Baylor Wins Conference Opener In Nail-Biter With Oklahoma State

WACO, Tx. — Baylor was held scoreless in the opening quarter the past two games. Thanks to a 36-yard pass to tight end Jordan Feuerbacher followed by a 23-yard run by Terence Williams, the Bears scored almost as fast the lightning that caused a near-two hour delay, previewing what was to come in Baylor’s 35-24 win to open conference play.

“I told our team in the locker room after the game we didn’t always play our best,” coach Jim Grobe said. “But I’ve never been around a team that gave a better effort than we have tonight.”

Like lightning, the tides kept changing with every minute. A strong defensive outing was nullified by a gaffed punt return by Tony Nicholson, leading to Oklahoma State’s first score. The following Baylor drive was ended by a failed fourth-down call inside the red zone. All seem fair in McLane when Baylor forced a fumble ganging up on Mason Rudolph in a collapsed pocket.

Staying true to the game’s theme, that was soon turned into a tipped Russell pass intercepted by Cowboys safety Jordan Burton.

Turnovers would be the theme of the night, as there were three in the first quarter but only the muffed punt would lead to points as the Pokes opted to attempt a 44-yard field goal with Ben Grogan, missing wide left.

Baylor’s run defense had been holding tight for the most part, making Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy revoke the initial decision to go for it inside Baylor territory. The Cowboys were averaging just 2.2 yards per carry through the first quarter with the longest run coming from Rudolph on a keeper for six yards. That average would raise to four yards by game’s end.

Conversely, Baylor continued to show its prowess on the ground. Following the missed field goal, the Bears trusted JaMycal Hasty with five carries to extend the drive. That ultimately ended in Ishmael Zamora scoring his first touchdown off a tipped screen intended for Lynx Hawthorne to put the Bears up 14-7.

“I think honestly, we knew Ish had potential,” head coach Jim Grobe said. "The coaches saw in spring practice, and then I could see in our summer practices that he had talent […] He probably had some issues getting lined up split-wise. But from a big play standpoint, he was huge tonight."

The Cowboys would follow suit with a three-yard score from Rennie Childs on the wings of a fourth-down conversion that would otherwise have mirrored the previous drive. Between the two drives, the defense on field for 27 plays and 12 minutes and 34 seconds. Getting the Cowboys off the field on downs was a challenge throughout the game, as the Pokes converted 12-of-20 third downs.

“I have to give [Oklahoma State] a lot of credit,” Grobe said. “I thought they had a great plan running the football tonight and that kept the clock spinning and kept our guys out there. But when you stay out there as long as we did tonight and still have some juice left at the end, that says a lot about the character of our defense.”

Both teams followed with drives that ended in quick turnarounds, but Baylor regained possession on a forced fumble by freshman corner Verkedric Vaughns. Baylor took advantage with another 38-yarder to Zamora — this time intentionally to put Baylor up 21-14. Zamora finished his season debut with 175 yards and two touchdowns on eight receptions.

Staying true to form, Oklahoma State opened the second half with a drive over seven minutes long, taking advantage of a 15-yard penalty from defensive tackle Ira Lewis. The Cowboys then tied up the game with Childs’ third rushing touchdown of the night. Though, Lewis’ mistake was a rare one as Baylor had just six penalties on the night.

Trying to delay the game with another lightning strike, Baylor responded with an 89-yard quick strike to Chris Platt. He finished with 114 yards and two touchdowns on three grabs.

“Well, you know, Chris Platt’s a fast guy,” Russell said. “They were playing the stop and we just did a quick double move and he got open. He did the rest.”

“I’ve been doing [double moves] ever since I got here,” Platt said laughing. “So I kind of perfected it.”

After allowing a field goal on the next drive, Baylor attempted its second fourth-down attempt only to turn it over. It was the second failed attempt but neither turned into points as linebacker Aiavion Edwards had two big tackles for loss to force the Cowboys’ hands into attempting their failed fourth-down of their own to start the fourth quarter.

“We were pretty tired but I think we all stuck together,” Edwards said of the goal line stand. “It was exciting and just glad that everybody stuck together, was on the same page and able to execute the game plan.”

Baylor’s offense would struggle to return the favor after Quan Jones dropped a would-be first down, but lady luck would have its say with Baylor recovering a fumble at its one-yard following an Oklahoma State push for a touchdown with under nine minutes remaining.

With KD Cannon out of the game at halftime with a re-irritated groin, Zamora proved a more than serviceable go-to target on the ensuing drive. Pinned to the one-yard line, Russell connected with Zamora for the seventh time on a 32-yard pass for extra breathing room. That was soon followed by a bulleted passed for 34 yards.

The 98-yard drive spurred by the Bears’ fourth forced turnover would end in a 15-yard strike to Platt with 5:14 remaining.

Oklahoma State received the ball with under five minutes remaining to orchestrate a comeback but virtually ended the game with Orion Stewart intercepting a deep Rudolph pass with 2:36 remaining. It was the fourth turnover forced by the Bears, helped by the blitzing pressure led by Travon Blanchard’s five tackles for loss.