Baylor stays perfect thanks to victory over Oklahoma State
Another night at the office for Baylor quarterback Seth Russell as he threw for 387 yards and four touchdowns in beating Oklahoma State 35-24 on Sept. 24.
But the talk of the game was the Bears’ (4-0, 1-0) defensive stand in the fourth quarter inside their own five to turn the Cowboys (2-2, 0-1) away twice. And it came when OSU had the ball for almost 42 minutes.
Baylor acting head coach Jim Grobe tipped his hat to the defense.
“It was amazing to watch the guys play so hard,” he said. “When you stay out there as long as we did and still have some juice left at the end the game, that says a lot about the character of the our defense.”
Though the Cowboys were eight of 20 on third down, they also turned the ball over four times and were stopped in the red zone three times.
One of those turnovers was a fumble recovered by nickel back Travon Blanchard.
“We are a very opportunistic defense,” he said. “Whenever we have the opportunity to get the ball back — catch interceptions, punch the ball out — we want to take our chances.”
Meanwhile, Russell led the Bears on a 99-yard scoring drive after he pleaded with coaches to allow him to pass the ball. That’s because he felt good about his rhythm, the receivers and the line protection, he said.
“We knew we had to put it in there,” he said of the score. “If we got the points, it was going to be game over because the defense was going to shut them down.”
After the 99-yard drive, the OSU quarterback Mason Rudolph threw an interception to Orion Stewart. The game ended when Bears defensive end Xavier Jones sacked Rudolph.
OSU welcomes Texas, while Baylor travels to Iowa State. Both kick off at 11 a.m.
