By John Werner

Tribune-Herald staff writer

STILLWATER, Okla. — They’re not 40, but they’re men.

Oklahoma State showed why it’s the No. 8 team in the country as it dominated Baylor in every way possible in a 34-6 win before 50,080 fans Saturday afternoon at Boone Pickens Stadium.

After the Bears scored the opening touchdown, the Cowboys answered with 34 straight points to remain unbeaten at 7-0 overall and 3-0 in the Big 12. The Bears (3-4, 1-2) looked nothing like the team that played near-flawless football in a 38-10 win over Iowa State last weekend at Floyd Casey Stadium.

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The day after

• »  Oklahoma State stopped Baylor runners dead in their tracks
• »  Bear Blog: Bryant making a case for Big 12's best receiver

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Baylor vs. Oklahoma St.

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• »   Baylor's offense goes one and done against Oklahoma State
• »   Notebook: QB Griffin makes NCAA history in loss
  
  
• Updated team stats
• Full game summary

IN ACTION Photos from Baylor — Oklahoma State

MORE BEARS Complete Baylor football coverage

“There’s a reason they haven’t been beaten — they play hard, they’ve got good people and they’re well-coached,” Baylor coach Art Briles said. “You’ve got to create momentum on the road and take the crowd out of the game to neutralize the environment. We had chances to do that and just didn’t capitalize.”

Last season, Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy became a YouTube sensation when he went on a postgame rant defending former Cowboys quarterback Bobby Reid following a disparaging newspaper column.

“Come after me,” Gundy said. “I’m a man, I’m 40.”

Gundy didn’t need a rant to inspire his surging Cowboys against the Bears. They did it all on the field with a balanced offense that piled up 457 total yards and controlled the clock for more than 36 minutes.

Delivering several acrobatic catches, Dez Bryant burned Baylor’s defense for 11 catches for 212 yards and two touchdowns. Cowboys quarterback Zac Robinson hit 13 of 20 passes for 238 yards with all but two of his completions going to Bryant.

“We knew Dez was an impact player, but we just didn’t do a good job of shutting him down,” Baylor safety Jordan Lake said. “We can’t just keep giving them 40-yard and 50-yard plays and expect to win. We envisioned a totally different game. But we didn’t execute offensively or defensively, and they ran away with it.”

After amassing 435 yards last week against Iowa State, the Baylor offense was limited to a season-low 204 yards against the Cowboys. The Bears picked up just 42 yards rushing on 31 carries after coming into the game with the Big 12’s second-best running team with 206.2 yards per game.

Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin hit 15 of 27 passes for 162 yards and didn’t throw an interception. With 155 passes without an interception as a freshman, Griffin broke Gundy’s NCAA record of 138 straight passes without an interception to start his freshman season at Oklahoma State in 1986.

But Griffin fumbled in the third quarter after Baylor had gone four straight games without a turnover.

“We made them look a whole lot better than they are,” Griffin said. “Both Oklahoma and Wake Forest had better defenses. We just didn’t execute. I judge myself on wins and losses, and I didn’t play well.”

While Baylor’s offense struggled to stay on the field, the Cowboys sustained drives all day with their running game. Kendall Hunter picked up a game-high 93 yards, while Robinson chipped in 57 and Keith Toston added 56.

Coming off a 28-23 win over then-No. 3 Missouri, Gundy wasn’t worried about his team overlooking Baylor with a date against No. 1 Texas coming up Saturday in Austin.

“When we were in team meetings Monday and Tuesday, I could tell by the look in their eyes that they were serious,” Gundy said. “There are a lot of good things going on right now, but the guys have done a good job of staying focused. Offensively, we got on a roll and got the game out of reach.”

Sharp turning point

After the Bears scored the first touchdown of the game, the Cowboys completely dominated the rest of the first half as they scored on four straight possessions to open up a 28-6 lead.

The Bears blew a chance to score on their second possession when a wide-open David Gettis dropped Griffin’s bomb at Oklahoma State’s 35.

“I make those plays all the time in practice, but I took my eye off the ball,” Gettis said.

But Baylor got a break when Hunter fumbled a pitch and safety Jeremy Williams recovered at the Bears’ 35.

With Griffin pinpointing his passes, the Bears drove 65 yards with Jacoby Jones finishing it off with a one-yard touchdown run.

Griffin hit Kendall Wright over the middle for 18 yards and then found Gettis for 11. With his 23-yard pass to Jay Finley, the Bears moved to the Cowboys’ 16. Jones’ nine-yard run and Finley’s six-yarder set up Baylor’s touchdown.

However, Derek Burton broke through and blocked Ben Parks’ point after touchdown attempt.

After a 36-yard kickoff return by former University High School star Perrish Cox, the Bears nearly stopped the Cowboys dead in their tracks. Facing fourth-and-one, Robinson drove for two yards to the 50 to keep the drive alive.

It was all downhill from there as the Cowboys picked up three more first downs before Toston plowed for a four-yard touchdown. Dan Bailey hit the extra point to give the Cowboys a 7-6 lead with 1:22 left in the first quarter.

After Toston picked up 26 yards on three carries, Robinson went deep to Bryant for a 37-yard touchdown to open up a 14-6 lead with 12:14 left in the second quarter.

On their next possession, the Cowboys ate up 81 yards on 12 plays with Bryant finishing it off once again.

Baylor cornerback Antareis Bryan appeared in position to deflect Robinson’s high pass to Bryant in the end zone. But Bryan mistimed his jump and the Oklahoma State receiver snatched the ball for a nine-yard touchdown to open up a 21-6 lead with 5:41 left in the first half.

Bryan went out with a strained quadricep muscle for the Bears late in the game.

“With the defense set to stop the run, Dez is going to have opportunities to make big plays,” Gundy said.

Baylor indigestion

The Cowboys had just enough time to score another touchdown before the first half was over. That score might have been the hardest to stomach for the Bears.

Facing third-and-29 at the 50, Robinson scrambled for 23 yards. Following an offsides penalty against the Bears, Robinson kept for eight yards on fourth down for a first down at Baylor’s 14.

“Throw me up against the wall and kick me two or three times,” Briles said. “That just can’t happen. That chain of events separated things a little.”

Four plays later, Toston ran for a two-yard touchdown to push Oklahoma State’s lead to 28-6 with 19 seconds remaining in the first half.

Bryant resumed burning the Bears as he caught a 51-yard pass from Robinson in the third quarter. Following a goal-line stand, Bailey hit a 20-yard field goal. The Bears put up another goal-line stand later in the third quarter, resulting in a 21-yard field goal by Bailey.

But the Bears failed to score in the fourth quarter when Ugo Chinasa sacked Griffin on fourth-and-goal at the 5.

“It was a pretty even match in the second half, but by that time the suspense had kind of left,” Briles said. “We’ve got to do a better job of playing early. We’ve got to regroup, get healthy and fight next week at Nebraska.”

jwerner@wacotrib.com

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