Oklahoma State Upends Baylor To Stay Unbeaten

Gerald Goodridge, News9.com

STILLWATER, Oklahoma -- Oklahoma State had the game stitched up in the first half, despite Baylor holding the ball for more than twice the time of the Cowboys, and cruised to a 59-24 victory over the Bears Saturday to move to 8-0 on the season.

The Bears (4-3, 1-3) came out strong on their opening drive, starting on their own 30-yard line and moving the ball down to the OSU 2-yard line. But the Cowboys' defense buckled down and held the Bears on four attempts, forcing a turnover on downs.

OSU's offense, and quarterback Brandon Weeden, wasted no time getting going on their first drive. The 28-year-old senior completed six of his nine pass attempts for 64 yards, setting up a 2-yard rushing touchdown by Joseph Randle to take a 7-0 lead.

Baylor's Levi Norwood fumbled the ensuing kick and Andrae May recovered for the Cowboys at the OSU 13-yard line. A false start pushed them back five yards, but on the first play of the drive, Weeden connected with Kye Staley for an 18-yard touchdown to take a 14-0 advantage.

Baylor put together a long drive, but missed a 48-yard field goal and the Cowboys once again capitalized on the miscue.

On the third play of the ensuing OSU drive, Baylor overcommitted on a blitz and Joseph Randle found a seam in the defense. The sophomore went  62 yards for a score to give the Cowboys a three-score lead on the Bears to start the second quarter.

After trading punts for the first four minutes, Oklahoma State took over at its own 32-yard line and Weeden found a groove with his favorite target, Justin Blackmon. The pair of Heisman candidates hooked up four times for 58 yards – including an eight yard touchdown pass - to give the Cowboys a 28-0 lead with less than five minutes left to play in the first half.

The Bears tried to seize some momentum at the close of the half, but Daytawion Lowe picked off Robert Griffin and returned it to the Oklahoma State 35-yard line. Weeden threw a 39-yard touchdown strike to Tracy Moore to put the ball at the Baylor 16-yard line.

Randle took care of the rest on the next two carries and put Oklahoma State up 35-0 heading into the locker room at halftime.

At the break, Baylor held the time of possession advantage by nearly a full 11 minutes, while amassing 256 yards, but the Cowboys forced three turnovers in the opening 24 en route to the halftime shutout.

It was more of the same in the second half for the Cowboys.

On Baylor's opening drive Shaun Lewis forced a fumble, which Brodrick Brown recovered and returned 47 yards to the Baylor seven-yard line. Randle punched it in on the next play and put OSU up 42-0 less than two minutes into the third quarter.

Ten minutes later leading 42-3, Weeden hooked up with Blackmon again, this time a two-yard touchdown pass to take a 46 point advantage.

On the opening play of the fourth quarter Baylor finally cracked the end zone, after running 82 total plays, but OSU responded on the first play of the next drive. Freshman Herschel Sims took a handoff and went untouched 81 yards for a score.

It was a relatively down day for Weeden, passing for just 274 yards and three scores, his third-lowest yardage output of the season, while Blackmon put up big numbers with 172 yards and two touchdowns on 15 grabs. Randle was dynamic for OSU yet again, rushing 14 times for 152 yards and four touchdowns.

Oklahoma State moves to 8-0 for the first time since 1945 and continues to control its own destiny in the National Title hunt. The Cowboys will now take on the previously unbeaten Kansas State Wildcats, who are coming off an equally as lopsided loss at the hands of the Oklahoma Sooners.