Honest Johnny

Originally Published: Nov 9, 2010 12:8 AM CDTThe stats don&rsquo;t look impressive unless you look at one category:&#160; OSU leads the Big 12 in forced turnovers

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 1:29 pm

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Nov 9, 2010 12:8 AM CDT

The stats don’t look impressive unless you look at one category:  OSU leads the Big 12 in forced turnovers with 25.  Other than that, the defensive numbers aren’t great, but that’s ok with coordinator Bill Young.  His group has speed and an ability to change momentum in games with those big plays.Safety Johnny Thomas fits Young’s mold to a “T”, but that’s only become apparent recently.  Thomas was at best splitting time and mostly backing up Victor Johnson before the Waco native went down with a season-ending knee injury.  The light has come on for Thomas- he’s put in the extra video study and it has paid off.  Head coach Mike Gundy says Thomas made the transition about a month ago and the Cowboy defense is reaping the rewards.  His contributions include two interceptions and a fumble recovery in the past two games, with one TD.The real test of how far Thomas has come?  His interception of Baylor’s Robert Griffin in the end zone.  Thomas read the play, came off his man to help and made the pick.Honest Johnny told me that’s something he probably wouldn’t have been able to do at the start of the season.