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Baylor vs. Oklahoma State -- The Morning After -- Highlights, Links, Notes, Tweets

Baylor won its first Big 12 game of the 2016 season 35-24 last night on the strength of Seth Russell's arm and the defense (outside of third downs).

By Mark C. Moore
1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH F
OKLAHOMA STATE (2-2, 0-1) 7 7 10 0 24
BAYLOR (4-0, 1-0) 7 14 7 7 35

Box Score |  Quotes |  Notes |  Photo Gallery |  USATSI Gallery

Waco, Texas - Attendance: 45,373

Post-Game Coverage from ODB:

Baylor Defeats Oklahoma State 35-24
Every Baylor TD vs. Oklahoma State
Tweets of the Night: Baylor vs. Oklahoma State

Players of the Game:

QB Seth Russell -- 18/28 for 387 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT, 65 rushing yards
LB Aiavion Edwards -- 12 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack
NB Travon Blanchard -- 11 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 1 fumble recovery
NB Pat Levels -- 8 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 1 sack

Thoughts on the Game:

  • As terrible as things went on third down -- Oklahoma State finished 12/20 but at one point was 11/15 with several long (20+ yards) conversions -- the defense as a whole played well, giving up just 492 yards on 101 plays for 4.9 yards per play.  That average was helped by the defense allowing just 3.9 yards per carry on 55 (!!) carries by Oklahoma State, which tried to be a lot more balanced than they probably should have.
  • In his return from suspension, Ishmael Zamora showed why he's a legitimate #1 receiving threat in this offense with 8 catches for 175 yards and 2 TDs, including one where he went up over the smaller corner, made a great catch on a slightly underthrown ball, and then bulldozed his way into the endzone.  He also made what was possibly an even better catch on Baylor's 99-yard TD drive to ice the game in the fourth quarter.  With KD Cannon out due to injury for most of the game, Zamora's presence and play were critical to the outcome.
  • I don't know how to explain our defensive problems on third down, which I lamented extensively on Twitter during the game.  It's easy to say that we weren't getting enough of a pass rush, but we didn't seem all that concerned by it only rushing three on the majority of longer downs.  It's also easy to say that Mason Rudolph is just really good, which he is, but still.  Baylor gave up multiple 20+ yard conversions that should never happen. 
  • The direct snap stuff is a gimmick that needs to be put to bed.  I think we ran it eight or nine times during the game, and it worked twice, both on the first drive when we caught them unawares.  It also almost cost us dearly in the fourth quarter before Seth bailed the offense out with his second TD pass to Chris Platt.  The play design feels like Baylor wants to run the WildBear without showing the WildBear, but it's not like people don't have a full game of tape on that look, anyway.  Just run the WildBear.
  • Speaking of Chris Platt, has anyone ever seen him and Tevin Reese in the same room?  Platt is slightly bigger than Reese was at this stage, but the resemblance is their play is uncanny.
  • After the first couple of games where the special teams looked like they'd turned a corner for the better, things have come crashing down to Earth there.  We basically gave away a TD early when Tony Nicholson made a very ill-advised decision to field a punt at our 2, and our returns on kickoffs were lackluster, at best.  Punting was a bright spot with Drew Galitz, though. 
  • Not sure what to think about our rushing offense.  We were more willing than we have been to run Seth Russell, but the RBs never really got going, and we had almost no push on the inside.  Oklahoma State has done that to us before, so I'm trying not to overreact.

Seymour's Top 10:

This is as of right now, obviously, and I'm going to try to be as objective as possible, as little as some in our fanbase might like it.  Don't get too worked up about the numbering, especially after the first five or so.  It's all very fluid.

  1. Alabama Crimson Tide
  2. Ohio State Buckeyes
  3. Louisville Cardinals
  4. Clemson Tigers
  5. Michigan Wolverines
  6. Houston Cougars
  7. Stanford Cardinal
  8. Wisconsin Badgers
  9. Washington Huskies
  10. Texas A&M Aggies

That's 2 SEC teams, 3 B1G, 2 Pac 12, 2 ACC, and 1 AAC.  No Big 12 teams are worthy of it yet.

LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS:

Russell, No. 16 Football Power Past Oklahoma State, 35-24 - Baylor Official Athletic Site
The Official Athletic Site of the Baylor University - Seth Russell threw four touchdown passes, including an 89-yarder to Chris Platt for the go-ahead score in the third quarter, and No. 16 Baylor held on to beat Oklahoma State 35-24 on Saturday night in the weather-delayed Big 12 opener for both teams.

Baylor Bears, West Virginia Mountaineers hold on to remain unbeaten - Big 12 Blog- ESPN
The Big 12 power rankings mostly held steady this week, but with West Virginia set to host K-State next week, changes could be on the horizon.

Big 12 Week 4 helmet stickers: Big-play WRs, QBs impress - Big 12 Blog- ESPN
Wide receivers Chris Platt and John Diarse made explosive plays that stood out in Week 4.

Brice Cherry: Baylor shows ability to overlook distractions in win - WacoTrib.com: Baylor Bears Football
On my journey to McLane Stadium on Saturday, I witnessed a driver narrowly avoid plowing into a street sign.

College Sports: 5 takeaways: Ishmael Zamora makes his presence felt as Baylor opens up Big 12 play with a win | SportsDay
Five takeaways from Baylor's 35-24 win over Oklahoma StateHello Ish ZamoraBaylor wide receiver Ishmael Zamora did not play in the first three games...

Russell has 4 TD passes, No. 16 Baylor beats Oklahoma State (Sep 25, 2016) | FOX Sports
WACO, Texas (AP) Seth Russell has been keeping an eye the past few weeks on a determined receiver in Ishmael Zamora and a frustrated one in Chris Platt.

TWEETS TWEETS TWEETS TWEETS TWEETS:

I did an entire post on Tweets after the game last night, but here are a few more.

This is part of that video I talked about in the Tweets post. Someone needs to do a full breakdown of it in a fanpost. Do it well, and I'll put it on the front page. I wish we had a better version, though.

Hard to argue that. That's all I've got this morning. Hope everyone has a great day!

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