Turnovers, chunk plays equate to low grades for Cowboys

Oklahoma State committed four turnovers, gave up a bushel of Baylor big plays and lost 35-24 a game the Cowboys were in position to win. Mike Gundy was not pleased. The grades reflect Gundy’s standards.

CHUNK PLAYS

COSU didn’t have a play that produced at least 20 yards until midway through the third quarter. By then, Baylor had six such plays, including an 89-yard touchdown pass from Baylor quarterback Seth Russell to Chris Platt that broke a 21-21 tie in the third quarter. The Cowboys ended up with five “chunk” plays, but Baylor had three more on its 99-yard, game-sealing drive. Russell averaged 21.5 yards per completion.

BALL SECURITY

FMason Rudolph’s lone interception came in desperation time. And his fumble, while concerning for a guy who suddenly can’t hang onto the ball, didn’t matter. But freshman tailback Justice

Hill’s two lost fumbles were killers. Hill fumbled at the Baylor 1-yard line in the fourth quarter, with OSU down 28-24. Hill also fumbled when OSU was driving in a 14-14 game in the second quarter, and Baylor instead turned the turnover into a quick touchdown. When Baylor stuffed Rennie Childs on 4th-and-2 from the Baylor 4-yard line in the fourth quarter, you wondered why Hill wasn’t in the game. But can the Cowboy coaching staff trust him to hang onto the ball?

UNIFORMS

CThe Cowboys went allwhite, continuing a national trend. TCU, South Carolina, Florida, Boise State. Lots of teams embraced the all-white look. But OSU has a bunch of cool color schemes. Use some of them.

THIRD DOWNS

AOSU was sensational on third down, converting 11 of its first 14 third downs and 12 of 20 overall. Slotback

Jalen McCleskey was particular impressive on third down. He twice took short passes from Rudolph, broke tackles in the open field and converted third-and-longs. McCleskey also made a nifty catch for 21 yards on a 3rd-and-21. The Cowboy defense was a little leaky on third downs, allowing Baylor to convert six of 12, but only two of the Bears’ big plays came on third down.

GAME PLAN

AOffensive coordinator

Mike Yurcich’s power formations ruled the day for OSU. The Cowboys went with only two wide receivers more than 50 percent of the time, until the final five minutes, when OSU was in desperation mode. The bunched formations allowed the Cowboys to run the ball effectively. Discounting Rudolph’s scrambles and sacks, the Cowboys gained 188 yards on 47 running plays. For OSU the last 2-1/2 seasons, that’s outstanding. OSU controlled the clock and limited Baylor to 65 plays and 12 possessions.

DEFENDING DEEP

DBaylor threw deep seven times. Russell completed four. Two went for touchdowns — 38 yards to Ishmael Zamora, who outjumped cornerback

Lenzy Pipkins, and 89 yards to Platt, who burned cornerback Ashton

Lampkin with a fake. Two others went to Zamora beating cornerback

Ramon Richards for 32- and 34-yard gains on Baylor’s game-deciding 99-yard drive. The Cowboys defended the run; Baylor gained 136 yards on the ground. But it came at a cost.

WEATHER FORECASTING

DA beautiful rainbow sat in the eastern sky during the national anthem. Rainbows used to mean the storm was over. Not anymore. Less than 100 seconds into game action, lightning was detected within the 10-mile radius, and the game was delayed for 96 minutes. Why was the game allowed to start in the first place? Did the meteorologists not know what was coming?

KICKING GAME

BThe Cowboys covered kickoffs well — the longest of Baylor’s four returns was 14 yards. OSU also recovered a fumbled punt by Baylor’s Tony Nicholson.

Zach Sinor punted only twice; he hit one well (56 yards) and one not so well (38 yards, with a bounce). But

Barry J. Sanders didn’t field a short punt that ended up bouncing into a 53-yarder for Baylor. And Ben Grogan missed a 44-yard field goal.

BY BERRY TRAMEL, STAFF COLUMNIST