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Cowboys host Bears in critical matchup
Upstart Baylor will try to keep No. 8 Oklahoma State from starting the season 7-0.

OSU quarterback Zac Robinson and the Cowboys upset then-No. 3 Missouri last week. The No. 8 Pokes must avoid an upset against Baylor on Saturday. STEPHEN HOLMAN/Tulsa World

 
By BILL HAISTEN World Sports Writer
Published: 10/18/2008  2:07 AM
Last Modified: 10/18/2008  2:27 AM

Upstart Baylor will try to keep No. 8 Oklahoma State from starting the season 7-0.



During each of the previous two seasons, Oklahoma State became bowl eligible after defeating Baylor. The teams meet again on Saturday, and the stakes are higher.

From the Cowboy perspective, there has never been a more important Baylor-OSU football game.

In advance of the 2 p.m., non-televised Big 12 contest in Stillwater, the Bears are 3-3 overall, 1-1 in the league. Baylor is desperate to reach the six-win mark overall and become bowl eligible for the first time since 1994.

For a Baylor program that from 1996-2007 was 11-85 in conference play, a victory over the Cowboys would resonate nationally.

At the midway mark, Oklahoma State's season has been cooked to perfection.

As a result of their victory last week at Missouri, the Cowboys (6-0, 2-0 Big 12) zoomed from No. 17 to No. 8 in the Associated Press Top 25.

Next week, OSU plays at Texas. If the top-ranked Longhorns beat visiting Missouri on Saturday, OSU would get its first shot at a No. 1-ranked team since losing at Oklahoma in 2003.

But first, the Cowboys must handle Baylor on homecoming.

"You can't look beyond Saturday. You just take care of the next one before looking down the road," OSU coach Mike Gundy said. "I'm not trying to deflect the excitement that's here. I think it's tremendous. But what's important is the preparation for the task at hand. It will be another big game for us."

This may be Baylor's best team since the Big 12 was formed. The Bears are quarterbacked by a freshman star, Robert Griffin. They run the football well and have not committed a turnover in four games.

"I don't even know who we play after Baylor. I just focus on Baylor," said Cowboy safety-linebacker Andre Sexton, voted the Big 12 defensive player of the week after totaling 13 tackles and getting an interception against Mizzou. "Everybody's going to be here. Everybody's watching. You can't let this one slip (away)."

With a victory, OSU would be 7-0 for only the second time in school history (and for the first time since 1945).

In victories over Troy, Texas A&M and Missouri, the OSU defense forced 11 turnovers. Last week, the Bears defeated Iowa State 38-10, limiting the Cyclones to 257 yards. Baylor has not committed a turnover since the fourth quarter of its Sept. 6 win over Northwestern (La.) State.

"That is one of the key factors to winning a football game," Baylor first-year coach Art Briles said. "Turnovers, field position and momentum — we won all three of those (against Iowa State), and that is why we won the game. If we continue to do a good job and protect the ball on offense, we will have a lot of fun the rest of the season."

The youngest starting QB in Division I-A football, the 6-foot-3, 203-pound Griffin has scored at least one rushing touchdown in each game this season. He has passed for more than 1,100 yards and nine TDs, and he has not been intercepted.

After enrolling at Baylor during the Christmas break, he was the Big 12's 400-meter hurdles champion and finished third in the national meet.

Of his collision with a Cowboy defense that intercepted three Chase Daniel passes at Missouri, Griffin said, "It's another big challenge and opportunity to prove ourselves on the big stage. For me, when you step on that field, the ranking goes away and everyone has to show up and play."

Said OSU defensive coordinator Tim Beckman: "(Griffin) is one of the premier, up-and-coming quarterbacks in this conference. That's just the way the conference is. There are quarterbacks all over the place."



Bill Haisten 581-8397
bill.haisten@tulsaworld.com
By BILL HAISTEN World Sports Writer

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3 comments have been made for this team so far. Tell us what you think below!
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Eagle 4, Tulsa (10/18/2008 6:44:29 AM)
Right, MarkO! What are the odds of two miracles in a row? OSU does have two things going for them - at home and not on television. If they had televised this one I would have bet my triple-mortgaged farm on the Bears!
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gttdad2001, (10/18/2008 10:11:32 AM)
Hey, Marko, you sound almost as smart as you look..... GO POKES!!!!
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Icefighters, Muskogee (10/18/2008 2:17:31 PM)
Are you pondering what I'm pondering?
OSU beats Baylor, OU beats Kansas, Mizzou Beat Texas, OSU ranked above OU at #4
 

 
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