Gameday Thread: Baylor (0-5) at #14 Oklahoma State (4-1)

BAYLOR (0-5) at #14 Oklahoma State (4-1)

Boone Pickens Stadium | 2:30 p.m. CT | FS1

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BEARS STILL SEARCHING FOR FIRST WIN OF 2017

Week seven is here and the headline hasn't changed for six of those weeks. The Bears have seen progress at times on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball, but it all hasn't come together to earn a victory just yet.

The good news, if there is any with a game against a top 25 opponent and staring an 0-6 start in the face, is that the Bears are as healthy as they have been all season at the running back position, the largest area of struggle for an offense that continues to feel it's way through games.  But facing an Oklahoma State team that can put up points at a rapid pace puts almost as much stress on a Baylor offense that has been hit or miss as much as it does on the defense.

Baylor has seen all five of their 2017 contests come down to a single-possession game in the fourth quarter only to see their momentum come crumbling down in the final quarter of play. Missed field goals, 99-yard runs, bad snaps. You name it and Baylor has seen just about every way to lose all momentum

If the Bears reverse that trend Saturday, they will also have to overcome an extremely talented Oklahoma State team looking to stay in the race to make the Big 12 Championship game.

SIDENOTE STORYLINE

How does Baylor find it's run game?

Five weeks in and the Bears still do not have a single player to reach 100-yards rushing in a game this season. Freshman John Lovett came close to breaking the century mark on two occasions with an 89-yard performance in the season opener and a 95-yard performance in Baylor's most recent game against Kansas State.

With the return of Hasty to the lineup, Baylor will have their full group of running backs together for the first time all season. Junior Terence Williams, who was reinstated to the team by the leadership council last week, is expected to play in his third contest of the season after missing the first three games of the season, while Hasty is seeing action for the first time since being injured in game one.

But at the end of the day, the most important piece to the ground attack is Baylor's offensive line. Led by George DeLeone, Baylor has a total of three true freshmen on the depth chart to go along two tight ends from the 2016 season. After the group found a small rhythm in the second half against KSU two weeks ago, the Bears hope to find it more consistently against the Cowboys Saturday.

Can they do it? It's going to be a requirement if they hope to pull the upset.

MATT RHULE QUOTE OF THE WEEK

On the team continuing to battle even with the losses...

“Well, we have a lot of guys that are sacrificing how they feel for this team, and they’ll do whatever it takes for us to win and move forward. I think it shows that we have a lot of faith in our medical staff because as a coach I don’t want to put anybody out there that’s going to make themselves worse or injure themselves worse. We have great trainers, great doctors that say that if they can go they go, but if they can’t go we don’t want them to go. We have a lot of kids like Clay [Johnston], like Taylor [Young] that are willing to play through the bumps and the bruises and in some cases, the breaks in order to help the team win. Really at the end of the end of the day, if you’re a football player, if you’re a competitor, you love to win, you love to go out there and compete. You love to go out there and play against somebody. When you have a chance to get in the game, you don’t want to come out of that game for anything. When I was in the NFL I saw that first-hand. You see guys crawling to the training room on Mondays to get their bodies right, then they come back and play on Sunday. When you see guys like Clay, guys like Taion [Sells] out there just fighting to get themselves healthy so they can go play as well as they can for Baylor, it’s inspiring. It makes you as a coach want to work harder, and do a better job for them so that they can taste the fruits of their labor.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Jim Black JaMycal Hasty Hasty was injured during Baylor's season opener and has since missed the last four games. The quickest running back on the roster, Hasty could provide a burst of energy for the Bears who desperately need to find rhythm and consistency in the running game to take pressure off of Zach Smith.

Jim Black Connor Martin With punter Drew Galitz out for the year, Connor Martin will be asked to handle kickoffs, field goals, extra points and punting duties moving forward. The activity is a lot for a non-scholarship player and he will likely be needed to make at least one crucial play against the Cowboys.

Jim Black Defensive Backs With Oklahoma State's ability to move the football vertically down the field, the Bears are likely to rely on a large number of defensive backs to keep up the pace. The group has played well in pass coverage so far this season, but this will be by far their most stressful test.

Jim Black Offensive Line As important as it is for Hasty and his fellow backs to be healthy, it's more important that Baylor's offensive line builds off of their second-half success against Kansas State two weeks ago. Rest from the week off should help a little, but the Cowboys are coming off a bye-week of their own.