OSU Cowboys rout Tulsa in season opener, 59-24
EARLY INTRODUCTION
The buzz surrounding LSU transfer Tyron Johnson started immediately, once the former five-star recruit bounced out of Baton Rouge in search of a passing offense, which he found in Stillwater. And excitement only heightened once he arrived, through his redshirt transfer season a year ago, then a strong spring and finally this preseason. Still, some game confirmation was needed. Didn’t take long. Johnson hauled in the game’s first score, a 44-yard heave from Mason Rudolph, immediately announcing himself a threat with a leaping grab over TU’s Kerwin Thomas.
ALSO INTRODUCING…
Yeah, the Cowboys have plenty of returning talent on offense. (We haven’t talked about James Washington yet, but it’s coming.) But Thursday promised a glimpse of some new weapons, too. And what a glimpse it was. First it was Johnson. Then, after a botched punt handed Tulsa its first score, cutting a 21-0 lead to 21-7, true freshman tailback J.D. King almost immediately restored the three-TD bulge. The Fitzgerald, Ga., product, giving Justice Hill a breather, blew through a hole up the middle and straight-lined it 71 yards to the end zone for his first career touchdown.
THE WASHINGTON POST
The player, not the paper. We couldn’t get through the Moments without James Washington, could we? It could have come earlier, too, since he struck for a 40-yard scoring grab on OSU’s second possession, one of his five catches for 139 yards in the opening half.
But if we’re picking one Washington highlight from a blowout win, it has to be his second TD: a 77-yard score caught in the openfield as Tulsa’s Reggie Robinson II tumbled to the ground, leaving Washington to cover the final 20 yards in a romp.