Gamecock fans angry for letting this player get away from South Carolina

In his final college football game, South Carolina native Mason Rudolph led his Oklahoma State Cowboys to a win in the Camping World Bowl.

Rudolph completed 21 of 32 passes for 351 yards and two touchdowns in the 30-21 win over the Virginia Tech Hokies.

While the senior from Rock Hill is looking forward to a career in the NFL, many took to social media Thursday to express their disappointment that Rudolph didn’t play college football for the South Carolina Gamecocks.

It’s not like Rudolph was an unknown coming out of Northwestern High School. He was a 4-star recruit who passed for more than 10,000 yards and 132 touchdowns in three seasons that included two state title games appearances.

He’s continued to grow physically, but he’s always had the frame of a prototype NFL quarterback. Rudolph is listed at 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds.

But USC never offered Rudolph a scholarship.

“South Carolina was always the mind-boggler,” Rudolph said to cbssports.com. “You know, in-state kid, played state championship there back-to-back years, played well, had the numbers and what not. (I) went to their camp and for whatever reason wasn’t good enough to get the offer, which was fine. I don’t even know that I would have gone there if I would have had the offer.”

Who bore the brunt of frustrated Gamecocks fans? Steve Spurrier.

Many wrote posts on Twitter lamenting that Rudolph, widely expected to be a first round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, got away. And many blamed Spurrier for allowing it to happen.

“@Rudolph2Mason dude can ball. One of the best QBs to come out of SC in awhile. Spurrier definitely whiffed on him,” wrote a man who described himself as a proud member of Gamecock Nation.

USC made quarterback Drew Barker (Burlington, Ky.) its top quarterback target for the 2014 recruiting cycle. Barker signed with Kentucky, and the Gamecocks eventually landed Michael Scarnecchia, the current backup QB.

While the former HBC was catching a lot of flak, another person named Steve Spurrier was also singled out for blame. That would be Steve Spurrier Jr., who spent 11 seasons at USC on his father’s coaching staff.

Spurrier Jr. was the Gamecocks’ wide receivers coach and became their recruiting coordinator in 2011. USC’s then-QBs coach G.A. Mangus was mostly in charge of offers at that position, but Spurrier Jr. still catches heat over Rudolph.

“Too bad Rudolph isn’t a Gamecock. Thanks Spurrier JR,” one Gamecocks fan wrote on Twitter.

“Everytime I watch Mason Rudolph play I get angry with Spurrier and Spurrier Jr. How did we not offer this guy? Can’t believe he didn’t have a offer from South Carolina or Clemson,” was what GamecockAdam, a Gamecock Club member, tweeted.

It’s true that Clemson didn’t land Rudolph, either. In fairness, Tigers coach Dabo Swinney did have a two-time Heisman Trophy finalist playing quarterback in Deshaun Watson.

As good as Rudolph is, it’s hard to imagine Clemson would be any better with him than the combination of Watson and Kelly Bryant, who have led the Tigers to the College Football Playoff three years in a row, including last season when they won the national championship.

And Clemson did land Rudolph’s younger brother, Logan Rudolph, a highly-recruited defensive lineman.

But to be fair to Spurrier, the Gamecocks do have a very promising player in Jake Bentley at quarterback. He’s leading USC into the Outback Bowl after a season where he completed more than 62 percent of his passes for 2,555 yards and 16 touchdowns in a much more conservative scheme than Rudolph runs with the Cowboys.

That said, Rudolph completed 65 percent of his passes this season (attempting almost 100 more passes than Bentley) for 4,553 yards and 35 touchdowns.

In four seasons in Stillwater, Okla., Rudolph passed for 13,267 yards and 90 touchdowns, improving his stats every season.

This story was originally published December 28, 2017 at 10:18 PM with the headline "Gamecock fans angry for letting this player get away from South Carolina."