John Walsh on son J.W.: ‘He felt like he was going to get an opportunity’

John Walsh can evaluate J.W. Walsh on a number of levels.

No. 1, he’s J.W.’s father. But he is also the coach at Denton Guyer High School, meaning he has a great grasp of J.W.’s skills as a quarterback.

I chatted with John for my pregame story about J.W., OSU’s likely starter against Texas, set to run in Saturday’s Oklahoman. Here’s the rest of our conversation, to give you a sneak peak at some of our OSU-Texas game day coverage.

Gina Mizell: In your conversations with J.W., how are his emotions heading into Saturday’s game?

John Walsh: Emotionally, I think he’s like he always is. I know mentally, he’s a lot more confident, just because he’s gotten so many more reps. … He came home (during the bye week), and he was just kind of normal J.W.

GM: How much do you think getting the first-team reps during the bye week (and perhaps beyond) helped prepare him?

JW: Reps are everything, especially for a quarterback. Just getting chemistry. I think you could tell he and Tracy didn’t have very good chemistry last week. Playing the backup role, he and I talked several times about, “Your opportunity’s going to come, and you’re going to have to figure out how to lead your football team with not getting many reps through practice. You’ve got to get a lot of mental reps and visualize yourself in those plays and what you would do.”

GM: Did those conversations also take place after the spring, when Lunt was named the starter?

JW: When Wes was named the starter, there was not one bit of mental process for J.W. saying, “All right, I’m going to settle in at No. 2.” That was never the factor. He felt like he was going to get an opportunity some way, somehow. It’s a long season. He was just prepared to make the most of it when he got it, and that’s what he’s going to try to do right now.