Where Washington’s Performance Against Baylor Ranks Among his Career Performances at OSU

James Washington might be the most watchable player in college football, and he put on a show Saturday in Oklahoma State’s 59-16 homecoming victory.

The President hauled in six passes for an absurd 235 yards and what should have been three scores. One was called a run, and another was called down at the 1-centimeter line. For the sake of this argument, we’re going to stick with the stats as recorded, but had those two calls gone the receiver’s way, Saturday would have been his best game at OSU, hands down, even better than Pittsburgh in 2016. But they didn’t.

So let’s take a look at, even with just one receiving TD, where Washington’s final homecoming ranked:

5. Colorado, 2016

9 Catches – 171 Yards – 1 Touchdown

Washington tied a career-high in catches in the Alamo Bowl last season, but he didn’t need to.

OSU rolled the Buffaloes in route to coach Mike Gundy’s seventh bowl win in 11 tries. The Prez was outstanding as usual, catching passes of 26, 42 and 46 yards in the game. And he also provided fans with this iconic moment in his Cowboy career.

"Are you not entertained?" pic.twitter.com/OBkYi8ODjf

— Pistols Firing (@pistolsguys) December 30, 2016

4. Texas Tech, 2015

4 Catches – 200 Yards – 2 Touchdowns

OSU put up 70 against the poor Red Raiders in 2015, and 7 of them came on a jet sweep to Jalen McCleskey, who reversed it to James. Washington grabbed it and took it 70+ past everyone. The Cowboys used Mason Rudolph and J.W. Walsh throughout the game, not just interchanging them in the red zone, and that seemed to work based on the final score.

Walsh, not known for his arm, tossed another 70+ yard score in the fourth quarter to Washington, and though it was underthrown, James made it look like a thing of beauty.

3. TCU, 2015

5 Catches – 184 Yards – 3 Touchdowns

Washington scored on 60 percent of his catches in Stillwater that day. That Saturday was the only game of James’ career with three touchdown catches, unbelievably. Mason Rudolph was lightning to Washington’s thunder against the Horned Frogs.

He went 16-of-24 for 352 yards and five scores. And the Rudolph-to-Washington connection hit its peak at that time.

2. Baylor, 2017

6 Catches – 235 Yards – 1 Touchdown

Washington did Homecoming more justice than the running back did Saturday. Rudolph wasn’t particularly pinpoint accurate, but James made him look better than he actually was. This one was probably the best of the bunch.

1. Pittsburgh, 2016

9 Catches – 296 Yards – 2 Touchdowns

This game took almost six hours to complete because of a lightning delay, but I don’t think anyone was complaining.

Washington was a monster against Pitt. He solidified himself as one of the nation’s best pass-catchers in majestic style. After 16 seconds of game time, James had one catch, 91 receiving yards and a touchdown. It was a sign of more to come and remains the longest play of his career.