The undefeated season is broken for No. 21 Baylor (4-1) in a 24-14 loss against No. 19 Oklahoma State (5-0) in Stillwater.
That game was far closer than it should’ve been. Baylor put up a fight toward the end of the game to improbably make it close. Trailing 14-0 and stalling on the first drive of the second half felt like the last straw for the Bears, but Dave Aranda and company found a way to make things interesting.
I would like to take time to remind everyone that Baylor was picked by multiple major outlets to finish in the bottom two or three of the Big 12. This Baylor team is by no means elite, and an undefeated season would be a lot to ask for. The buck had to stop somewhere, but damn this team can be fun to watch.
Recapping the first half, thank God Spencer Sanders was rooting for Baylor early. It really felt like the guy had money on the Bears’ first-half spread. If Sanders and the Pokes wanted to quickly blow things wide open, they had every opportunity to do so. But the veteran QB enjoyed connecting with Baylor DBs and that kept things within two scores.
Statistically, the Baylor offense was horrendous in the opening 30 minutes. To make matters worse, the defensive unit resorted to pushing more often than tackling. Oklahoma State had 256 yards of offense to Baylor’s 99, 160 rush yards to the Bears’ six and 46 plays to the Green and Gold’s 20. Place the time of possession differential of 19:48 to 10:12 in favor of the Cowboys, and Baylor was beyond blessed to only be down 14-0 at the break.
The second half was a rodeo. Baylor not only made it interesting but there was a shot for the team to climb back in. It was tight, but an Oklahoma State touchdown on a crucial fourth and two late was the difference. There’s plenty to unpack that looked plain ugly, but I’ll give credit to Aranda and company for finding a way back when all felt lost.
Only time will tell how this team responds to the adversity of a loss. Will there be a pissed-off mauling of West Virginia or a soft 11 a.m. sleeper? I guess we’ll see.
