Final: Baylor Bears pummel Oklahoma State Cowboys, 49-28, on a wet Waco night

After a blazing start from Bryce Petty and the Bombcatchers, a combination of sloppy penalties, turnovers, weather, and Oklahoma State finding ways to make just enough plays gave us an actual football game instead of the total annihilation for which we had all hoped. While it is undoubtedly disappointing that Baylor was not able to completely dominate the final scoreline in a way that would have raised eyebrows, the larger picture is that Baylor got the required convincing win.

Playing a somewhat vanilla defense with minimal blitzing, Coach Phil Bennett's defense largely contained the Oklahoma State rushing attack (43 carries, 120 yards, 2.8 ypc) and challenged the Oklahoma State passing attack to beat them. Unfortunately, Oklahoma State's Mason Rudolph gained comfort as the game progressed and was able to complete some deep passes and key 3rd down throws in the second half.  With all of the cornerbacks struggling at various points, Baylor leaned on its defensive line to create the necessary pressure that prevented the Oklahoma State passing attack from getting into a prolonged groove.

In somewhat surprising fashion, Baylor decided to bottle up the passing attack in a wet second half and grind out the game on the ground. Baylor ended up rushing a whopping 57 times for 318 yards, good for 5.6 yards per carry. In the post-game, Art Briles noted "the weather wasn't quite conducive to offensive ball tonight"; it seems likely that this combination of weather and big early lead caused them to change their approach.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't hoping for a bigger domination; mid-week Twitter battles are more fun when Baylor beats an opponent by a greater margin of victory than TCU. That won't happen this week as TCU beat Oklahoma State 42-9, albeit with a different (worse) QB. Still, both teams will mark this shared opponent as a convincing win. The season marches on and it still appears to be counting down the time until Baylor passes TCU.

Stats

via USA Today

The closest I can get to a GAME CONTROL metric:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Baylor led by at least 2 touchdowns for all but 10 minutes of the game.</p>&mdash; Casey Graham (@cgrahamophone) <a href="https://twitter.com/cgrahamophone/status/536369991969677312">November 23, 2014</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Tweets!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>15 straight home wins has a nice ring to it! Hope these Network Hi-Lites sound just as good: <a href="http://t.co/x5YXMwVpiP">http://t.co/x5YXMwVpiP</a>. <a href="http://t.co/PJZ3mvftT5">pic.twitter.com/PJZ3mvftT5</a></p>&mdash; John Morris (@VoiceofBears) <a href="https://twitter.com/VoiceofBears/status/536372189239705600">November 23, 2014</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Baylor 49, Oklahoma St. 28 FINAL&#10;&#10;BU 87 plays, 579 yds, 6.7 ypp, 317 rushing yards&#10;&#10;OSU 68 plays, 397 yds, 5.8 ypp, 6 of 16 on 3rd</p>&mdash; ESPN Big 12 (@ESPN_Big12) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPN_Big12/status/536368805988298752">November 23, 2014</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Couldn&#39;t be prouder to know how much my Baylor boys sacrifice year in &amp; out to be where they are.. <a href="https://twitter.com/BUFootball">@BUFootball</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/wearethestandard?src=hash">#wearethestandard</a></p>&mdash; Flash Gordon (@JOSH_GORDONXII) <a href="https://twitter.com/JOSH_GORDONXII/status/536366138503213056">November 23, 2014</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>I hope you fans at the game will enjoy that Oakman strip-sack because the Fox camera didn&#39;t pick it up.</p>&mdash; Casey Graham (@cgrahamophone) <a href="https://twitter.com/cgrahamophone/status/536368150552780802">November 23, 2014</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Baylor&#39;s final score won&#39;t look pretty, but reality is the OSU team it played tonight isn&#39;t the same one who has been getting rolled.</p>&mdash; David Ubben (@davidubben) <a href="https://twitter.com/davidubben/status/536366533681770497">November 23, 2014</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Defense HAS to play better. Next two offenses can throw well enough to beat you if you dont. Tech&#39;d D is bad but if O gets 30-40...</p>&mdash; S11 (@BearsTruthS11) <a href="https://twitter.com/BearsTruthS11/status/536369333639716864">November 23, 2014</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

This amuses me; I am amused:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Our Indiana site is already hanging banners <a href="http://t.co/L1FSHzRYdS">pic.twitter.com/L1FSHzRYdS</a></p>&mdash; Jason Kirk (@JasonKirkSBN) <a href="https://twitter.com/JasonKirkSBN/status/536367309124665344">November 23, 2014</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>