Baylor at Oklahoma State

Written by Steve Janus

This Saturday the NO.21 Baylor Bears will go on the road to take on the No.17 Oklahoma State Cowboys, as both teams try and keep pace with Oklahoma atop the Big 12 South. The Bears come in off their most impressive win of the season, as they went on the road and beat the Texas Longhorns 30-22. Oklahoma State rebounded from a tough loss to Nebraska with a 24-14 win at Kansas State. Taking a look at the college football odds for this game, the oddsmakers seem to think it will be an easy win for the Cowboys, as Oklahoma State comes in 7.5-point favorites over the Bears at home.

Baylor (7-2, 4-1 Big 12): The Bears are on a mission to win the Big 12 this season, and so far so good. With the win last week the Bears beat Texas for the first time since 1997 and are a lock for a bowl game for the first time since 1994.

Quarterback Robert Griffin III is the reason the Bears have been so successful this season. Griffin completed 16 of 24 attempts for 219 yards and two touchdowns, and added his seventh rushing touchdown of the season on a one yard plunge. Griffin now has 2,592 yards with 20 touchdowns to just five interceptions.

Jay Finley had another nice day running the football, carrying it just 15 times for 116 yards and a touchdown, while Terrance Williams and Kendall Wright each had a touchdown catch.

The Bears defense has been a concern for this team all season, but this unit really came through with a nice performance on the road, holding Texas to four field goals and only one touchdown. If the Bears can repeat that performance this week against Oklahoma State they should win easy, but slowing down the Cowboys offense figures to be one heck of a challenge for this team.

Oklahoma State (7-1, 3-1 Big 12): Without top wide out Justin Blackmon, the Cowboys offense scored less than 34 points for the first time this season. The offense really struggled to find a rhythm early, as the Cowboys were tied 7-7 at half, but things got going int the second half, as the Cowboys scored on three straight possessions starting in the middle of the third quarter to take a 24-7, and that was enough to get the win.

Quarterback Brandon Weeden still found a way to get it done, throwing for 298 yards and two touchdowns on 22 of 39 passing, but still has to be excited to get Blackmon back int he lineup this week. Running back Kendall Hunter ran for 143 yards on 28 carries, and has now rushed for at least a 100 yards in all but one game this season.

Defensively the Cowboys played one of their better games of the season, as they pretty much shut down the Kansas State offense in this one. The defense forced three big turnovers and held the Cowboys to just 289 yards of total offense, that’s 10 yards less than Weeden had passing for the game. Slowing down the Baylor offense will be a struggle, as the Cowboys secondary has really struggled against good passing teams.

Looking at the Odds: I think your money has to be on the Bears to cover the spread in this game. Whether or not they win the game, I believe they keep it within one score. Both teams are going to put up some points, and if you are looking at the total for this one, I think the OVER 73 isn’t a bad play at all. My final score prediction is Oklahoma State 41, Baylor 38.

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