WACO, Texas (AP) -Baylor’s season and its bowl hopes were thrown into a tailspin when standout sophomore quarterback Robert Griffin tore a ligament in his right knee a month ago.
Oklahoma State (5-1, 2-0 Big 12) just keeps winning games without two of its offensive standouts: suspended All-America receiver Dez Bryant and injured running back Kendall Hunter.
Despite Bryant missing the last three games because of a suspension and Hunter out four games because of a nagging ankle-foot problem, the 14th-ranked Cowboys have a four-game winning streak. They have averaged 41 points in the stretch, the same as last season when Bryant, Hunter and quarterback Zac Robinson were together on the field.
“We’ve had a lot of injuries that would cause other teams to get upset and get off track,” offensive coordinator Gunter Brewer said. “But so far, we’ve been mature.”
3-0 in the Big 12 for the second year in a row before their Halloween night game against No. 3 Texas, the only other conference team that hasn’t lost a league game.
Robinson has been solid (1,297 yards passing, nine touchdowns, three interceptions), Keith Toston has 497 yards rushing with five TDs and receiver Hubert Anyiam had 10 catches for 119 yards and two scores last week against Missouri. That was only the second 100-yard receiving game for the Cowboys besides Bryant’s 161 against Rice.
“It certainly wouldn’t be as smooth as it’s gone without having a veteran quarterback like Zac,” coach Mike Gundy said. “We’re continuing to get a little better.”
Plus, the Cowboys are hopeful of getting back Hunter, possibly as early as Saturday, and Bryant.
Oklahoma State has held Bryant out since discovering that he lied to the NCAA about an offseason meeting with former NFL player Deion Sanders. Bryant has asked the NCAA to reinstate him.
There is no chance of Griffin returning this season to save the Bears after finally having surgery last week to repair the tear sustained Sept. 26 in a 68-13 victory over Northwestern State, when he finished the first half after being hurt on the opening series of the game. He will be eligible for a medical redshirt.
ost 11 straight conference games.
“It was devastating,” cornerback Tim Atchinson said, describing the mood of the team after that loss.
“You have to move on and find something else,” coach Art Briles said. “It’s not easy and it’s not fun. … It’s part of what we have to fight through, live through and sustain through it.”
The Bears have a 19-game losing streak against ranked teams since 2004. They are 1-12 against Oklahoma State since the inception of the Big 12, losing the last three by an average margin of 34 points since their only win in the span.
Baylor hasn’t had a winning season since 1995, the year before the inaugural Big 12 season.
After Griffin accounted for 28 TDs (15 passing, 13 rushing) as an 18-year-old freshman last year, the Bears came into this season hoping for their first bowl since 1994. The 15-year postseason drought matches Duke for the longest for a team playing in a Football Bowl Subdivision conference.
Reaching their goal will be very difficult for the Bears, who after Oklahoma State have a stretch of games against Nebraska, Missouri and Texas – a trio Baylor is a combined 1-26 against in Big 12 play.
d their lofty goals are still very much in reach halfway through the season.
“We’ve had a lot of adversity and a lot of things not really going our way,” kicker Dan Bailey said. “Everybody is doing a good job of molding together and leaning on each other and going out and competing every week.”
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