Cowboys survive wild second half

NO. 9 OKLAHOMA ST. 36 NO. 16 BAYLOR 25

WACO, Texas — Jaden Nixon returned the second-half kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown, and ninth-ranked Oklahoma State beat No. 16 Baylor 36-25 on Saturday in a rematch of last year’s Big 12 championship game.

Nixon’s return started a flurry of 39 combined points in the third quarter. He found an open gap in the middle of the field, broke free from the grasp of Baylor’s Devyn Bobby at the Oklahoma State 35 and outran everyone to the end zone.

“Third quarter was like a video game,” Cowboys coach Mike Gundy said.

The Cowboys also beat Baylor in the regular season last year but came up inches short of their first conference title since 2011 when the Bears made a fourthdown stop just short of the end zone in the final seconds of the championship game.

Oklahoma State quarterback Spencer Sanders threw seven interceptions in his two games against Baylor last season, including four in the Big 12 title game, but he was more efficient this time. He finished 20-for-29 passing for 181 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He also ran 14 times for 75 yards with several scrambling runs, and had a one-yard touchdown plunge.

“That’s a big win. It just shows that the young guys stepped up, you know, did their job,” Sanders said. “That’s a great team to win against, especially on the road in their own house.”

After Nixon’s return, Baylor responded with Blake Shapen’s 49-yard touchdown pass to Monaray Baldwin, who added a 70-yard catch-and-run score on another fourth-down play later in the third. True freshman Richard Reese had a one-yard touchdown run on a short drive set up when Christian Morgan intercepted Sanders.

Shapen completed 28 of 40 passes for 345 yards.