophomore year is when I really felt like I understood college football and had a better feel; the game slowed down for me. That would have been 15 games in. I'm hoping he can pick it up quicker.”

They've tried to be careful with Rudolph from the beginning, even slowing the offense down in his debut at Baylor, re-introducing the huddle. “Now we're not huddling. The only reason we did huddle that game was because they felt I needed to take baby steps, so we're going to be going fast, and we're not going to be huddling, so that's a good thing,” he explained.

Rudolph will have his ups and downs, but his demeanor, his intangibles are just what you want in a quarterback, and he reminds the head coach of some other successful OSU signal callers. “He's a little bit more low-key than a Josh Fields, or a Zac Robinson, or even a Weeden. His personality is somewhat like Chelf. Chelf was kind of quiet and went about his business from a cerebral point. Mason's similar to him,” said Gundy.

Defensively, senior cornerback Kevin Peterson is ready to go after the knee surgery he had a few weeks ago. He'll be a game-time decision by the coaches as to whether they want to use him.