Tylan Wallace Cementing Himself Among the Great OSU Receivers

When Oklahoma State kicked off its homecoming matchup against No. 6 Texas on Saturday night, Justin Blackmon owned one of the top 10 receiving games in OSU history. About halfway through the third quarter, he didn’t.

Blackmon’s career-high 207 yards as a sophomore at Texas Tech in 2010 ranked No. 10 in school history. But another sophomore pushed the two-time Biletnikoff winner off of the list, and he did so in dramatic fashion.

With all of the talk coming into Saturday being about Texas wideouts Lil’Jordan Humphrey and Collin Johnson, the two combined for just nine catches and 134 yards. Wallace lapped the pair, hauling in 10 of his 17 targets for 222 yards and two scores.

He has been the favorite target of Taylor Cornelius all year, sometimes to a fault. Through eight games, Wallace is averaging 10.4 targets per game, James Washington’s 10.0 targets per game from Mason Rudolph in 2016 was his highest mark.

That didn’t change during the Oil Baron’s one-man mission to restore the Cowboys to the win column and earn back some good graces with OSU’s fanbase. He threw the ball 34 times and half of those were aimed at No. 2.

And if you give him opportunities, Wallace has proven he will make plays.

“He is a special player,” said Mike Yurcich. “He’s got a knack for timing his jump up so he plays a lot taller than what he is, especially on vertical throws. He is a gamer. He loves it. The bigger the game, it seems the bigger he is going to play.

“He is just the guy that is very dependable. He plays the same way he practices. He is a fun guy to have on your ball club. He is a great example to everybody else of ‘you play like you practice’. He goes hard every day and the results are not surprising.”

Last week, Marshall Scott wrote about Tylan’s season-long projection against some of the greatest seasons in OSU history. The Texas game did nothing but boost his projection and his profile. Wallace is now second in the Big 12 with 940 yards and six TDs, and he leads all FBS underclassmen in receiving yards.

At his current clip, Wallace would finish (with an assumed bowl appearance) at 1,537 yards and 10 touchdowns. That would nudge James Washington out of the top 3 in the highest receiving total seasons in school history. That’s incredible when you think about how this team and offense have struggled at times along with some inconsistent QB play.

When asked about where his talented sophomore stands among the all-time receivers he’s coached — including the ones he either joined or elbowed out of the above list — Gundy was optimistic but quick to temper expectations. (i.e. the Gundy way.)

“I think he has a chance to [be in that class], I don’t think he’s there yet,” said Gundy. “I think he has enough skill and mental toughness to at some point get there. Those guys were so special, first round picks and all that…

“I think he can get in that category, probably not right now, but I’ll say that his frame of mind, mental toughness, his unselfish play gives him a real chance.”

It’s obviously too early to start chiseling Tylan into the Mount Rushmore of OSU wideouts, but he’s had an amazing run as the focal point of OSU’s offense and the good news it that he’s just getting started.