Oklahoma State Comes up Short in Big 12 Title Game, Loses 21-16

After fighting all the way back from an 18-point deficit, No. 5 Oklahoma State came up two inches short of winning just its second Big 12 championship in program history as they lose to No. 9 Baylor, 21-16.

With the loss, the Cowboys move to 11-2 on the season.

After struggling most of the day, Oklahoma State quarterback Spencer Sanders led the Pokes on one of the best drives of the season. After forcing another Baylor punt, starting at their own 10-yard line with 3:23 left in the game and no timeouts, Sanders went 7-of-8 for 59 yards, combined with and drove the Pokes down the field

With less than four minutes left in the game, after forcing another Baylor punt, the Cowboys started at their own 10-yard line. Spencer Sanders completed 7-of-8 passes for 59 yards, combined with 25-yards on the ground by Dezmon Jackson and a defensive pass interference, the Pokes had four chances to get it into the end zone from the Baylor two-yard line. The Bears stoned the Pokes on first and second down and broke up a pass on third down. With less than :30 on the clock, on 4th and one from the one, Dez Jackson carried the ball around the left side and dove for the pylon but missed it by two inches.

It was Tanner Brown who led the way in scoring for the Pokes as he went 3-for-3 from field goal range.

Sanders finished the game going 31-of-46 for 257 yards and four interceptions, with 13 carries for 33 yards. The Bears were able to capitalize and score 14 points on two of the interceptions.

“Well, first off, we didn’t protect him very well, and you guys know that when we had these discussions on Mondays or Sundays after the game, my message is pretty similar: if we protect him well and rush the ball, then he usually plays pretty well, and I think that’s pretty consistent with any quarterback,” said Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy. “I don’t think it’s just Spencer. I think it’s high school, college, NFL quarterbacks. We struggled rushing the ball, and it made us a little one-dimensional, and when you are one-dimensional, protection is not as easy. Then in the end we had guys make plays and made some catches. We were able to manufacture some yards and get right down there. We just came up a little short.”

Jaylen Warren missed the game due to injury, so Jackson was the primary back. He finished with 19 carries for 31 yards and seven receptions for 39 yards. Dominic Richardson scored the lone OSU touchdown.

Tay Martin led the way with nine catches for 88 yards.

Malcolm Rodriguez led the way on the defensive side of the ball with 12 total tackles, eight of which were solo stops. Collin Oliver had a huge game as he recorded two sacks.

As it has been all season long, it was a tale of two halves for the Pokes. The defense allowed 206 total yards and 21 points in the first half, 14 of which came after interceptions, 12 first downs and 5-of-8 on 3rd down conversions. In the second half, Baylor had just 36 total yards, three first downs and were just 1-of-6 on third down.

The Cowboy defense started off strong as Malcolm Rodriguez stripped the ball away from Trestan Ebner, giving the Pokes the ball on their own 26-yard line.

It was a strong opening drive for the Pokes, which featured three impressive third down conversions, one on an eight-yad catch by Dominic Richardson, a 10-yard carry by Dezmon Jackson and an impressive 26-yard catch by Jaden Bray. Unfortunately, Spencer Sanders wasn’t able to connect with Blaine Green in the end zone, which resulted in a 23-yard field goal by Tanner Brown to put the Pokes up 3-0.

After a great third down stop leading to a Baylor punt, Spencer Sanders tried to fit the ball into a tight window, but it sailed on him, leading to an interception which that was returned to the OSU 11-yard line. Just a few plays later, the Bears were able to capitalize as Blake Shapen hit Ben Sims from two yards out for a touchdown, put the Pokes down 7-3.

Sanders threw a second-straight interception on the Pokes’ next drive, which led to another Baylor touchdown just after the end of the first quarter.

The Cowboy offense continued to struggle as it would go three and out in two-straight drives, which consisted of five-straight run plays for a loss of five yards and a throw into the triple coverage, leading to another OSU punt.

Blake Shapen came out on the next BU drive and led the Bears to another touchdown, putting the Pokes down 21-3 midway through the second quarter. At that point, Shapen was 14-for-14 for 128 yards and three touchdowns.

It was a solid end to the first half for the Pokes as Jarrick Bernard-Converse and Korie Black forced three incompletions, resulting in a Baylor field goal attempt. However, Korie Black continued his great half by blocking the field goal to go into halftime trailing 21-6.

Sanders came out in the third quarter and moved the ball well enough, but then threw his third interception of the day as he was hit as he threw on second and 10.

The Cowboy defense came up with a huge stop on fourth down to get the ball back on the Baylor 36-yard line, which led to the Pokes first touchdown of the day as Dominic Richardson got into the end zone from four yards out, to get the Pokes back with eight, 21-13.

The Cowboy defense came up with another huge stop to force a field goal, which was missed from 39-yards following a fourth interception by Sanders.

Tom Hutton was sent out to punt after a three and out on the Pokes’ ensuing drive, but Trestan Ebner muffed the punt, which was recovered by Korie Black. After getting stoned on three-straight plays on the goal line, Tanner Brown nailed his third field goal of the game, a 20-yarder, to get the Pokes within five, 21-16, the closest they’d be the rest of the game.