Former Oklahoma State Quarterback Picks Up Win For Steelers in First Start of Season

Former Oklahoma State star Mason Rudolph was named the Pittsburgh Steelers starter earlier this week. The Steelers are dealing with an injury to Kenny Pickett and have been on a three-game losing streak. Rudolph being announced as the starter was supposed to provide an offensive spark to the team.

"As I stand here today, Mason Rudolph is the guy with the ball," Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin told reporters earlier this week. 

There was still not any certainly that Pickett would be out for the game, but that remained to be the case for the rest of the game. 

Rudolph led the Steelers to a big 34-11 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. He finished with 290 passing yards while completing 17 of his 27 passes and two touchdowns. He threw no interceptions, either, showing good ball control.

"[Rudolph is] a veteran guy. He's a backup, but he's also a veteran guy. He's been in our program a long time. He's here for those reasons. We've got a great deal of comfort with him," Tomlin continued earlier this week.

This proved to be the case. Rudolph had an incredible game in the spot start, leading Tomlin to not be committed to a starting quarterback next week.

Rudolphs' top receiver on the game was George Pickens, who finished with 195 receiving yards and two touchdowns for Rudolph.

This was a cool moment for Oklahoma State fans as Rudolph was knocked back to a third-string in 2022 when Mitch Trubisky joined the squad. He's gotten a few starts across his career, but only in the absence of his starting quarterbacks. 

Rudolph finished with 13,618 passing yards over his four years at Oklahoma State, with 92 yards and just 26 interceptions. He had a 63 percent pass completion rate across his college football career, too.

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