When Mike Yurcich, an up-and-coming coordinator who leapt from Shippensburg to Oklahoma State, first tried making a splash in the orange-and-black, he did so by solidifying the most important position on the football field. He recruited (and landed) the services of Mason Rudolph, a South Carolina standout who decided to leave the region to play in an uptempo offense.
Rudolph was awesome (duh). He was also a game-changer — for OSU, for the #brand, for Yurcich. Yurcich rode his QB to great heights, and while OSU did not win a conference title, Rudolph quarterbacked 10-win seasons like it was a walk down The Strip.