Oklahoma State has lost five-straight games in Big 12 play, with the fifth coming in Waco, TX, just like in 2014, against Baylor as the Pokes lost, 38-28.
With the loss the Cowboys moved to 3-5 on the season and 0-5 in Big 12 play.
Penalties were a big issue for the Pokes as they had nine on the offensive side of the ball for 61 yards and three on the defensive side of the ball for 23 yards. Missed tackles were also a massive issue in this game as it has much of Big 12 play, with the Pokes recorded just 43 total tackles in 13 Baylor drives.
“I’m gonna have to go the other direction now as the head coach, I had to tell them after the game the truth: they had opportunities today and we didn’t take advantage of it,” head coach Mike Gundy told Robert Allen in the postgame radio interview. “We played undisciplined, and we haven’t done that really all year. Now, we could’ve played better in two or three games, and I thought there’s times I didn’t like our concepts, but this is really the first time we’ve been undisciplined. We had special teams penalties, we had holding penalties that called back big plays. We’re not good enough to overcome being undisciplined.
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“We got out of our gaps, then the second guy that came in to make up for it, a six- or eight-yard gain in the run, a missed tackle and [Baylor] gets 50-yarders. They rushed for 11 yards a carry. When you [allow] 11 yards a carry, and then you have 80 yards in penalties, you’re undisciplined, it’s almost impossible to win a game. That’s the way it is.”
Safety Dylan Smith led the way in tackles with just six solo stops. Kobe Hylton though recorded his first interception in an OSU uniform. He also had a pass break up.
The Baylor offense combined for 565 yards of total offense, 343 yards coming on the ground. In comparison, the Cowboys rushed for just 74 total yards and combined for 433 total yards.
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While it didn’t appear to be a great performance, quarterback Alan Bowman finished the game completing 67% of his passes for 359 yards and one touchdown with one interception.
“I think we just hurt ourselves too many times, a couple of miscommunications on third and short, fumbled on the one yard line, not getting things going initially that put us in a position to where we had to keep up with Baylor,” Bowman told Robert Allen in the postgame radio show. “I think it was a winnable game we gave them. Honestly, we just need to be more disciplined; we had some penalties we don’t have, a lot of penalties and just sloppy.”
Running back Ollie Gordon II finished the game with 18 carries for 77 yards and two touchdowns, with Brennan Presley having an incredible performance with 15 catches for 183 yards and one touchdown.
“It was a good day [for me], but at the end of the day, it’s not the result that we wanted,” Brennan Presley told Robert Allen on the postgame radio show. “So, it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. I’m proud of how we fought today, obviously a lot of things we could do better: offense, defense and special teams. So, just figuring that out and getting back to the basics and back to work.”
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What could’ve been the final nail in the game came with just under nine minutes left in the fourth quarter. On a 2nd and 17, quarterback Sawyer Robertson got into the end zone from 41 yards out to put the Bears up 31-20. However, the Pokes’ offense battled back, driving 75 yards in 11 plays. On 4th and 4, Alan Bowman hit Brennan Presley for 10 yards up the middle to extend the drive. Just a few plays later, Bowman targeted De’Zhaun Stribling going into the end zone, with BU’s Caden Jenkins called for defensive pass interference, giving the Pokes the ball on the BU seven-yard line. A few plays later, Ollie Gordon II got into the end zone from three yards out, then hit Presley in the end zone on a pass for a two-point conversion to make it a three-point game, 31-28, with just under five minutes left in the game.
Unfortunately, that nail came on the Bears’ next drive as multiple missed tackles by the Pokes led to a 55-yard touchdown rush by Dawson Pendergrass to put the Pokes down 38-28.
On the ensuing drive by the Pokes, Bowman threw his first interception of the game on 4th and long.
The Cowboys are back in action next week as they play host to Arizona State for Homecoming. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will be televised on FS1.
