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Baylor ruins Oklahoma State's undefeated season with 45-35 win

Graham Watson

The Bears redeemed last week’s loss to Oklahoma by going into Stillwater and defeating previously undefeated Oklahoma State 45-35. It was the Bears' first win in Stillwater since 1939.

The win also was payback for the last time Baylor was in Stillwater. The Bears were undefeated with BCS title aspirations and were hammered by the Cowboys. This year, it was the Cowboys who came into the contest with championship aspirations and came up short.

Baylor’s chances for a spot in the College Football Playoff aren’t dead yet.

Baylor jumped out to a 14-0 lead, but the Cowboys fought back to tie the contest midway through the first quarter. However, after that tie, the Cowboys offense was stunted.

The Baylor defense got to quarterback Mason Rudolph early and disrupted his offensive rhythm. Meanwhile, the Baylor running game came to life for the first time since quarterback Seth Russell was lost with a neck injury. Baylor’s rushers, which included quarterbacks Jarrett Stidham and Chris Johnson, had 73 carries for 304 yards and three touchdowns. In the two games prior to this, the Bears had 262 rushing yards total.

The running game took pressure off Stidham, who was clearly still banged up from last week’s game against Oklahoma and ended up yielding the second half to backup Johnson.

Johnson, who spent the bulk of the season as a wide receiver after losing the backup battle to Stidham in the preseason, came into the contest and played well. He completed 5 of 10 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for a score late in the game. His only blemish was an interception late in the fourth quarter that ultimately allowed the Cowboys to cut the lead to 10.

However, Oklahoma State never got any closer than that.

The Baylor win means for the second consecutive season the Big 12 will not have an undefeated team, and whichever teams are standing at the end of the regular season will probably be playing the "we-beat-them-so-we-deserve-to-get-in" card.

Oklahoma State finishes its regular season with a game against Oklahoma and Baylor will face a spunky but depleted TCU squad that lost to the Sooners on Saturday.

For more Baylor news, visit SicEmSports.com.

For more Oklahoma State news, visit OStateIllustrated.com.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter!

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