The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Baylor wins Big 12 title, knocks OSU out of CFP
ARLINGTON, Texas — Dezmon Jackson came up inches short on a desperate, fourth-down dive with 24 seconds remaining and fifth-ranked Oklahoma State fell to ninth-rated Baylor 21-16 in the Big 12 championship game Saturday, knocking the Cowboys out of contention for a playoff spot.
Blake Shapen threw three TDs while completing his first 17 passes as Baylor (11-2, College Football Playoff No. 9) took a 21-3 lead.
The Cowboys (11-2, CFP No. 5) rallied back, then went 89 yards on 17 plays on their final drive. But their Big 12 and national championship hopes wound up just shy.
After having first-andgoal from 2 following a pass interference penalty, Jackson gained a yard and was held for no gain before an incomplete pass by Spencer Sanders.
On fourth down from the 1, Jackson tried to sweep wide left, but with safety Jairon McVea in pursuit, he barely missed while trying to reach the pylon in the front corner of the end zone.
“When I saw the running back with the ball, I thought I’ve got to run this guy down,” McVea said, who wasn’t even sure where the ball was when the tackle was made. “The ref signaled not a touchdown, so when I saw that I was pretty happy.”
“They made a good play. It’s not 27’s fault,” Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said, referring to Jackson.
There would need to be some chaos, in form of an upset or two in other conference title games later in the day, for third-time Big 12 champion Baylor to have a chance to be in the final four for the first time when the CFP rankings come out Sunday.
Baylor coach Dave Aranda passed on politicking for the playoff.
“I’m sure it will work out the way it’s supposed to,“he said.
Baylor was 2-7 in Aranda’s debut last year, when the pandemic wiped out spring drills when he was coming off a national championship as LSU defensive coordinator. The 11 wins match a school record.
Shapen started his second game in a row for injured quarterback Gerry Bohanon (right hamstring), and the Bears won even with only 242 total yards of offense. They had only 36 yards after halftime, while Shapen finished 23 of 28 for 180 yards passing overall.
Aranda recalled Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy telling him “that winning is hard” before an earlier meeting between the teams.
“And I think today was an example of it,” Aranda said.
Sanders threw four interceptions, one by McVea, and the Cowboys were without leading rusher Jaylen Warren because of his lingering ankle and shoulder issues.
After Oklahoma State took a 3-0 lead on Tanner Brown’s 23-yard field goal set up after all-purpose Baylor back Trestan Ebner fumbled on the opening drive of the game, the Bears scored 21 consecutive points.
Sanders threw picks on the next two drives, setting up Baylor with short fields for three-play TD drives — a 2-yard TD pass to wideopen tight open Ben Sims and Drew Estrada’s 4-yard scoring catch.
Baylor had a 21-3 lead — the largest deficit this season for the Cowboys —after an incredible 13-yard diving catch by Tyquan Thornton with a defender on his back, and able to get both feet down in bounds, with 51⁄2 minutes left in the first half.
The Cowboys were within 21-16 on Brown’s 20-yard field goal with 8:17 left. That was set up after Ebner muffed a punt recovered by Korie Black, who had ended the first half by deflecting a field goal attempt that came up woefully short.
McVea had his interception early in the second half, but Baylor failed to get a first down. Instead of punting from their own 36, the Bears went for it on fourth down and Shapen had to just throw the ball away without an open receiver. Eight plays later, Dominic Richardson scored on a 4-yard run for the Cowboys.
“I told the team in the locker room how proud I was that they’ve done everything we’ve asked them to do since January,” Gundy said. “Came up just a few inches short, but I also made them aware of that doesn’t have anything to do with what they’ve accomplished this year.”
MAC
DETROIT — Quarterback Rocky Lombardi ran for three touchdowns and Jay Ducker ran for 146 yards on 29 carries to power Northern Illinois to a 41-23 victory over Kent State in the Mid-American Conference title game .
It is the Huskies’ (9-4) sixth MAC title in the last 11 years and first since 2018 when it beat Buffalo. Kent State (7-6) was shooting for its first conference championship since winning it in 1972.
“This is historic,” said Huskies coach Thomas Hammock whose team was predicted to finish in last place this year after going 0-6 in 2020. “I don’t think any team has gone winless the year before and won a championship.
“When everybody said we would finish last, all I told our team was we are the best team in the MAC until proven otherwise. Obviously, they didn’t prove us otherwise.”
Momentum appeared to be shifting to the Golden Flashes at the start of the second half. Andrew Glass kicked a 41-yard field goal on the opening drive for their first points of the game and the Kent State defense forced Northern Illinois to punt for the first time.
But on the next drive Dustin Crum, the MAC’s most valuable player this season, was intercepted by C.J. Brown who returned it 26 yards for a touchdown as the Huskies went ahead 24-3.
“I saw it tipped and I went up and had to make a play,” said Brown who was named the defensive player of the game. “I felt like that was a game-changing play when we needed it.”
The Golden Flashes cut the deficit to 24-10 with 27 seconds left in the third quarter when Crum hit Nykeim Johnson on a 17yard scoring strike.
The Huskies ended Kent State’s comeback hopes when Lombardi scored on a 3-yard keeper with 10:54 left making it 31-10. He added a 2-yard TD run nearly four minutes later.
“Picked a bad day to not coach these guys to the best of my ability, not lead my staff to the best of my ability,” said Kent State coach Sean Lewis. “That’s unfortunate because these guys deserve better.”
Kent State’s Collin Schlee ran four yards for a touchdown and also threw a 7-yard TD pass to Luke Floriea as time expired to close out the scoring.
Northern Illinois held Crum to 27 yards passing in the first half while building a 17-0 lead.
After John Richardson kicked a 27-yard field goal to close the first drive, Clint Ratkovich capped a 10-play, 78-yard march with a 2yard TD run to push the Huskies ahead 10-0 with 2:09 left in the first quarter.
Following a leaping interception by Northern Illinois linebacker Dillon Thomas on Kent State’s next drive, Lombardi drove the Huskies 81 yards and extended their advantage to 17-0 when he bulled over the goal line from the 1 with 8:33 remaining.
“To become the MAC champions means the world,” said Ducker who was named the offensive player of the game. “We set a goal at the beginning of the year to win the MAC championship and we got it today.”