By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            In last year's Big 12 Championship game, Oklahoma State came up inches short from the 1-yard line in a 21-16 loss to the Baylor Bears.
            This time, the ninth-ranked Cowboys (4-0, 1-0) scored twice from the 1 and also got a 98-yard kickoff return from Jaden Nixon to end 16^th-ranked Baylor's nine-game home winning streak, handing the Bears (3-2, 1-1) a 36-25 loss Saturday afternoon before a sellout crowd of 47,979 at McLane Stadium.
            Quarterback Blake Shapen threw for a career-high 345 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but was picked off twice in the fourth quarter as the Bears lost at home for the first time since falling 42-3 to OSU at the end of a COVID-affected 2022 season.
            "I'm proud of our team for the second half we had and the ability to start that third quarter with some emotion and energy, which frankly was missing in the first and second quarter," Baylor head coach Dave Aranda said. "I think there's a lot of confidence with (OSU). And I would probably call that grounded confidence. I think we're not there yet."
            Similar to last week's 31-24 win over Iowa State, the Bears came out slinging, passing it eight times in the first nine plays. But, after Gavin Holmes couldn't handle a low throw from Shapen on third-and-eight from the 16, John Mayers booted a 34-yard field goal for the early 3-0 lead.
            Who knew that would be Baylor's last lead?
            In a methodical 15-play, 75-yard drive, Oklahoma State converted on a third-and-short run by Dominic Richardson and a fourth-and-one keeper by quarterback Spencer Sanders, who finished with 256 yards total offense and two touchdowns.
            Sanders, who threw seven interceptions in two games against Baylor's defense last year, got the Cowboys on the board with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Bryson Green in the back left corner of the end zone over tight coverage from cornerback Mark Milton.
            "This game was definitely more personal for me," Sanders said, "and I just made sure I did everything I could to hold myself accountable."
            In a pivotal sequence at the start of the second quarter, OSU punter Tom Hutton pinned the Bears at their own 2-yard line and then safety Kendal Daniels tackled freshman running back Richard Reese in the end zone for a safety on the very next play.
            "That play, in particular, had been a positive play just a week earlier," Aranda said. "So, I think we were looking at it from that lens. But, I go back to that special teams (play) prior to that. We've got to handle that better. I think the hidden yardage in this was not really good for the Baylor Bears. Of all three sides of it, that's the one area that we must have improvement."
            Sanders was 4-for-4 for 32 yards and picked up another 18 yards on two runs before finishing off a 10-play, 55-yard drive with a one-yard run to make it a 16-3 game going into the half.
            "I think there were times in the first half, just in the huddles, where it was as if someone drained our blood from our faces," Aranda said. "And it felt like that. I didn't feel that all in the second half. I think the energy level was better."
            Oklahoma State's special teams came up with another big play to start the second half, when Nixon took the kickoff, found a seam up the middle and broke a pair of tackles en route to a 98-yard return and 23-3 lead.
            It took the Bears less than 2 ½ minutes to answer that one, Shapen lofting a deep pass over a pair of defenders for a 49-yard touchdown to Monaray Baldwin.
            "We just weren't playing to our standards," fifth-year senior offensive tackle Connor Galvin said of a first half that saw the Bears net just 156 yards and fail to score a touchdown for the first time since last year's regular-season loss at Oklahoma State. "After the first half, we went into the locker room, we talked about it and we addressed the issue. Came out in the second half and played to our standard of football."
            In a familiar scene, safety Christian Morgan picked off a Sanders pass when he jumped on an out route by Brennan Presley, who had eight catches for 86 yards. Five plays later, Reese scored his seventh touchdown of the season, taking it in from the 1 after an 18-yard catch and run by Baldwin.
            All of a sudden, it was a one-score ballgame, 23-17, less than eight minutes into the third quarter.
            "Third quarter was like a video game," OSU head coach Mike Gundy said.
            And we were just getting started.
            Aided by a 50-yard kickoff return by Presley, it took the Cowboys just two plays to hit paydirt again. After Braydon Johnson somehow came up with a 49-yard grab down the right sideline, Richardson bulled in from the 1 to make it 30-17.
            When the Bears went for it and failed on a fourth-and-two from their own 33, OSU tacked on a 19-yard field goal by Tanner Brown after three tries at it from inside the 2.
            "The numbers were saying (to go for it), and I think the feeling was that it also became that you're racing against the clock," Aranda said. "That's when those real aggressive fourths come into play is when the clock is an issue and possessions are dwindling."
            Offsetting that fourth-down fail, Baylor went for it again on fourth-and-five from its own 30, Shapen connecting with Baldwin for a 70-yard touchdown pass. Shapen then found Gavin Holmes on the two-point conversion pass, making it a one-score game again, 33-25, with 2:14 left in the third quarter.
            With a chance to get the ball right back, the defense gave up a 19-yard pass from Sanders to Presley on third-and-13 from the Cowboys' 16-yard line. Digging out of that hole, OSU pinned the Bears back again with a punt inside the 10.
            Baylor picked up a couple first downs and had a chance for a nice gain, but Holmes bobbled a pass from Shapen that safety Thomas Harper intercepted and returned 11 yards back to the Bears' 33.
            Brown added another short field goal, extending the lead to 36-25, but only after Sanders recovered a fumble by Ollie Gordon that was forced by Morgan.
            "We didn't do enough good things to win," said linebacker Dillon Doyle, who had a team-high 10 tackles, including six solos. "We just didn't do our job on a lot of plays, and I think you'll see the result there. They scored 36 points."
            Any chance of a Bears' comeback all but ended when safety Jason Taylor II picked off Shapen on a deep sideline route to Josh Cameron.
            For the game, Shapen was 28-of-40 for 345 yards and two touchdowns, while Baldwin finished with a career-high seven catches for 174 yards and two TDs. Reese had a game-high 85 yards on 17 carries, helping the Bears finish with a decisive edge in total yards, 457-379.
            "We, obviously, take great pride in defending McLane," Doyle said. "Every time we cross the river and play over here, it's important. And we didn't play well enough to win today. Thankfully, we have a bye week to go into now and learn from things and then go about our business and try to turn this thing around."
            After a bye week, Baylor will travel to face West Virginia (2-3, 0-2) at 6 p.m. CT Thursday, Oct. 13, in Morgantown, W. Va. The Mountaineers were blown out by Texas, 38-20, in Austin and will also have next Saturday off.