Oklahoma State quarterback Mason Rudolph journeyed halfway across the country to play college football, and though the recruiting process didn't make much sense at the time, it makes perfect sense now.

The 6-foot-4, 225-pound sophomore is 12-1 as Oklahoma State's starter, ranks in the top 20 nationally in both passing yards (3,161) and passing efficiency (155.3), and most importantly, has the unbeaten Cowboys two wins away from the College Football Playoff.

He wouldn't trade places with any other quarterback in the country.

"It's worked out great," Rudolph said. "I'm blessed to be in this position and to be on this team and to be a part of this program. I don't know how it gets any better than this."

He's also a perfect example of how quarterback recruiting is anything but an exact science. Schools miss all the time on promising signal-callers, even when they're right on their front doorstep.

Rudolph played high school ball in talent-rich Rock Hill, South Carolina, a town of about 70,000 people that has churned out a staggering 11 NFL draft picks in the past 14 years. But most of the Division I schools within four hours of Rock Hill didn't aggressively pursue Rudolph.

In fact, neither Clemson nor South Carolina offered him a scholarship. The Tigers had an excuse. They were bringing in Deshaun Watson that year. The Gamecocks, on the other hand, simply whiffed, which is all the more painful for them when you consider their current state of affairs at quarterback.

Mason Rudolph has things pointed in the right direction for the Cowboys. Mike Carter/USA TODAY Sports

It wasn't just the in-state schools, either. North Carolina didn't show much interest until late, despite the fact that Rudolph's father, Brett, played linebacker for the Tar Heels from 1983 to 1987. But by that time, Rudolph had already committed to Oklahoma State and wasn't going back on his word. NC State also passed, and so did Georgia and Tennessee.

The Bulldogs took another quarterback from South Carolina that year, Jacob Park, but he's since left the program, and they're now playing a quarterback, Greyson Lambert, who transferred in from Virginia.

Kyle Richardson, who coached Rudolph at powerhouse Northwestern High School, thinks part of the reluctance of schools to buy in early on Rudolph was that he didn't start playing quarterback until his sophomore season after transferring from a small private school, where he was a tight end. The other thing was that Rudolph replaced Justin Worley, who also put up video game-like numbers in Northwestern's "air raid" offense before signing with Tennessee.

"Mason's offers during his junior season were LSU and Virginia Tech," Richardson said. "We sent out film to everybody, too. I don't know if he got tagged as a system quarterback as much as it was some people looking at it like it was easy to do what we do in our system because Justin also put up incredible numbers. But it's not easy to just wake up and throw for 4,000 yards. Something's got to come with that -- a lot of hard work and a lot of physical and mental toughness to get beat on as much as you do and stand in there and deliver the football."

Rudolph threw for 4,377 yards and 64 touchdowns as a senior in leading unbeaten Northwestern to a Class 4A state championship. In the state championship game alone, he had eight touchdown passes in a 62-35 win over Stratford, which was quarterbacked by Park. Rudolph also had 16 rushing touchdowns his senior season, further proving that he could have played in a lot of different systems.

But by the time his senior season was ending, Rudolph was already committed to Oklahoma State and planning to enroll as a midtermer, even though a few schools closer to home made a last-ditch effort to get back in on the record-setting Rudolph.

"I just know a bunch of schools, some of them not too far from here, didn't want him for different reasons, and some of the guys they took over him aren't even there anymore or they're playing transfers from other schools," Richardson said. "Nobody here is surprised at what Mason has done. He was a big-time quarterback in high school and is a big-time quarterback in college."

Rudolph's prolific numbers have the Cowboys two wins away from an undefeated season -- and a likely College Football Playoff berth. Jared Wickerham/Getty Images

Naturally, the Rudolph family would love to have Mason closer to home, but they're in no way bitter about the way everything turned out. Having played college football himself, Brett understands the nature of recruiting quarterbacks.

"We were frustrated at the time, but quarterback recruiting is different," said Brett, whose younger son, Logan, is a highly recruited defensive end at Northwestern. "We took a lot of trips the spring of Mason's junior year, and he had some good offers. We went to Ole Miss, and they had offered. Louisville had, and so had Vanderbilt. We'd also targeted Oklahoma State because of their offense but didn't know if he would go that far.

"The way we look at it is that God had a plan for Mason, and we're very thankful for the way it worked out. That doesn't change just because he's 1,100 miles away."

Looking back, Mason Rudolph gets a chuckle out of his initial reaction when the Cowboys offered.

"They were my third or fourth offer, right after my junior year," he said. "I didn't give it much thought and really sort of shrugged it off because I thought, 'I'll never go that far away to school.' But the more I learned about Oklahoma State, the more I liked it. The offense was what I wanted. The quarterback depth chart offered the chance for early playing time, and then when I came out here and met everybody, I knew it's where I belonged."

And from the time he made his first start late last season against Baylor, when the Oklahoma State coaches decided to pull Rudolph's redshirt because of injuries, he's never looked as if he didn't belong. In the Cowboys' biggest win of the season two weeks ago against TCU, Rudolph threw five touchdown passes. But his emphasis has been cutting down on some of the turnovers that plagued him earlier in the season.

"The game has slowed down for me, and I have a better feel for the different looks I'm getting from defenses," said Rudolph, who's thrown nine touchdown passes and only one interception in his past four games. "I had a lot of turnovers at the beginning of the year and have made an effort to cut down on those and put my team in a better position to win games. It's an ongoing effort, but I feel like I'm chipping away at it."

Rudolph was also quick to embrace the two-quarterback system the Cowboys have used, with senior J.W. Walsh entering the game in short-yardage situations.

"The way I look at it is that the coaches have done a good job of using us both to win games," Rudolph said.

Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said he probably would have played Rudolph quicker than he did last season had he known the quarterbackwas one of those players who was more of a gamer.

"I didn't know he was going to be so far along so early in his career," Gundy said. "It's on those rare occasions that players participate and play better in games than you thought they would because you're usually going to get what you see in practice. He was OK in practice. But in games, he was a better player than we thought. I've not been around many guys like that where they played better earlier than we thought."

Sure enough, after losing that first start a year ago against Baylor, Rudolph went on to lead the Cowboys to a season-saving win over Oklahoma and then the bowl victory over Washington. He hasn't lost since.

"I'm still growing and still learning, but it's been everything I hoped it would be," Rudolph said. "I'm in a great spot. This team's in a great spot. We haven't paid any attention to the outside noise and have stayed focused and worked every day to achieve our goals.

"The best thing is that all of those goals are still alive."