The week five college football matchup between the Baylor Bears and Oklahoma State Cowboys could be a bit of a surprise treat for fans this weekend, as it is not only a matchup of Big 12 rivals but one of four games this week where both teams are ranked.
The Oklahoma Sooners are the Big 12 team that typically gets all the love nationally (they are currently ranked No. 6 in the country), but Baylor and Oklahoma State, ranked No. 21 and No. 19 respectively, will look to show that the conference has more than just one team you need to pay attention to.
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Here is what you need to know about the Baylor vs Oklahoma State game.
Baylor vs Oklahoma State matchup preview
Both Baylor and Oklahoma State have started a quiet 4-0 this season, putting them right in the thick of things with Oklahoma as all three teams head into the meat of their schedule, kicking off with this matchup.
Baylor has earned the No. 21 ranking in the country after beating Iowa State on the road in week four, 31-29. Prior to that the Bears had topped Texas State (29-20), Texas Southern (66-7) and fellow Big 12 member Kansas, 45-7 (the latter win technically puts them in first place of the Big 12 heading into week five).
It’s been the ground game that has paced Baylor so far this season, as running backs Abram Smith and Trestan Ebner have 413 yards and 348 yards, respectively, while two other players have accumulated 100 yards this season, Taye McWilliams and quarterback Gerry Bohanon. Bohanon is also leading a solid passing game, where he has thrown for 823 yards and seven touchdowns with no interceptions, with a starring pair of receivers in R.J. Sneed and Tyquan Thornton.
Some of those stats definitely come from Baylor’s first three games against lesser teams, as they were actually outgained by Iowa State, as it was big plays including a kick return touchdown helped push Baylor over the edge in their most recent outing.
Oklahoma State, meanwhile, is also coming into the game 4-0 and with their most recent win coming against a ranked team, No. 25 Kansas State, 31-20. So far this season the Cowboys haven’t had the high-flying offense that many of Mike Gundy’s best teams have been known for, having only cracked 30 points once so far this season.
Part of this could be that they are going with a quarterback platoon for the time being, with Spencer Sanders and Shane Illingworth each getting snaps. Sanders certainly appears to be option 1A, having thrown the ball 30 more times than Illingworth and throwing three more touchdowns; he also has 120 rushing yards on the season.
The star player on the offense though, like Baylor, is the running back, Jaylen Warren, who has 387 yards on the ground, plus another 117 receiving yards, and four touchdowns through four games.
Surprisingly, especially considering the Big 12’s recent defensive history, the Cowboys D has been a standout, keeping their opponents to an average of 311 yards per game thus far. The defense is led by linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez, who is tied for sixth in the country with 28 solo tackles.
Heading into the matchup, Oklahoma is a slight favorite by 3.5 points over Baylor.
How to watch Baylor vs Oklahoma State
Baylor vs Oklahoma State is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 2, on ESPN2. While not the flagship ESPN channel, ESPN2 is included on just about every option there is to watch ESPN, this includes traditional cable/satellite pay-TV providers and live TV streaming services like Fubo TV, Sling TV, Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV.
Out of the country or just unable to access any of the above services? Then a virtual private network could be your best option if your looking to tune in for the game. A VPN is designed to route network traffic through a specific set of servers in a specific country, allowing viewers to watch content on an encrypted feed over a computer.
