Baylor Defeats Oklahoma State
STILLWATER, Okla. — Baylor turned its personal house of horrors into a house of hope Saturday night.
Ending a decades-long losing streak at Boone Pickens Stadium, the No. 10 Bears rolled past No. 6 Oklahoma State 45-35 to remain relevant in the College Football Playoff picture.
One week after losing at home to No. 7 Oklahoma, Baylor faced a trip to Stillwater, where it hadn’t won since 1939 and had been regularly routed, even with some of its better teams in recent years.
This time, however, the Bears started fast and finished strong, earning a statement win while upsets across the nation continue to keep playoff possibilities fluid.
“This is the our first time to come out of here with a good taste in our mouth,” Bears coach Art Briles said. “It’s an extremely tough place to win with the environment, but it’s also because they’re an extremely good football team.”
Baylor, ending an 11-game losing streak in Stillwater, improved to 9-1 overall and 6-1 in the Big 12.
The Cowboys, looking to move to 11-0 for the first time in program history, are 10-1, 7-1.
“That was a good football team that we played,” Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said. “They made plays early in the game and kind of took control. We battled back and then we got a couple of stops on
defense but couldn’t get anything going on offense.”
Bears quarterback Jarrett Stidham passed for 258 yards and a touchdown in the first half before a recurring back injury sidelined him after two quarters. Chris Johnson came on to throw two touchdown passes and run for one, allowing Baylor to remain on the attack.
Receiver K.D. Cannon turned five receptions into 210 yards and two touchdowns for the Bears.
Baylor outgained Oklahoma State 700-441, balancing its big-play passing attack with 304 rushing yards, led by running back Shock Linwood’s 91 yards and a touchdown.
“Didn’t tackle well,” Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Glenn Spencer said. “It seemed like a lot of times we had a guy there and they were falling forward. Yards after contact were really bad. We had some situations where we had them in the backfield a couple of times and they broke tackles.”
Cowboys quarterback Mason Rudolph threw for 430 yards and three touchdowns, and receivers James Washington and Jalen McCleskey hauled had two scoring catches apiece.
Rudolph hadn’t lost since his college debut at Baylor last season, leading the Cowboys to 12 straight wins since.
The Bears’ defense played stout, too, forcing the Cowboys — the nation’s No. 7-ranked scoring offense — into a season-high 10 punts and six three-and-out series. And when Oklahoma State scored with five minutes remaining, cutting the lead to 38-28, Johnson capped another scoring drive with his touchdown run.
Johnson, a sophomore, hadn’t played before Saturday.
“They had all the confidence in me,” Johnson said. “They told me to just go out there and do what I do. They told me, ‘Just do what you do and you’ll be fine.'”
Oklahoma State scored its final touchdown with 1:12 to play to cut the lead to 10 a final time.
During the Briles era, Baylor’s four trips to Stillwater had resulted in four losses — all blowouts, by an average score of 49-19. The Bears trailed by double digits at halftime in each.
Not this time.
“We were really fired up, because coming to Stillwater, we hadn’t won here at all,” Cannon said. “It was an important game for Coach Briles and the team.”
