By Brice Cherry

Tribune-Herald staff writer

STILLWATER, Okla. — Momentum is a funny thing. You can grab it for a moment, but if you don’t hold on for dear life, it’ll slip away.

Baylor’s offense embraced for an early post-touchdown bear hug, but couldn’t keep the love flowing in its 34-6 loss to No. 8 Oklahoma State here Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium.

“(We had it going) for a little bit,” Baylor coach Art Briles said. “But you’ve got to sustain. You’ve got to keep going, and we didn’t. That came back to hurt us.”

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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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• »   Dominant Oklahoma State manhandles Baylor football for 34-6 win
• »   Notebook: QB Griffin makes NCAA history in loss
  
  
• Updated team stats
• Full game summary

IN ACTION Photos from Baylor — Oklahoma State

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After a quiet start to the game offensively with a pair of three-and-outs, the Bears began to generate a buzz on their third series. Baylor balanced a smooth blend of run and pass plays to march 64 yards in nine plays, culminating with a one-yard TD plunge from Jacoby Jones. Even after a blocked extra point, the Bears were feeling good about themselves, up 6-0.

The feeling didn’t last.

Close call for Gettis

Baylor struggled to consistently move the ball the rest of the way, averaging just 3.5 yards per play and punting the ball away six times in all.

“We didn’t make plays when we needed to make plays,” receiver David Gettis said. “We let our defense down, let our team down overall. We didn’t make plays when it came down to it. Coach came up with a great plan, and we just didn’t convert.”

Presented with a golden opportunity to score his first touchdown of the year, Gettis let it slip through his fingers. On the first-quarter possession just prior to BU’s touchdown, quarterback Robert Griffin nestled a third-and-long pass deep downfield into Gettis’ waiting hands, but the receiver couldn’t pull in what would have been an 86-yard touchdown, given that he had his defender beaten by two steps.

“It was tough, point-blank,” Gettis said. “That’s a play I make in practice all day. I need to make that play if we’re going to win games. I just took my eye off it for a second.”

Down 28-6 by halftime, Baylor’s offense couldn’t keep pace with the never-slow-down Cowboys. Oklahoma State ran 78 plays to Baylor’s 58 and amassed a nearly 13-minute difference in time of possession.

“As an offense we’ve got to understand that we’ve got to come out and make plays faster,” senior offensive tackle Jason Smith said. “And we’ve just got to do a better job of executing the plays that are called. Those are things we can correct.”

Late drive thwarted

Briles’ take: “Those are things we have to correct.”

For a few fleeting moments in the fourth quarter, BU’s offensive unit appeared to have sharpened out its rough edges. The Bears nearly replicated their first-quarter scoring drive, marching the ball down to the OSU 6-yard line behind a bevy of Griffin passes underneath the Cowboy defense.

But ultimately Baylor reversed its forward progress, turning the ball over on downs when Griffin fumbled on fourth down and was buried by an orange wave of OSU tacklers.

“It wasn’t anything that (the Cowboys) were doing,” Griffin said. “Players make plays, and I didn’t do that. I didn’t play a perfect game — nobody ever does. As a unit, we’ve all got to execute, go out there and move the ball like we know we can.”

bcherry@wacotrib.com

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