J.W. Walsh is Oklahoma State’s starting quarterback.
That might change some time later in the season. It might not.
But, Walsh took over for starter Clint Chelf just two series into the season and rescued OSU’s offense in a 21-3 victory over Mississippi State.
Walsh was very effective in what turned out to be a bruising, physical game with a Southeastern Conference team that specializes in that style of power football.
But, it was OSU that owned both lines after a slow start.
Once the game settled into a rhythm, it was OSU’s defense and Walsh that won the game.
Walsh certainly seemed to be far more comfortable and cool.
He ran for 125 yards and threw for 135.
After an awful start, OSU’s offense got rolling late in the first half.
The Cowboys finished with 432 yards and 22 first downs against a respectable Southeastern Conference defense.
"When J.W. came in, he kind of gave us a spark and we certainly could make an adjustment at that time so we just continued to move forward from that point," said OSU coach Mike Gundy after the game.
Walsh had a 46-yard run and ran for 60 yards on three plays as OSU scored just before halftime for a 7-3 lead. Up until that point, OSU’s offense was pretty much nonexistent.
OSU went 69 yards on its first TD drive. Up until that drive, OSU had gained just 93 yards.
"It (46-yard run) certainly did (change momentum) for us because before that we hadn’t done anything," said Gundy. "We were about as blah as we’d ever been for the reasons that I mentioned earlier.
"The concerns that we had early on offense in this game were the same things that I’ve told our local media for months. When you try to get two quarterbacks ready it’s difficult. Then, we had some guys playing on the offensive line that are new for the most part. You’re always concerned about that."
Once Walsh got into the game, it was obvious OSU seemed to get a lift.
The Cowboys also look pretty different. OSU was a running team in this game. They ran it 40 times and threw it 33.
OSU averaged more per rushing attempt (7.2 yards) than per passing attempt (4.4 yards).
That is likely to change as the season goes a long and OSU settles more into its balanced attack. But, in a tough physical game against an SEC team, it is a luxury to be able to run the ball so well.
"It was obvious that they struggled with it and that we needed to keep running it," said Gundy.
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