Tylan Wallace Has Lapped His Biletnikoff Competition Head-to-Head This Year

Earlier this week, The Tallahassee Quarterback club released its list of 11 semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award and OSU’s sophomore phenom Tylan Wallace was included.

The “King of Contested Catches,” as tabbed by ESPN’s Chris Fowler, has the numbers to push for that coveted award despite being an underclassmen who entered the year with seven career catches.

“I didn’t really expect as much attention, especially to be up there racing for the Biletnikoff Award,” Wallace said this week. “I don’t think that was one thing I came in thinking that I would be able to do as a sophomore, but I’m real happy that I am.”

Only six previous Biletnikoff winners have been underclassmen: Marqise Lee (USC), Justin Blackmon (OSU), Michael Crabtree (Texas Tech), Larry Fitzgerald (Pitt), Antonio Bryant (Pitt), and Randy Moss (Marshall).

Wallace’s current 128.2 receiving yards per-game average comes in behind only fellow nominees Antoine Wesley of Texas Tech (134.7 per game) and Andy Isabella of UMass (134.5 per game).

He faced off against Wesley earlier this year, and though the Red Raiders snapped their losing streak in Stillwater, Wallace got the upper hand in terms of Biletnikoff case-building stats during that matchup, leading all receivers with 123 yards on seven catches. Wesley came in at 98 yards on seven of his own grabs.

This weekend Wallace will look across the field at the visiting No. 9 Mountaineers’ sidelines and may even lock eyes with another Biletnikoff semifinalist in David Sills V. This will make back-to-back weeks that he’s faced off against another receiver on that list. Oklahoma’s Marquise Brown is also a semifinalist.

Wallace was asked this week if he’s paid attention to the other receivers in consideration or their stats.

“A little bit,” Wallace said. “I try to go back and look at it a little bit. Probably see what more I could or how I could probably get them up a little bit and see how the top guys are looking in different categories.”

Well, we also like to look at stats and compare resumes. So with a slightly less-biased eye, let’s preview this weekend’s matchup as well as take a look at the previous two matchups with Biletnikoff semifinalists.

First, the previous two.

Antoine Wesley — Week 4 — Texas Tech 41 | Oklahoma State 17

	Wallace	Wesley
Targets	14	9
Catches	7	7
Yards	123	98
TDs	0	0

Marquise Brown — Week 11 — Oklahoma State 47 | Oklahoma 48

	Wallace	Brown
Targets	17	9
Catches	10	8
Yards	220	142
TDs	2	1

Now let’s take a look at how Wallace’s season stacks up to David Sills V, West Virginia’s leading receiver.

David Sills V — Week 12 — West Virginia at Oklahoma State

	Wallace	Sills V
Targets	114	84
Catches	68	49
Yards	1282	697
TDs	9	12
Catch Rate	59.6%	58.3%
Yds/Catch	18.9	14.2
Yds/Target	11.2	8.3
Target Rate	31.5%	27.0%

Most of that is pretty explanatory. Taylor Cornelius has thrown to Tylan way more than Will Grier has targeted his No. 1 wideout. That last stat shows the percentage of total team passes were aimed at each receiver.

But what’s most impressive is what Wallace has done with those opportunities. His catch rate, yards per catch and yards per target are all very good. When he won the Biletnikoff last year, James Washington finished with a catch rate of 63.2 percent, 20.9 yards per catch and 13.2 yards per target. Wallace is only a sophomore! ?

“He is further ahead of guys that we’ve had that have won the award and it’s not even close,” said Mike Gundy this week. “I don’t know how he wouldn’t be in [the next cut for the Biletnikoff Award]. He is tough, competitive, unselfish and he is willing to do whatever we ask him to do. He will go block, he is not just a receiver. If you go ask him to block, he will take pride in it.”

A strong showing on ABC this Saturday should be enough to make Wallace one of the three finalists that will be announced the following Monday, November 19.

“It’s a real honor just to be in the talk about that,” said Wallace. “I almost try not to pay too much attention to social media, but it’s just surreal to be mentioned in the talk about that award.”