Arguably greatest receiver in college football history will go into Oklahoma State’s Ring of Honor this weekend, as Justin Blackmon’s No. 81 goes on display alongside Thurman Thomas, Barry Sanders, Bob Fenimore, Terry Miller and Leslie O’Neal.
Blackmon won the Biletnikoff, given to the nation’s best receiver, twice. Only Blackmon and Texas Tech’s Michael Crabtree have two of those trophies to their name.
In three seasons at Oklahoma State, Blackmon caught 253 passes for 3,564 yards and 40 touchdowns. He ranks third on OSU’s career receiving yards list and second in career touchdown receptions.
Blackmon’s 2010 season ranks first on OSU’s season leaderboard for receiving yards (1,782) and receiving touchdowns (20), while his 122 receptions in 2011 also ranks atop the Cowboys’ season list.
Before Blackmon is immortalized Saturday, let’s take a look back at the five most ridiculous games of his career.
5. Tulsa in 2010
The opponent is what it is, but how ridiculous is a stat line of six catches for 174 yards and three touchdowns? The man caught six passes and scored on three of them.
Here are those six catches:
18 yards
39 yards
7 yards (TD)
21 yards (TD)
8 yards
81 yards (TD)
There was 13:18 left on the clock in the third quarter after that last catch, essentially meaning Blackmon did all of that in about two quarters.
4. Texas Tech in 2010
Before the 66-6 beatdown of 2011, there was Blackmon going off to the tune of 10 catches for 207 yards and a touchdown in 2010 in Lubbock.
There wasn’t a ton of drama in this game, as OSU led wire to wire.
Blackmon’s big play came in the third quarter. Just a few plays after the OSU defense recovered a fumble, Blackmon caught a pass while tight-roping the Texas Tech sideline, spinning away from a Tech defensive back ho tried to make a play on the ball before sprinting down the sideline for a 62-yard score. It wasn’t as iconic as Crabtree’s Lubbock tight rope against Texas that one year, but it was similar in nature.
Blackmon had three catches for 67 yards in the first quarter of this game and finished with five completions of at least 15 yards.
3. Kansas State in 2011
The second of Blackmon’s two 200-yard performances as a Cowboy, he went off for 205 yards and two scores in a shootout against Kansas State that gets somewhat overlooked when thinking back to the greatness that was that 2011 season.
OSU won this game 52-45, but the Cowboys found themselves trailing 38-37 with less than five minutes to play. That’s when Blackmon caught a ball across the middle and outran the Wildcats for a 54-yard score. He then also caught the 2-point conversion.
K-State answered, but Brandon Weeden and Co. then put together another drive, which included a 9-yard catch from Blackmon, to remain unbeaten and secure the win.
2. Houston (the Texans, not the Cougars) in 2012
Oh, you thought this list was all about Blackmon’s college career?
Although Blackmon wasn’t long for the NFL, that doesn’t mean he wasn’t a star while he was there.
The fifth overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, Blackmon had three 100-yard receiving games in his two NFL seasons, including his seven-catch, 236-yard performance against Houston in 2012.
He scored one touchdown in this game, and it was about the most ridiculous thing he’s done on a football field. He caught a deep post route on a 3rd-and-21 among three Texans defenders. A safety attempted a hit-stick on Blackmon as he caught the ball, but the former Cowpoke bounced off him and ran away from the other two defense backs en route to his 81-yard (fitting number) score.
To this day, Blackmon has two of the top five games in terms of receiving yards in Jaguars history. This performance against the Texans ranks second on that list while his 2013 game against Denver ranks fifth with 190 receiving yards.
This is the grown men’s league, and a rookie Blackmon looked just as dominant as he did in Stillwater. And he had Chad Henne throwing him the ball. It’s not like this was the product of some super team.
Blackmon played in 16 games as a rookie, catching 64 passes for 865 yards and five scores. He also had two rushes that year, going for 23 yards and two first downs.
1. Stanford in the Fiesta Bowl
Blackmon had a trio of three receiving touchdown games in his college career, and he saved the best for last.
It took a little bit for Blackmon to get going out in the desert, but when he did, there was no stopping him.
He finished the Fiesta Bowl with 186 receiving yards on eight catches (23.3 yards a reception) and the three touchdowns.
Blackmon didn’t have a catch in the first quarter. OSU found itself down 14-0 going into the Cowboys’ first drive of the second quarter when Blackmon caught a Weeden pass up the seam for a 43-yard score to make it 14-7.
Then on OSU’s next drive, Blackmon caught a simple slant route with a defender draped over him, breaking that tackle and winning the 67-yard foot race to the end zone.
So, after not having a catch in the first quarter, Blackmon all a sudden had two catches for 110 yards and two touchdowns midway through the second.
Blackmon’s final score of the game came in the fourth quarter with the Pokes trailing 31-24. He caught a ball across the middle and bounced off a Stanford DB, coolly strutting into the end zone to tie the game the Cowboys would eventually win.
