Baylor and Kansas State know that seasons can turn around in an instant.
After the Wildcats and Bears notched their first Big 12 Conference wins of the season, they head into the new week with slightly higher spirits and prepare to face off Saturday in Waco, Texas.
Baylor (3-2, 1-1 Big 12) outlasted an upset bid from Oklahoma State in a 45-27 road victory last weekend, while Kansas State (2-3, 1-1) beat previously undefeated UCF 34-20 at home.
Baylor shrugged off an Oklahoma State team that was playing without Mike Gundy at the helm for the first time in 21 seasons. Quarterback Sawyer Robertson continued his impressive start to the season, passing for 393 yards and four scores and running for another as Baylor racked up 612 total yards.
The Bears’ defense put its stamp on the game in the second half when it allowed Oklahoma State just 99 yards of offense to help Baylor bounce back from a 27-24 home loss to Arizona State on Sept. 20.
“(Our physicality) has been missing up until, really, these last two games, but particularly this last one,” Baylor coach Dave Aranda said Monday. “When you don’t have that piece, there’s kind of a hole in the middle of what is your identity. But when you have that and you’ve got receivers that are taking DBs and putting them into the ground on the sideline, the identity jumps off the screen. It was good to have that on Saturday.”
Robertson, who’s entering the Heisman Trophy conversation, has already thrown for 1,713 yards and 17 touchdowns, averaging a Big 12-best 342.6 yards per game. Bryson Washington has rushed for 492 yards and five touchdowns, and the Bears have had eight different wide receivers catch passes through the first five games.
Kansas State got 168 passing yards and a pair of TDs from Avery Johnson against UCF. Dylan Edwards racked up 166 yards rushing on 20 carries and a 75-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter while Johnson added 75 yards on the ground.
The Wildcats snapped a two-game losing streak with an effort coach Chris Klieman lauded Monday for its “better energy, better physicality, better emotion — all those things.”
“We needed to have that (winning) feeling back,” Klieman said. “It had been a while since we celebrated in the locker room, but the guys know why we were successful. Our effort and physicality kind of bailed us out a few times, but we have to be better.”
Kansas State’s three losses this season are by a combined 12 points.
