Oklahoma State head football coach Mike Gundy
Taylor Cornelius has some extraordinary large shoes to fill, but the irony is – usually – 6-foot-6 quarterbacks have big feet.
Okay, that was an incredibly lame intro, but Cornelius is the key to how Oklahoma State rebounds this season in a post-Mason Rudolph world, as the Cowboys get set to open the season against Missouri State on Thursday night.
The game is scheduled to start at 8:00 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1. If you don’t have cable or can’t get to a TV, you can still watch a live stream of the game (or DVR it) on your computer, phone or streaming device by signing up for one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services:
Fox Sports 1 is included in FuboTV’s main package, which includes 85 total channels and is largely tailored towards sports fans. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the FuboTV website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the FuboTV app.
If you can’t watch live, FuboTV comes with 30 hours of Cloud DVR (with the ability to upgrade to 500 hours), as well as a handy “72-Hour Lookback” feature, which will allow you to watch the game on-demand up to three days after it airs even if you forgot to record it.
In addition to their extensive Netflix-like streaming library, Hulu now also offers a bundle of 50-plus live TV channels, including Fox Sports 1. You can sign up for “Hulu with Live TV” right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Hulu app.
If you can’t watch live, “Hulu with Live TV” also comes with 50 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of DVR space and the ability to fast forward through commercials).
Fox Sports 1 is included in the “Sling Blue” channel package. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the Sling TV website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Sling TV app.
If you can’t watch live, you can get 50 hours of cloud DVR storage as an additional add-on.
Fox Sports Go
Additionally, you can watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the Fox Sports Go website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Fox Sports Go app. You’ll need to log in to a cable provider to watch this way, but if you don’t have that, you can still sign up for one of the above options and then use your FuboTV, Hulu or Sling TV credentials to sign in and watch on the Fox digital platforms.
Preview
How important was Rudolph to the Cowboys during his college career? He finished as the program’s all-time passing leader in virtually every important passing category that matters. His 13,618 yards are over 4,000 more than the next highest player on the list, Brandon Weeden. Rudolph accounted for 4,904 passing yards and 37 touchdowns last season.
Cornelius is a fifth-year senior, who finally has the opportunity to lead the Cowboys after patiently waiting for so long. He gets one season, but he hopes to make it count. He will also be counted on as a leader, as senior wide receiver James Washington also departed like Rudolph in the 2018 NFL Draft.
Justice Hill has all the talent in the world, and the running back seems like he’ll be the primary help for Cornelius and the Cowboys.
Oklahoma State also has a new defensive coordinator to break in.
Former Duke defensive coordinator Jim Knowles takes over for Glenn Spencer after Cowboys head coach Mike Gundy dismissed Spencer during the offseason. Knowles’ Blue Devils defenses were statistically always much better than the collective group of raw talent, as shown by their impressive stop rate:
A stat on Oklahoma State’s Jim Knowles: Duke’s defense ranked No. 18 in stop rate at 74%, the same rate as the Big 12’s best defenses.
The Cowboys finished last season with a 10-3 overall record. Unfortunately, losses to then-ranked No. 16 TCU (44-31 on September 23) and No. 5 Oklahoma (62-52 on November 4), took them out of Big 12 title contention earlier than they wanted, and a late-season loss to Kansas State buried any chance of a “New Year’s Six” bowl game.
Oklahoma State, due to losses elsewhere in the Big 12, seemed poise for another season where they can remain in contention.