Baylor Defeats Oklahoma State 35-24

What a win! Baylor made enough big plays to overwhelm Oklahoma State in a game that barely ended on the last night of September.

Ish Zamora led the Baylor offense with 175 yards receiving and 2 touchdowns. Zamora also managed to do that after K.D. Cannon was out in the second half with a muscle strain.

Seth Russell found a way to make big plays throughout the night. When the running game couldn’t get going, Russell took off. He finished with 65 yards on 10 carries. Russell added 387 yards in the air, including an 89 yard bomb to Chris Platt for a touchdown.

For a while, it seemed like the game could be summed up this way:

Oklahoma State was 11 of 14 at one point on third down. 3rd and 20, 3rd and 23, 3rd and who cares? It didn’t matter for a while. Mason Rudolph and the Cowboys could not be stopped on 3rd down.

But it doesn’t matter how many third downs a defense gives up if they can make a big play when necessary. And Baylor did.

As Oklahoma State drove in the fourth quarter to take the lead, the Bears forced a fumble at the goal line. Blanchard recovered, and the Cowboys would never be as close to victory again.

The Bears had three other big turnovers capped off by an Orion Stewart interception as the Bears led 35-24 with 2:30 left.

This was a night with a number of weird sequences. An hour and twenty minute delay in the first half followed an early Baylor touchdown.

Nearly every drive each team seem liked they seized momentum. But one moment would immediately flip the game.

Late in the third quarter, Baylor elected to go for it on 4th and 1 from its own 22. The Bears were stuffed and the Cowboys took over. The Cowboys couldn’t make the Bears pay though, as they failed to get into the end zone.

On a number of occasions, the Cowboys had that problem. Close but no points.

Oklahoma State had a 2:1 time of possession advantage during most of the game. Time doesn’t equal points though.

Oklahoma State played well. Rudolph made a number of throws but finished with less than 6 yards per attempt and under 300 yards passing.

Both teams struggled to run . Baylor finished with 136 yards on 37 carries, and Oklahoma State had 223 yards on 54 attempts.

The Bears head to Ames at 4-0. The offense was more explosive tonight, and the defense found a way to force turnovers. James Washington- perhaps the best receiver in the nation- had 6 receptions for 89 yards a week after torching Pitt for more yards than that with one catch.

This conference remains weak. The Bears remain undefeated. And after tonight, it looks like Baylor is the favorite to win the Big 12.