J.D. King Stars in Relief of Injured Justice Hill

After gashing the West Virginia defense on the first play of the game, Justice Hill took the ball up the gut on the next play, fumbled and was injured within a matter of seconds. He did not return to the game until the third quarter, but in the meantime, J.D. King was vaulted into RB1 duties — and boy, did the youngster deliver.

Well, not immediately. But after a fumble by the true freshman, he settled in and had himself the biggest game of his career to date with his hard-nosed running style both inside and outside the tackles. Check out this play early where he set the tone by lowering his helmet and laying the wood on this WVU defender.

King is known for his hard running between the tackles to pick up tough yards, but he was far from one-dimensional. After proving to be worthy of more carries early on, OSU fed King like Zeke Elliott with 25 first half totes, including this touchdown scamper to put OSU up 23-3.

Lol pic.twitter.com/lToD0FZC1s

— Barstool OK State (@BarstoolOKST) October 28, 2017

“JD is very, very mature,” said Gundy. “His mental makeup is more like a junior.”

In addition to that nasty run, King also scored on a touchdown reception. All told, he logged 36 carries for 142 yards, and 5 receptions for 29 yards — 13 more carries than his usage in the entire Big 12 slate prior to Saturday.

So just how good was he? And how do his numbers stack up to previous frosh phenoms? From an efficiency standpoint, he’s been pretty comparative to Justice Hill’s freshman All-American pace from 2016 through 8 games.

After King’s big Saturday, it’s safe to assume he’s secured a larger role in the offense moving forward. The Thunder to Hill’s lightning couldn’t have emerged at a better time with Bedlam on tap next Saturday.