Hokies' defense readying for challenge of Oklahoma State

The Hokies started bowl preparations Saturday and Tech's defense will square off against a Cowboys' offense that features the nation's leading passer and leading passing offense

December 10, 2017

By Jimmy Robertson

BLACKSBURG – Understandably, when Tech fans found out the Hokies’ bowl opponent a week ago today, they immediately thought of passing and lots of points.

Tech’s coaches and players thought that, too.

The Hokies’ defense will face arguably its toughest task of the season when it takes on Oklahoma State’s offense in the Camping World Bowl on Dec. 28. In doing so, the unit will be taking on a quarterback familiar to defensive coordinator Bud Foster – Mason Rudolph, the Cowboys’ 6-foot-5, 230-pound leader.
“We tried to recruit him,” Foster revealed at a news conference Saturday afternoon.

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Rudolph played his high school football at Northwestern High in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and enjoyed a record-setting career. Despite all his accolades and records, he received little interest from Clemson, which had taken a commitment from Deshaun Watson at the time, and South Carolina, which hadMichael Scarnecchia from Florida in the fold. Rudolph’s offers included LSU, Louisville, North Carolina, Ole Miss, Virginia, and of course, the Hokies.

Rudolph and his family visited Tech’s campus in June of 2013. The Rudolph family had ties to the region, as his father, Brett, played at North Carolina, and his mother, Jamie, ran track at Liberty.

Ultimately, Rudolph picked Oklahoma State because of his familiarity with Mike Gundy’s offense, which was similar to the one he ran in high school, and because the Cowboys only had one scholarship quarterback at the time – J.W. Walsh. Four years later, Rudolph leads the country in passing yardage (4,553 yards), and Oklahoma State’s passing offense ranks No. 1 nationally (392.3 ypg).

“He’s big,” Foster said of his scouting report of Rudolph. “He’s got a live arm. Very accurate. Strong. He’ll stand in the pocket against the rush. I think the NFL guys will like him a lot because he’s in that 6-4, 6-5 range, and he’s a drop-back guy. He doesn’t run a whole lot. Not that he can’t, but he doesn’t do that. He delivers the ball extremely well on time.

“You can see a lot of experience in the offense and just a lot of game experience, and it shows by his completion percentage, where he throws the ball, how quickly he gets rid of it, all those things.”

Foster added that he’s only begun to starting crafting a game plan. After all, the coaches have been on the road recruiting.

But the Hokies have seen numerous up-tempo, spread offenses this season – and fared reasonably well. Tech has not allowed 400 yards passing in any game this season and only two 300-yard passing games. One of those came in the season opener against West Virginia, a familiar foe for Oklahoma State since both reside in the Big 12. WVU quarterback Will Grier threw for 371 yards and three touchdowns against the Hokies.

“I’d like to think we’ll be prepared for that,” Foster said of Oklahoma State’s tempo. “They [the Cowboys] are fast. We’ve just got to get lined up quickly. With that said, communication has got to be critical. I don’t want them to dictate to us, but at the same time, they’re going to go at a tempo, and we’ve got to be able to get lined up and be ready to go and not give up anything cheap. Make every throw competitive, or make every run … make sure we’re in our proper gaps and those type of things. That’s part of the tempo – just getting lined up and getting your eyes in the right spot and be ready to go execute.

“But I hope we’re farther along now obviously going into game 13 than we were in game 1.”

Now, here are some other notes from Saturday’s news conference:

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• Football Scoop named Tech tight ends coach and special teams coordinator James Shibest as its Special Teams Coordinator of the Year. The Hokies rank in the top 30 nationally in all four major special teams categories – punts, punt returns, kickoffs and kickoff returns. Behind Greg Stroman, the Hokies are one of just 13 teams with multiple punt return scores, and the Hokies have yielded just 42 yards on returns this season. Shibest, who also won the award in 2008, will receive the honor at the American Football Coaches Association Convention in January.

• Tech head coach Justin Fuente offered support for tailback Travon McMillian, who has decided to transfer despite leading the Hokies in rushing this season with 439 yards. McMillian, who rushed for 1,000 yards as a freshman, will graduate in two weeks and will not play in the Camping World Bowl.

“I’m going to support Travon in whatever he wants to do,” Fuente said. “I’m proud that he’s going to be a Virginia Tech graduate. He has had a good career here. It’s part of the rules that guys can graduate and move on, so we’re going to wish him well. We have a very good relationship. I hope he has a lot of success.”

• Fuente spent nearly all of the past week on the road visiting with recruits, including those expected to sign Dec. 20 and juniors with another year of high school remaining. Tech has 22 commitments lined up for this year’s class, and Fuente delivered a rather strong message when asked if he expected all of them to sign.

“Well, if you are committed, I expect you to sign,” he said. “If you don’t sign, you’re not committed.”

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