Oklahoma State running back Beau Johnson carried the ball five times for 20 yards last Saturday at Colorado when both Kendall Hunter and Keith Toston were dealing with injuries.
OSU's Beau Johnson (2) runs the ball in the third quarter during the college football game between Oklahoma State University and University of Colorado at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colo., Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008. Photo by Nate Billings
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The experience was important for Johnson, a junior-college transfer who has seen nearly all of his carries during mop-up time this season. Saturday’s work was his most in a meaningful game situation since the opener against Washington State.
"It was good to get Beau in there. He’s worked hard all year and deserves to be in there,” OSU coach Mike Gundy said. "Kendall and Keith have handled the workload.
"It was good to get him some work.”
Running backs coach Curtis Luper would like to get Johnson more involved, but there just aren’t enough carries to go around.
"(Johnson) just happens to be sitting behind an All-American (Hunter) right now. I can empathize with that, because I sat behind a couple,” said Luper, who was a running back at OSU at the same time as Thurman Thomas and Barry Sanders.
"We need Beau on this team, and we need Beau to contribute. We’ll need him to win a game at some point.”
PETTIGREW NEARING FULL HEALTH
Gundy on the health of tight end Brandon Pettigrew’s injured ankle, which he sprained in September, causing him to miss three games:
"I thought last week he was getting close to 100 percent. I’m not sure it’ll ever be 100 percent until the bowl game, because then we can give him two weeks off. Right now, he has to go back out and practice, so that nagging high-ankle/foot injury, it’s tough to overcome that.
"It just depends on the severity of the injury. They’re hard to gauge. He had a pretty severe injury.”
WASHINGTON’S EXPERIENCE PAYING OFF
As the end of his college football career nears, center David Washington continues to prove his value to the Cowboys’ offensive line.
"We give him a hard time that he’s like a 12-year vet in the NFL. He just knows what to do,” Gundy said of the fifth-year senior. "He’s been solid for us. He plays hurt. He’s been a great contributor to this program.”
By Scott Wright
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Beau has recently been doing a lot better. During the beginning of the season he was slow on take-off. In the last couple of games I have noticed he has been getting off the snap quicker. I believe he will do an excellent job if he gets to play in the Bedlam game.
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