Five of Justin Blackmon’s Most Dominant Games at Oklahoma State

Perhaps the greatest receiver to ever play college football was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame on Tuesday.

Justin Blackmon played three seasons at Oklahoma State (2009, 2010 and 2011). During that time, he had more games with at least 100 yards receiving (19) than he did under the century mark (16). He is also one of only two players to with the Biletnikoff, given to the best receiver in college football, on two occasions, sharing the honor with Michael Crabtree. He joined Lynn “Pappy” Waldorf, Bob Fenimore, Barry Sanders, Thurman Thomas, Jimmy Johnson, Leslie O’Neal and Terry Miller as OSU representatives in the College Football Hall of Fame.

To celebrate Blackmon’s induction, here are five of his most dominant games as a Cowboy (this list could be 20 games long, probably).

Fiesta Bowl vs. Stanford

This is the free space. In perhaps the biggest game in program history at the time (and maybe still), Blackmon proved just how unguardable he was.

Against a team swarming with future NFL players, Blackmon caught eight passes for 186 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Cowboys past Stanford to win the Fiesta Bowl. Blackmon also had a 52-yard rush in the game.

Stanford was able to keep Blackmon in check for the first quarter, but he got loose in the second. That second quarter saw Blackmon catch four passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns. The quarter included touchdowns of 43 and 67 yards. The Cardinal made some halftime adjustments and covered up Blackmon in the third before he got free again in the fourth quarter, catching another four balls for 47 yards, including a 17-yard touchdown. OSU’s game-tying drive at the end of regulation saw Blackmon catch a pair of passes before Joseph Randle found paydirt.

By the end of his career, Blackmon wasn’t sneaking up on anybody. That defense that featured NFL talent knew Blackmon was a two-time Biletnikoff winner, but the Cardinal could do little about it.

Washington State 2010

Blackmon raised some eyebrows with a productive season in 2009, but he quickly proved he was a force to be reckoned with in the 2010 season opener against Washington State.

Blackmon started his first Biletnikoff-winning season with eight catches for 135 yards and three touchdowns. The day ended with Blackmon returning a blocked punt seven yards for a score, as OSU ended up beating the Cougars 65-17. Blackmon outscored the Cougars himself that day with his four touchdowns.

His touchdown receptions were from 42 yards, one yard and 24 yards. As impressive and dominant as Blackmon was that day, Kendall Hunter was perhaps even more dominant, finishing with 257 rushing yards and four touchdowns of his own. So (not even including extra points), two players gave OSU 48 points against Wazzu.

Kansas State 2011

The Cowboys were 8-0 when 7-1 Kansas State came to Stillwater in 2011 for a game that had Big 12 title and national implications.

It was a back-and-forth, with 28 points scored in the fourth quarter alone. And in that big spot, Blackmon caught 13 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns. It was one of two games in his career where Blackmon had more than 200 receiving yards and one of a dozen games where Blackmon had multiple touchdown catches.

He had a 54-yard catch and run to give OSU a 45-38 lead in the fourth quarter. He also caught the 2-point conversion to cap off that drive.

Among all the highlight-worthy games of OSU’s 2011 season (Fiesta Bowl, Bedlam, Texas A&M, heartbreak in Ames), this game against K-State is probably the most underrated, but it’s right up there among the best games played in Boone Pickens Stadium. It was business as usual for Blackmon.

Texas Tech 2010

By the time OSU traveled to Lubbock in 2010, Blackmon already had 748 receiving yards through the Cowboys’ opening five games — putting up at least 125 yards in each of those games. Well, the Red Raiders didn’t slow that momentum down.

Blackmon caught 10 balls in Lubbock for a career-high 207 yards and a touchdown. The Cowboys led 24-14 at the half before Blackmon broke off a 62-yard touchdown early in the third to supply some separation. Blackmon had four catches of at least 20 yards in this game.

Tulsa 2010

I tried to take level of opponent into consideration when discussing these games, but Blackmon’s 2010 game against Tulsa was too ridiculous to not include.

As part of a 65-28 win, Blackmon caught six passes for 174 yards and three touchdowns — perhaps his most video game stat line in a career full of video game stat lines.

He averaged 29 yards a reception thanks in no small part to his 81-yard touchdown to open the second half. That score came with 13:18 to play in the third quarter and was Blackmon’s final catch of the day. So in two quarters and a few minutes, he had his whole stat line — 174 receiving yards and three touchdowns.

Here are the six balls Blackmon caught that day:

18 yards
39 yards
7 yards (TD)
21 yards (TD)
8 yards
81 yards (TD)

Ridiculous.