Saturday features a battle of Big 12 rivals as the No. 22 Oklahoma State Cowboys (6-3) travel to take on the Baylor Bears (2-6). Baylor will play host to this matchup at McLane Stadium, and kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 P.M. Eastern.
Oklahoma State comes into this one tied for third in the Big 12, trailing Iowa State and Oklahoma while being tied with Texas. Despite that, they have struggled with consistency and are coming off a disappointing 29-22 loss to the TCU Horned Frogs on the road. After leading 20-7 at halftime, the Cowboys allowed TCU to outscore them in the second half, 22-6. They will look to bounce back against Baylor on Saturday.
Speaking of Baylor, they are coming off a 27-14 loss at the hands of the No. 11 Oklahoma Sooners. In the loss, quarterback Charlie Brewer threw for 263 yards and a touchdown, but also gave up two interceptions. At 2-6, the Bears are in the midst of a tough season but will look to upset the Cowboys on their home field.
Despite playing on the road, Oklahoma State is the favorite in this one. They are -220 to win, while Baylor’s moneyline is +176. The spread features Baylor +4.5 while the over/under for total points is 49.5.
Oklahoma State Looking For Win Over Conference Foe
At 6-3 overall and 5-3 in the conference, the Oklahoma State Cowboys are looking to notch another conference victory as the regular season winds down. To do so, they will have to beat a struggling Baylor team but have to do it on the road, where the Cowboys are just 2-2.
Trying to help the Cowboys get their sixth conference victory will be quarterback Spencer Sanders. On the season, Sanders has thrown for 1,355 yards, seven touchdowns, and six interceptions. He has also rushed for 199 yards and another two scores.
Leading the rushing attack is Chuba Hubbard. He has rushed 133 times for 625 yards and five scores. Other running threats include Dezmon Jackson (488 yards, four touchdowns) and LD Brown (395 yards, one touchdown).
Through the air, Tylan Wallace has led all receivers with 877 yards and six touchdowns. The next highest receiving yards total is Dillon Stoner, who has just 283 yards.
Overall, Oklahoma State ranks 63rd on offense averaging 28.1 points. They are even more dominant on the defensive side, where they rank 40th overall, allowing an average of 24.6 points per game to opponents.
Baylor Trying To Pull Off Upset At Home
While Baylor is winless at 0-5 on the road, they come into this one 2-1 when playing at home. They will try to use that home field advantage to pull off an upset over the ranked Cowboys.
Baylor’s offense comes into this one ranked 82nd overall in scoring, averaging 25.9 points per game. Leading the way under center for the Bears is Charlie Brewer. This season, Brewer has thrown for 1,890 yards, 14 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. He has also rushed for 170 yards and four touchdowns.
The ground game is the weakest part of the Bears’ offense as they don’t have a single player with more than 200 yards rushing. Of the bunch, Craig Williams leads the way with 26 rushes for 197 yards and two scores.
Through the air, they have six different players with more than 100 yards receiving but no one that matches the output of the Cowboys’ Tylan Wallace. The leader in receiving for the Bears is R.J. Sneed. He has 469 yards receiving with three touchdowns. Trestan Ebner also has three touchdowns to go along with 300 yards receiving.
Defensively, Baylor ranks 60th in the nation as they are allowing 27.6 points per game to opponents.
Taking Baylor To Upset At Home
While Oklahoma State may be ranked in the Top 25, they haven’t played like it as of late. This was especially evident as they not only lost to TCU last week but were only able to muster 22 points against them.
While Baylor hasn’t lit the world on fire this season, there have been some signs for optimism, including playing No. 11 Oklahoma tough last week and beating Kansas State the week before.
At the end of the day, this one is really about what team shows up ready to play. I like Baylor’s chances not only playing at home but being spotted the 4.5 points in the spread.
FREE PICK: Baylor Bears (+4.5).
