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The No. 19 Oklahoma State Cowboys moved to 5-0 after beating the No. 21 Baylor Bears 24-14 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Saturday.
Jaylen Warren rushed 36 times for 125 yards and two touchdowns, and wide receiver Tay Martin added seven catches for 108 yards. Rashod Owens added a 32-yard second-quarter touchdown reception.
Baylor got going in the second half with two touchdowns thanks to runs from Abram Smith (55 yards) and Gerry Bohanon. A 20-yard Oklahoma State field goal buffered the scores, so Baylor trailed 17-14 with 12:04 remaining after the second touchdown.
The Bears’ offense went quiet following the latter score by turning the ball over on downs and going three-and-out on its next two possessions.
Oklahoma State then shut the door with a eight-play, 56-yard drive capped by Warren’s second score from four yards out on a 4th-and-2 with just over two minutes left.
Oklahoma State won despite three Spencer Sanders interceptions. However, Sanders helped lead the offense to a 402-280 yardage differential over the Bears, who had just 10 first downs on the night.
The Bears fell to 4-1 after the loss.
Notable Performances
Oklahoma State QB Spencer Sanders: 13-of-23, 182 passing yards, 1 TD, 3 INT
Oklahoma State RB Jaylen Warren: 36 carries, 125 rushing yards, 2 TD
Oklahoma State WR Tay Martin: 7 catches, 108 receiving yards
Oklahoma State WR Rashod Owens: 3 catches, 53 receiving yards, 1 TD
Baylor QB Gerry Bohanon: 13-of-27, 173 passing yards; 9 carries, 13 rushing yards, 1 TD
Baylor RB Abram Smith: 10 carries, 97 rushing yards, 1 TD
Baylor WR Drew Estrada: 6 catches, 88 receiving yards
Tough Running From Warren Leads Cowboys to Win
The first play from scrimmage resulted in Warren scampering 21 yards to the Oklahoma State 46.
That set the tone for the remainder of the game as Warren wore down the talented Baylor defense en route to the 10-point win.
Each Oklahoma State touchdown drive featured a heavy dose of Warren.
The first one saw him get 51 yards and score a touchdown on seven carries.
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Warren began the second drive with 15 yards on three rushes. Three plays later, Sanders found Owens for a 13-0 edge.
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The running back then churned out more yards in the fourth quarter before delivering the coup de grace. He added 14 more yards on four carries, ending with his aforementioned four-yard scamper.
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It was a crucial rush for the Cowboys, who would have turned the ball over on downs for Baylor with just over two minutes left. Instead, Oklahoma State took a 10-point lead en route to victory.
Credit goes to Warren and the Cowboys’ offensive line for a tremendous performance. On a night where the passing game had its struggles, the run game came through to keep the Cowboys undefeated.
Too Little, Too Late for Baylor Offense
The Bears had zero points through 41-plus minutes of game action on Saturday. Their first eight drives ended in punts. Two of them resulted in negative yardage. All told, they had just 115 yards during that time, or an average of 19.4 per drive.
They went 3-and-out five times and turned the ball over on downs a sixth time. Baylor also went 3-of-14 on third down.
Three of the drives started after interceptions, with Dillon Doyle, Bryson Jackson and JT Woods notching one pick apiece. On those three drives, the Bears combined to lose six yards.
The team’s offensive struggles were evident despite a 31-29 win over Iowa State last Saturday. The Cyclones outgained the Bears 479-282 and possessed the ball for nearly 36 minutes. Baylor also didn’t score an offensive touchdown in the second half.
Without counting kneeldowns to end each half last Saturday, the Bears went 14 consecutive drives without scoring a touchdown. Only one of those drives ended in points, and that was after a field goal following a drive that actually went backwards by a yard following a Trestan Ebner 41-yard punt return to the ISU 16-yard line.
Those struggles bled into Saturday. Oklahoma State gave the Bears chances to turn it around, but the Bears did not take advantage. That gave the Cowboys’ offense enough chances to put this one away.
Credit to the Baylor offense for never giving up and finding a late-game spark to make this a game down the stretch, but the Bears’ scoring struggles through the first two-thirds of this game proved to be their downfall.
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